Playa del Carmen NOW

I am welcome to the Playa Del Carmen Now podcast yes my name is Ken Schmidt CEO of condo hotels Playa Del Carmen and my co-host rezendes but today is going to be a little bit different because you guys do marketing team
wanted
the turn the table and make you the host for the day oh yes yeah you know this you want to become the host of the day and you want to bum bombard me with questions about running a company in Playa del Carmen or running a business running a business or some of the differences from the United States
you know running a business are living in the United States as compared to running a business are living in Mexico you yes go ahead attack me say whatever you want ask me whatever you want and I will give you
my story thank you
rewind just before we start Thank You Are YouTube followers Please Subscribe click that Bell so that you get to see the easy minute they come out and Sally Loos I look for everyone in there and we'll come and welcome back for the apply to Academy Now podcast today hear your house have you ever send this we are going to resend it everywhere and I have the co-host with me because we are making some changes in here and right here with me is my good friend and host what's your name so thank you thank you Ken and today we are going to talk about business and it got and how to handle a business and how to what are we going to talk about can about sweetness business business in Mexico business in Playa del Carmen
not the same now it's nowhere near this is not the same play Jeremih and all of this area is quite different than the whole country we have we're going to talk about that so can I do a business owner here I am I am a business owner I I've had a partner with all along the ways or actually I'm the partner thank you for starting and have so much energy but for first
tell us something about you and they come in your favorite places we already share two people favorite places to be seated when people comes to play to visit where are you where do you take them play right now
if somebody was to come I would take them to a very unique place just outside of my old apartment that's Coletta think he's okay I'm going to translate there and they got late. Thank Na and worried that it's just south of Viola Carman it's to halfway between here and Tulum and what's very unique about Colette the thing is it's a beach club on the beach but there is a Cenote okay there's a snow day will be wine please is there a beach club without a beach yes there is yes I'm curious now
there's a lot of these clubs without a beach meaning there's there's there's sometimes a piece clip on a beach
that you can't go in the water because it's Rocky or you know what I'm talking about but there's the beach but there's a beach yes so that's kind of what I'm talking about your mentioning that it also have these Sonata it has a Cenote right on the shore okay just to be clear with all the people that don't live here and don't know about this area what is subnautica in it's a Cenote is a hole in a hole in the ground with water in it typically and there's you know in a lot of places it's Caverns under water and it's very unique structure of the ground where aquifers you know where the water moves underneath the ground below us Mexican by knowing that all of that work well. Thank you so you were there
and I just like I loved it I have brought many friends to collect the thing and that's one of the one of those stops I definitely do cuz it's very unique want to go see some cenotes in what better way to see a Cenote then go swim in it I need to work on our friendship because I never been there you never be okay but and some other place that you want to recommend for this episode 10 well right now I have these two favorite restaurants okay
and my two favorite restaurants right now is Bonita Bonita Costilla bendita yeah so go see a trip that's okay. You did all that almost as the holy of the holy rosary holy rosary so beneath the Benzito Costilla on the weekends Friday and Saturday night's okay they make the big Brontosaurus
rib it's not about the barbecue it's actually in its Argentinian right and yes it's an Argentinian restaurant they have a lot of good meat choices the plates are huge super cute okay and are you a sponsor by then I found that place probably a couple months ago and as you know I've been there quite a few times I know and then the other second place I'm in love with right now what is what is a Ana free on afraid unafraid yes and authorize another restaurant I found just on the other side of town
oh my God the food is amazing there I mean it's it's it's a really interesting atmosphere it's it's out in the middle of like you would think
you would know it was there it's like like in the middle of like a residential and you go in and you ring the bell and they let you in and it's got a like a beautiful atmosphere you're super close to the chefs and everything that Chef the owner of the place will come out and talk to you okay both in English and in Spanish for you write yes and he's an amazing chef and I always ask him what the special is because he he always makes something special so far today for the day and it just whatever whatever so it's a small venue but the things on the menu or just freaking amazing okay that sounds good so people believe you want to know this place as yours look for an afro and Betty. Betty Taco Tia and Colton Kiana is right now in that changes you know it was we all know there is many things to do in Playa de Carmen I should have many places to go to and that just happens to be my clique
her right now okay thank you again for that so and for the next thing we are going to start opening this role of questions so you run a business I can't play coming right yes I do I run a number of hotels here in Playa del Carmen yes hotels hotel hotel hotel
I currently have a little more than 70 employees okay that's quite a pretty big size team yes of course the housekeeping in the operational staff is the majority of that and I've I've brought like an American corporate environment here
all right so American corporate environment means it's just like you create a structure
and in the in our case and in my case I like to have in every Department a manager and an assistant manager and every department so what we always talk about is if the manager hits by the bus the assistant manager can jump right in and there's no no loss no no production loss snow in any kind of lost in the business so the business is profitable and running like a machine okay so just start doing that science when can how did start well the whole story was kind of hotels as I came in as a consultant and software developer I developed all the software for the properties but I was also a business consultant course right after I finish writing the software I became a consultant a few years go by and I'm giving you the real short story here thank you
they asked me to be the general manager I became the general manager for a few years and then they finished their final property which is the El Tacho Oceanfront they made me a partner so I was a small partner in the company and then five years ago one of the partners retired and I became a bigger partner and ringing the bell now be there soon and soon my partner is retiring and I will be running the show better fix it so right now how a lot of questions. I'm curious to know and I'm interesting of having owning or running a business here play garments and most of it because you have a different perspective from the Mexican business right yeah this is the things that how you run a business in United States as compared to running in Mexico I mean it's the same stuff different
English
I speak English yes I mean I mean it's the same thing but speak English yes
employees in Mexico are treated a little bit differently okay then in the states
there is I don't know the exact words but the structure here or the way I described it is Mexico is more of a employee-centric
country they they they back their employees up more than I am back a business and what I mean is like you can't fire somebody here
you can but it's very different from the states and the States you fire somebody you give him a couple of parents and not they go okay here
employees accumulate time
as long as the longer employee stays within a company they accumulate different time profit and
Alejandra help me here with some of these things
they they get some benefits yes that is more beneficial to the employee than the company okay so if you have an employee that specifically just in in in our case alone of our 70 employees I think we have we have over 15 employees have been with us for at least 15 years I couldn't that could never fire the nothing I'm talking about firing them
what if I was to fire them it would cost me
15 years of severance or not 15 years of severance but the severance would be significant yes I can imagine seeing this as an employee right and correct how does it work in in North America how does it work it's just a little different I guess is a business owner the states tends to favor the business more than the employee okay
and that's and that they say it's and it's a very difficult way to discuss this I mean it's it's not meant in a negative Master fashion it's just different okay is different and and it could put myself as a business owner in some troubling times for example I say for example covid okay now I did something different than most companies did I flat out told all my staff that I would keep them on board I didn't I didn't fire anybody where is most of the hotels here just fired everybody I didn't I kept them all on board but let's just say
legally if I wanted to shut down the business I would technically have to pay all 70s employees their severance pay for the amount of years of been been with the company and being on the pandemic time there was a prospective bride and for all the running business like I don't know it's starting the business because but wait you already got got into this business when it was already running right pretty much so basically when I started it was only one property running they had a handful of employees it wasn't like it was in a full-blown operation like it is now it's not it wasn't 70 employees remember there's there's there's five properties yes when I was on they were building the second property okay so the first built
I only had like 9 condos in the second one was going to be 21 so there was only 3:30 condos total
where is now we have 104 so I'll be honest when you start on this the system that you would said you were working it was maybe easier than by this day right no actually know okay I understand when I wrote this system and what 12 years ago and 12 years ago was just when online reservation start in the world wide web was just coming out at mean the what the World Wide Web the internet online reservation systems when they were just now then breaking out you know what it was
the internet the whole buying stuff on the internet was only a couple years old it wasn't that we're not talking the internet wasn't that
I knew it was knew it wasn't that old
okay so that was weird talking about 15 years ago and we talked to 2008 ALL well. 50 years ago I'm at 12 wat exact help me with the Masters
we're going to take some time for this exciting so when you decide to involve you in a different way how did change your way of life or you're protective of business obviously I lived in the states all my life and then I made the decision at that time to move to Mexico and
it was I was spending probably half of my life staying here and then traveling to other businesses I had but then eventually what it came down to his 12 years ago when this property of the old Taj was finally finished I became a partner I committed to living living in
being here in Playa del Carmen running a business
yes and I want to know that moment when I don't know there was a meeting that team meeting a team songs of some moment specific moment when they decide that they can you know what Ken looks smart like a good person that's bringing on today to the main team right how was that
I guess I kind of finagled myself into the whole mix because I originally developed the software program in and
it's my instinct to take control of stuff do you know that did you know that I have a underlying power to just want to take control of things just a little bit
so it was it was my natural instinct to come in and then again is a is a business development person Not only was I training on the software but I was like hey we should be doing things this way and blah blah blah and I started due to
Implement my kind of ways of doing things and they saw that they saw a benefit to it and they saw the positive energy that I brought to the table yes and that's when they finished BLTs they said hey can we think your positive influence on you to run the ship
congratulations and thank you thank you thank you and let's see on the other side is traveling while having a business are running a business can play Godwin or let's say in the Mexican perspective from a memory can view the Big Challenge here in Mexico challenge here is number one the salaries or low I could have very low compared to the states and that's that's that's a little shocking how challenging is that for you it was super challenging because when you when you're in the States you know even just minimum wage and I don't remember the numbers and stuff like that the the the wages here just way way lower than it was a different lifestyle here in Mexico and I'm Mexican so I don't want to be rude with all my clique smoke with my Mexican
but we have a different style lifestyle down in States right it's a simpler Life Style thank you it's a simpler Life Style and that's how I can be a lower-income stuff because it's just
there's a lot of things here that are different and again there's good things here and then there's bad things here and then when I get compared to the states there's good things there and get bad things they're just like going to the grocery store grocery store in the states for me now is like shocking
shocking because the price of the price is the price of groceries in the states compared to the price of groceries in Mexico are occasionally especially when you get into fresh when you get into fresh food like fruits and vegetables and stuff like that there are a million little
stores little fruit stands little vegetable stands and there's no there's only a handful of big grocery stores that mean technically I only see Meg has a big grocery store other than Megan Walmart has a big ones that's a typical of the US but then the little ones the song Rihanna which is like a super small grocery store and then they're all the fruteria is where we where I might find myself my wife and myself get the majority of our fruits and vegetables from his belittle fruterias which are you know little stores on the streets that are getting the the
produce in the the fruits and vegetables directly from the farm I mean that's just something different from the states as you wouldn't go to the store and see dirt on your your food on your food and you don't you don't pull a bell a bell pepper out and it still got dirt on it and that's I think that's a different Eminem song a big difference but this is related on how we run a business in how I'm just saying that with some of the difference is it's not about the business is just the lifestyle here in Playa del Carmen in the differences between the states from am in the American perspective here to live in Mexico and obviously also in Play Gavin both difference it is cheaper than in America
you can live your us style here I mean there is you know there are places that you can live at here which is just as expensive Injustice feature-rich is in the state's yes but you do have other options here especially Impala and it's typically you you want to live by the beach you're going to pay for the further you live from the beach the less expensive to run a business near to the beach or yes good connection thank you thank you because let's say I want to run a business in La Quinta Avenida 5th Avenue and that's I mean 5th Avenue is one of the most
populated poorest sections of file department is the main industry on Street in the whole Peninsula Yucatan I don't know if that line English Peninsula Peninsula thank you so it's the most important area for pedestrians in this area so you can imagine how many people is working there right now yes and in the rent the rent on 5th Avenue represents that number yeah that's if you want to know for sure for sure I seen the rent and some of those 5th Avenue streets of high-end restaurant we're talkin even from the 30 $40 000 a month or even the smallest place there don't know what the small place I just know that some of the bigger restaurants that I'm aware of
there's some big numbers out there big numbers out there so how do you handle it for example somebody wants to come to buy cabinets start leaving their own life here change they will flat the lifestyle that they are used to be happy it's just a different life and there are some huge benefits of the lifestyle here but the way I want to go to on this area of the business manager of the business owner if you want me to come here to play Kevin and start a business how difficult can be that super difficult that's super difficult the marketing means I would say
the marketing in Playa del Carmen would have to start with like Facebook yes I think Facebook is like a primary marketing engine in Playa del Carmen we have a lot of other opportunities to correct so social media plays a big part exactly but Facebook is something that really works correct okay so what would be your let's say first step if you want to run a business in Playa Carmen again it all depends on what kind of business you're running and it would have to I would assume if you're going to open a business in Playa it's has to be
either Taurus or locals so you have to make that decision is it going to be a touristic type of business or is it going to be a local business or and there's a huge difference okay that's a local business what's the different let's just let's say three points that the main three points of Entry difference from a local and a 360 perspective for business district business you would be talking about maybe tours doing things that are generated on Taurus GS sport where your your targeting the Taurus that are coming to town okay where is a local business could be different in the sense that you're targeting a local you know that the community let's say for example the fruteria you were saying the fruteria is going to be targeted at locals are going to have different things to handle but if you want to
come to play Carmen and you want to invest or you want to start your own business a Christian perspective and then the third one which is real estate which is to be tourist or local remember we had this in the in the podcast about real estate and Paula Carmen yes we talked about people either buy property in Playa del Carmen to for investment or investment yes or Taurus yes or they're buying it the live here yes and that's two different things so real estate's kind of like the third Market where you can be doing either or in the same thing like I know a physical therapist
and he targets both Taurus and the local market okay so so far we have the information up it's not that easy to run a business to start a business and playing with let's give some positive vibes a some some people that may be screaming to have their own business when they say they going to retired and they want to open a business in Playa Carmen what could be the possibility for them
it's possible yes everything's possible thank you first you got to be legal so and stuff like that okay
okay let's go I'm sorry we got a little ever interrupt you are we had somebody on where we came almost like you were saying then
what was I say you were saying about the difference of having in in play Carmen the difficulty is that is it can be easy or first you got to have residency by the redneck part 2 what's the illegal part you have to you have to have your paperwork to live and work here that's that's super important okay and that's it that could be a challenge anything to do any time that you have to deal with the Mexican Government it's a little challenging because it's not as cut-and-dry as like in the States you just go to the government office and you going to be a brand new sign this this that and the other than when you're done here it's well you got to do this and you kind of got a kind of do this and you got to kind of do this and you kind of got to do this and you got to go stand in line here for 3 hours that you can understand I understand that I'm Mexican to know
and the other interesting thing hears when you open a business in Mexico you have to define the business
okay yeah that Define it has to be defined and you can only do that do that particular we are going to talk to me about you because we are all the states you can have a business and you can do whatever do what you whatever you want you want to buy this or sell this or this that and the other thing it's pretty much okay here like we're on a hotel if I want a restaurant if I wanted to start buying and selling food out of the out of the hotel can't do that
not loud I'm not allowed to cuz I'm not allowed to buy food let's say the government says it has your your paper as a hotel right and then you start having or wanted to have a AAA restaurant a weight can you told me that you are Hotel correct why are you selling food can correct correct and you can't you can't use that food as against the cost of cost of running a business okay but at the end would you recommend someone to come to Mexico and invest and try to have their own business here of course not because it's all about Drive
kind of drive to your house okay so because it in some moment of this air podcast you were saying all this is difficult difficult to run a business okay but at your on on the other side
it can be possible if you can change your life and I know what number of people that open business here and they become successful it could be done okay if you okay let's and a separate outlet with all your experience please bring me three positive things or three
peeps thank you three tips for people that want to come to play Cameron and run their own business and get legal first that's the mean one gather that's the big one in and that's that's that's a challenge yes challenge can you be illegal in the states it's it's even harder I mean okay so it's easy to be legal in Mexico and you just need to be legal not because there's a lot of illegal things that you need to be a lot of times you know I guess an easy way to get legal here in Mexico is to get a job here work here
and start working working for somebody let it have somebody sponsor you
so that you can work here and that's it think maybe worldwide if you want to go to a place to another country now you can't work in the states unless you have a Social Security number that's that's that's that's all the states has an old guy working in the States you have to be 100% legal let's do can't just go like here for example when I first started working here
I was hired as
Anna manager okay
and as a manager of a company
I was sponsored by the company to be legal so I went through that paperwork in that path you don't even step and I worked here and then eventually I got my residency but I guess I think in please give me more details about this I think it's the same for us in the states I mean if if I want to go to sponsor you could really just come here
go through the paperwork stand in the line and you can be up and working fairly quickly but you got to work for a company first before you open a business okay
I mean it from my perspective I think that's the easier way those that's your story and I found I mean this is the story I found with most of the people are okay okay so the first step is you get legal to hear you get legal hear you cuz you want to do things legal here cuz if they catch you the shut you down like that I mean I can buy like in any other place I always I'm not saying it's any different anywhere I just know from experience of being here how things work a lot of people do I mean I do know a lot of people to come here and they try to Buck the system they try to you know what you do not follow the system and they get caught the little town things
it goes around comes around Justin is always getting better to be honest it is getting better when they went electronic I think that was a huge but that's another thing that's a little bit different here in Mexico so like in the state's you you do your your tax return every year company doesn't tax return every year here in Mexico you almost doing it a tax return monthly yeah cuz we we pay taxes monthly how much money is in the checking account at the end of month is how much taxes you're going to fail we don't want to talk about. You still doing what they call an annual which is a do you know that's illegal illegal illegal okay and the second one
establish yourself somewhere establish yourself established yourself established you know do the research
vinyl just like any other business find your competitors see what everybody else is doing yeah because I understand the pricing system in Mexico okay because you were dating and pesos it's in pesos typically when you're selling something you're selling it with taxes included it's like in the states when you go in the grocery store and you buy an Apple it's a certain price and then when you get to the register it's a price plus tax yes where is here when you buy an Apple if its 30 pesos is 30 peso in Mexico I know I've had a lot of friends come with me to us and they're like to go to the grocery store and they like a lot cuz he's a cheap and then they go all way you didn't pay the taxes you and assertive
the third tip what would be the third tip prepare for everything everything prepare and and be ready for
a culture that
Manana Manana maybe because we have a relaxed lifestyle it's a very relaxed culture and lifestyle yes it's not as stressful as you don't put yourself in a situation where you need it done now I mean you can you can get it done there's a there's plenty of that way you can get it done but just don't put yourself in that position way of thinking thinking and okay we have this pretty lips and
that's pretty much can we have an amazing episode this time right don't you think so I think so you think so I'm not the host though I'm not controlling don't worry don't worry we have control everything so let's say this time we have the ring bell the promotion so today I'm going to help all the people with this promotion
on the CEO we're going to do hashtag CEO hashtag CEO just to be clear it. Thank you. Perfect and who are you going to cut it going to people get from this if you've made it this far in the shower I'm going to give you a 20% additional discount if that's this is a long episodes yes it is yes it was fun I have fun with you again thank you hosting the episode awesome maybe I will try it and in some other did they did was ever going to be doing our first Spanglish episode this is going to be fun and we're going to be drinking a lot more I just cracked it open prepared it for tomorrow but that's amazing and we are going to need that just to relax and to be more easy right in front of a microphone right correct so that was pretty much thank you again for
the experience that we do share thank you Xavier and thank you everybody out there we look forward to seeing you soon and don't forget to ask to come on the podcast and do you have some social media for people can all my social is there in the in the podcast in the in the notes are great so see you next time thank you for being here bye bye bye bye