Starting a Business
Want to Start a Business in Costa Rica? – First Understand Costa Rica Trends
Many people often ask me what kind of business opportunities are available in Costa Rica. If you have any sort of entrepreneurial spirit you will find countless opportunities in this country, but first it is important you fully understand the culture and economy a bit better. One of the ways I describe Costa Rica is that in many ways it follows U.S. trends, but is just 5-10 years behind. Perhaps one of the most notable trends to note are the consumer habits of Costa Ricans. Like Americans, Ticos SPEND money. They go out to eat, they go shopping, they save little and often spend their paychecks as soon as they get them. Much like the U.S., shopping is quickly becoming a national pastime in Costa Rica. Go to any mall in San Jose on the weekend and you can better understand and see exactly what I’m referring to. Observing this more is a great place to start to learn where you can start a business.
Another important pattern we have seen develop is the increase in travel. It might seem like it was quite a while ago, but when I was growing up our family took a vacation once a year. Dining at restaurants was really set for special occasions like birthdays or celebrations, and a trip to McDonalds was at best once a month. We all know those days are long gone. Now most Americans go out to eat multiple times a week, escape for weekend get aways once a month, and still manage to take an extended vacation every few months. In the past few years we have seen the exact same trend in Costa Rica. Although Costa Rica is famous for it’s beautiful beaches many Costa Rican’s in the Central Valley only visit them once a year. A lot of Costa Rican’s have not even fully explored their own country let alone travel outside Costa Rica. Much of that has been changing because of improved roads and access. In places like Jaco Beach, we are now starting to see people from San Jose come here 1-2 times a month and explore parts of the country more. Hotels, gas stations, restaurants all benefit from increased travel and again offer more opportunities to start new businesses.
Finding the right business opportunity takes time and effort and understanding consumer trends is a big step in beginning that process. In my next article I will explain more on where all this money is coming from and why Costa Rica continues to be one of the most stable economies in Central America.
Knowing your environment and clientele is obviously a critical step in identifying the right business. And while having a grasp of consumer trends is an excellent start, it is important that anyone starting a business in Costa Rica also has a basic understanding of the economy as well.
The economy in Costa Rica has always been one of the most stable and strongest economies in Central America. I could give you all sorts of statistics on things like the GDP and per capita income, but I think its more practical to look some basic info and facts
Medical Tourism
Medical Tourism is becoming a big business and is still in it’s infancy. Costa Rica is and continues to be one of the principal destinations for this new industry. Countless businesses related to this sector are growing and expanding, all of them obviously result in growth for the local economy.
Workforce
If a U.S. business is considering outsourcing their business, Costa Rica often makes the list and in many cases is the winner. A highly educated workforce that is very tech savvy and fluent in English gives Costa Rica a dominant advantage. HP, Intel, Amazon, Microsoft and other fortune 500 companies are already here and more continue to come.
Political Stability
Central America has had it’s up and downs, but Costa Rica has a distinct advantage of having a stable democracy for over half a century. No doubt this history of stability and diplomacy has helped attract new businesses and investments.
Agriculture
Coffee, bananas and pineapple. Costa Rica produces much more, but those are the big three, all crops that are consistently stable in both production and demand.
Tourism
Many of us sometimes forget that Costa Rica is still very much an untapped market. The record number of tourists to come to Costa Rica in one year is just slightly over 2 million. In comparison Mexico gets over 20 million tourists annually! A 50% increase in tourism for Costa Rica would still only equal 3 million tourists.
All of these sectors and facts equal economic grown and more importantly opportunities. On my next article we’ll take a look at American’s who have began a business in Costa Rica.
