I fell in love with Mexico last week when I was there with my family.  The Riviera Maya region is absolutely beautiful.  We stayed at an amazing resort in Playa del Carmen, located directly across from the island of Cozumel.  The weather was warm (but not hot) and felt so nice compared to the frigid temperatures here in New Hampshire.  The Mexican people were extremely welcoming  and some of the hardest working people I have ever seen.  They always had smiles on their faces and you could tell that they were genuinely happy to be working.  Almost all of the Mexicans we met work 12 hour shifts for an average of about $4 USD per day.  About half of Mexico’s population lives on this minimum wage.  This article in the Latin American Herald Tribune reports on a recent 4% daily wage increase and explains the wage system in Mexico .  Its amazing how little the Mexican people manage to live on compared to Americans.

While we were vacationing, my brother-in-law and I talked a lot about what a great opportunity it would be to start a business in that area of Mexico.  This past summer while we were vacationing in Virginia Beach, we tossed the idea around to start a catamaran cruise somewhere down south where the weather is mild all year.  The concept would be basic; we would run the catamaran cruise twice a day and serve drinks and some light appetizers.  If we could pack at least 50 people on each cruise and charge $50/person, we would be making well over $1 million dollars in gross earnings each year.  After the Mexico trip, I am convinced that Playa Del Carmen or the up and coming village of Tulum would be a great place to start that exact business.  Just last week we stopped by a small marina about 10 miles north of Playa Del Carmen where they were chartering morning and afternoon snorkeling cruises on a large catamaran.   The manager told us that they pack 100 people onto their boat for both the morning and afternoon cruises.  They charge $50 per person and give them juice, water, and light snacks as well as the snorkeling gear needed for water activities.  According to the booking manager, they stay busy almost all year.  Other than a few weeks during the hurricane season, he told us that they are sold out almost every day.  This business is grossing over $2 million dollars on a daily catamaran cruise.  I’m sure that whoever owns the business is off on the beach somewhere drinking margaritas and watching his bank account grow.  What an amazing business opportunity!  To my knowledge, this is the only catamaran in the area that is taking tourists out on a daily cruise.  A snorkeling/breakfast cruise in the morning or a sunset cruise with drinks and some light appetizers in the early evening would do extremely well in that area.

If there are any readers who have started businesses in Mexico or are currently running a business similar to the one that I described above, please e-mail me to share your experience.  I would like to gather as much information as possible to use as a resource for readers who have a desire to start a business in a foreign country.