By the end of the month, I will be closing our Otavalo office. It was opened on November 4, 2009 after our great success with our Quito office. A combination of poor timing, power outages and corrupt local attorneys and officials is making it not worth pursuing.
As mentioned in my previous post about my thoughts on Ecuador, I mentioned that corruption is still a big problem. Here in Otavalo, it´s no different. While it´s possible to do business here, it´s very difficult. I refuse to engage in dirty politics and stoop to their level. Unfortunately, as long as ex-pats refuse to say NO to corruption and quit paying these corrupt lawyers for their services, they will stick around. We have already seen this happen a few times. It's disappointing that in order to accomplish some tasks faster or easier, corruption must continue.
In hindsight, starting the office before the slow holiday season was a mistake. Generally, business slows until sometime in February when people get back to doing the things they do. Like any business, each office has to support itself. While the Otavalo office provides a great service in terms of offering a local solution, it's just not producing the expected results.
I will continue living in the Otavalo area and can assist some ex-pats on a case-by-case basis. We just won't have a physical office here.
Sincerely,
David Beyer
www.ecuadorservices.com
As mentioned in my previous post about my thoughts on Ecuador, I mentioned that corruption is still a big problem. Here in Otavalo, it´s no different. While it´s possible to do business here, it´s very difficult. I refuse to engage in dirty politics and stoop to their level. Unfortunately, as long as ex-pats refuse to say NO to corruption and quit paying these corrupt lawyers for their services, they will stick around. We have already seen this happen a few times. It's disappointing that in order to accomplish some tasks faster or easier, corruption must continue.
In hindsight, starting the office before the slow holiday season was a mistake. Generally, business slows until sometime in February when people get back to doing the things they do. Like any business, each office has to support itself. While the Otavalo office provides a great service in terms of offering a local solution, it's just not producing the expected results.
I will continue living in the Otavalo area and can assist some ex-pats on a case-by-case basis. We just won't have a physical office here.
Sincerely,
David Beyer
www.ecuadorservices.com
