When doing business in Mexico [internationally in general] What are some things one should know. The nuances? The LAWS! Etc? Thinking about doing some Import/Export. It has been recommended as a good thing to do. Rocket River
"import/export"? That sure sounds shady. Describe more in detail what you're trying to do. I have done business in Mexico
In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.
An international business class I took once said that in Latin America and Mexico, things business wise tend to take a little more time. As Americans, we want to push and get things done as soon as we sit down. In Latin America, say if you meet to discuss a deal over lunch, generally things are a lot slower. Don't open the brief case up as soon as you sit down. Instead, make small talk. Go ahead and order the meal and eat. If you try to push your product/services/whatever as you typically would in America, it can be taken as rude and you'll likely annoy your business contact. They may even want to show something they're proud of in their town or city. This is genuine, don't blow it off. At the least be courteous. I guess the impression I took from the class was you have to kind of feel out the negotiations a bit more instead of trying to bang them out. Again, I have no experience doing business in Mexico or Latin America. We had exchange students from I believe Venezuela in the class, they said that what was presented was true. Now granted, I wouldn't be surprised if things were a little faster in say Mexico City than they would be in a smaller town. If I'm completely wrong on any of this, somebody please correct me.
This is going to sound stupid, but I mean it seriously. Mexico has a MAJOR problem at the moment. A lot of the cheap type manufacturing that they used to has been outsourced to China, because it's cheaper. My limited understanding of the way things work in Mexico makes me think it might be more frustrating than it's worth. Have you done prototyping/small scale runs yet? You can still get those done in the US and while it's more expensive than some automated injection-molded 1,000,000 unit run, it isn't as expensive as you'd think. You might (again I'm not kidding) consider doing some casting yourself. You can do some plastics or even basic aluminum or copper casting in your back yard for under $200. In any case, you shouldn’t put the cart before the horse. If the item is still in the conceptual or early production stage I’d look to get a prototyping run done. Mexico is more for when you are ready to commit to 100,000 - 1,000,000 units.
I am still working both sides of the equation. I figure I better start getting at least some cursory information. Rocket River
