meauxna

It seems to me, if you are going to migrate based on a business, the most important thing would be narrowing down a market where your chosen business model will succeed.

It doesn't really matter what the schools or local shopping are like if you go bust and wind up hiking home.

kins

Our experience of the school system has been good so far. I have a very advanced 6 year old who is easily at the top of her class and getting plenty of extra challenges. Class sizes are 20 max at her school, and she gets gifted and talented work in maths and literacy. She is very happy there and not at all bored.

A long time ago my husband went from the US to the UK school systems at 8, and immediately jumped a year because he was ahead.

I think a lot of it varies from district to district.

Bob

Big time, and it's a whole different world from state to state, and Maine ain't Florida

Thydney

You still pay the Feds
Rural Florida well there are differing grades of rural imho somewhere like Levy County is the end of the world but Marion is quite different and you can get things you need without leaving the county. Even a decent curry

ukelaine

With the Dog Kenneling Business make sure you look hard at what you will need. Liability Insurance, Workmans Comp (if you are going to have workers). Permits you will need to run the business, health codes. I'd suggest you contact the nearest Animal Control Dept near where the business will be, they may be able to help you.

So many different Health plans and Companies, that can vary on price and coverage. Just expect that you will have to pay out money which ever one you go for.

Schooling also can vary from place to place. They start school at a later age and stay in school until 18. If you are going to live in an area with a large immigrant population that can also affect how the school is run. More money may be spent on classes to teach kids english, than in other areas.
Methods of teaching may be different from UK and in some areas your child may be advanced and in others he may be behind.

Main thing with driving is remembering to drive on the "Other" side of the road As long as you can do that, and with some road practice, passing the test here shouldn't be a problem

Best thing is finding someone who already lives in the area you will be moving to and pick their brains a LOT !

You may also find that a dog kennel business here in USA may vary greatly from one run in the UK, so, also check into that carefully before taking on this as well as moving to the USA.

drew&venna

This is SO true, even at the college level. I happen to be at the higher end of the pack and I cannot tell you how many times I have been bored to tears, and the result is a drop in grades during my jr. high and high school years. I thought college would be different, but its not-I am struggling to stay motivated now-(only 1 more semester!) but its hard.

Health care for self employed SUCKS. My husband is self employed and we went w/o (as I had been doing my whole life as a USC) but now we are lucky that we live in San Francisco that is doing the Healthy San Francisco plan and we finally can stop worrying...now if we get hurt outside the city we are still screwed. (heres a little figure for you, I went in to have 2 ultrasounds done, took about 20 minutes, bill came to 800 bucks. Luckily I applied for the 'sliding scale' program they have here and payed a fraction but it was a lot of red tape (though nothing compared to the INS!))

scottmacd

Hi folks

Sorry, not had much time to read and reply to posts, been busy with work, just trying to catch up now, lots of interesting replies. Thank you.

BritguyTN wrote
I would expect net profit to be around the £ 80,000 mark depending on the size of the operation.

Lisa67 wrote
I can appreciate what you're saying but we have a reasonably comfortable lifestyle here in the Scotland, I'm self employed with a good income, the wee boy's settled at a good school with pals all around him etc. etc. Just trying to do as much research as possible to reduce the odds of the move being a life shattering disaster for us. The move is in the very early stages.

TracyM wrote
Any chance you could elaborate on this subject ?

Bob wrote
I would imagine this would be a big bonus for us if you're correct although might also have its drawbacks when trying to claw back youur business expences. Does anyone know how this works ?

UKelaine wrote
Yes, we have only scratched the surface of this, have a lot more research to do, one thing that did concern me is that there is a load of "doggy daycare centres" & "pet hotels" opening up across the States, biggest names seem to be "Pet Smart" and " Camp Bow Wow", although I don't think we would be in direct competition with them due to their high boarding prices and restrictive T & C, I did read that Americans in general are moving towards more expensive care for their pets.

On another note, I had an interesting chat with someone who made the move to the USA a few years back after being sponsored her employer, I was asking her how she got round the issues of the schools and health insurance. On the subject of schools, she commented that all states of US have vastly different education budgets then reminded me that Florida was the sunshine state of the States and was popular with retiring couples, hence less kids and a low education budget. She sent her kids to a private school to get round this, apparently a lot cheaper than the UK but of a similar standard although I got the impression she was slightly more affluent than myself

The insurance issue was dealt with by purchasing a world wide private healthcare policy in the UK which was expensive but a lot cheaper than trying to get the same in the US, this policy was kept for 2 years then they were able to get a reasonable deal locally as they then had some medical history locally. Interesting idea I thought, anyone else done this ?

Regards

Scott

Thydney

Rural Florida can be a strange place, as can any rural part of the USA. But as I said it depends on how rural you are going to go. I live in a rural area where all the main land owners are all decendents of the same family. Its fine here.
Levy county however is one hell of a strange place You never know you may even get and invite to join a social Klub

Ray

Have you been offered a pointy hat yet ...

Thydney

Me? No I don't think I'm their type

Mallory

My 2 children were educated in rural N Florida, and they did very well in school. The people are very friendly, and the schools are fine. Tallahassee, in N Florida, is the state capital. Florida State University is a fine place to go to college. You won't find nicer people anywhere. The remark about confederate flags and pill bulls is stupid and inflammatory.

I have lived in 3 countries, and 3 US states, you can find good and bad anywhere. I would never contemplate living in Chicago, but I would never write that on a forum, as that would be stupid and inflammatory.

Tracym

Well fine, I'm stupid and imflammatory. Since there is free speech in this country, I guess that makes your comments stupid and insulting.

I have BEEN to rural Florida. My best friend and some of my family live in Florida. I said what I remembered. If you don't like that.... tough.

I'm sure there are good and bad areas everywhere. If your kid's school was fine, good. But that is still an area I'd be very careful of, I don't retract anything I've said.

If you don't like Chicago, and want to say what you don't like about it - feel free. We do have free speech here after all.

yorkshirelass

Oh come on peeps! Rural Florida. Rural Illinois. Rural America. It's all the same! Been to both and bar the landscape, it really is all the same. Let's face it, the rural face of America is disappearing anyway. Where Ray and I live used to be considered rural at one point, but certainly not today.

Back to the OP, I would definitely look at zoning regs before buying in any part of rural america. Look for an area that does not allow mobile homes for one.

FYI -- Newsweek and US News periodicals bring out their list of the top PUBLIC high schools in the US each year. Here are their links for you to take a look:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/educa...l-schools.html

http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380

I think you will see Florida ischools aren't doing too badly at all.

Good luck!

Tracym

I'm not sure I agree it's all the same. Doesn't necessarily mean one thing is better than the other - but I would still say different. To the northerners, the south does seem different.

I'm sure Florida has some good schools and some bad. My friend's doesn't seem to good honestly, and she's not even rural. They don't seem to have a good reputation, but I haven't looked through your links yet.

I do agree, I'd be careful moving to any rural area. As a northerner, I'd personally be especially careful with a rural area in the south. Southerners might disagree with me, and feel the opposite. But it is how I feel.

Edit: Those are not standard Florida schools (nor are the other states) - those are special college prep schools etc. I'm sure they're terrific, but not necessarily indicative of the education system in the state in general.

Tracym

From 2005:

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/06/St..._rank_ne.shtml

"Despite six years of major changes by Gov. Jeb Bush and a Republican-dominated Legislature, Florida still ranks with its Southern neighbors near the bottom of the education rankings"

"Florida is behind almost every other state in the nation when it comes to education spending"


For the OP, here is something from Florida, showing average scores etc. from various schools:

http://www.psk12.com/rating/USindexphp/STATE_FL.html