The #1 Option For How To Pay For Your New Life Overseas
Maybe you’re not yet of the age to tap into your retirement accounts. Or maybe your retirement accounts aren’t what you’d been counting on them to be…
How, then, could you support yourself in a new life overseas?
The number-one option is to start a small business.
A particular franchise business opportunity here in Panama has crossed my desk this week. Even if Panama isn’t on your radar, this is a good example of the kind of business opportunity you could seek out wherever you are thinking you’d like to settle.
The franchise is Mailboxes Etc. It’s well established in Panama already (with 18 stores), and the regional franchise manager would like to expand the group to include a new store to service the Playa Blanca area near Rio Hato. This is the heart of the popular beach area about an hour-and-a-half outside Panama City, where many expats are settling.
The total start-up costs for a Mailboxes Etc. Center run between US$60,000 and US$70,000. You don’t have to speak Spanish to open one of these operations, as most of your customers will be expats like you. The regional franchise manager explains that there are already several non-Spanish-speaking franchisees running stores in Panama and Costa Rica.
Another plus is that a Mailboxes Etc. Center does not require much staff. A typical store can be run with three local employees. Your staff overheads are controlled, therefore, both because you don’t need much and also because salaries in this country are very reasonable. The quality and the cost of labor are two of the biggest doing-business appeals for would-be entrepreneurs in Panama.
Mailboxes Etc. provides training and operational support leading up to and during the opening of a new store and then, as well, ongoing support as long as you need it.
What kind of return could you expect? The franchise manager explains that stores in this part of the world typically reach a point of monthly profitability after six to eight months of operation. Earnings are typically US$3,500 to US$5,000 per month the second year and US$6,000 per month thereafter (“assuming achieving normal sales goals,” the franchise manager explains, “which depends in large part on the store owner’s level of enthusiasm”).
You could live well indeed on that level of income in Panama.
For more information, get in touch here.
Kathleen Peddicord
