hello folks
is there any agency i cold contact to find out
about buying some small business? or any other way to know what is up in the market
thank you for any help

Check the local realtors.. They list commercial properties for sale.. See below..
http://www.sunbeltbonaire.com/realestate.php?nav=7&cat=2

http://www.bonairehomes.com/Nav.aspx/Page=%2fListNow%2fDefault.aspx%2fddlPropertyTypeID%3d270

HI Galaca, I am not certain, but from what I was told by people who frequent Bon, permission must be granted by the government to live, work, or own a business on Bon, and you dont own property I guess, long term lease??

Anyone can buy an exiting business on Bonaire..just pay for it is the only requirement.

Depending on the business, not all permits are transferable to new owners.

Buying for instance a business with a food and beverage licence will not allow you to operate that business. The licence is specifically issued to the owner, not the building.

Always check with the Notaris.

Antony (without the "H")

You can buy any business you wish on Bonaire. I did not mean to imply it was easy, however! Permits such as liquor, etc. all need to be taken out under the new owners name. The Notaris is not always the best choice for info. Direct contact with the specific departments with written protocols to follow are best. So, depending on what you end up doing, it can be a slam dunk or a sea of red tape.

In a nutshell.

Worst scenario is that you buy a business and then are not granted a permit to run it.

It's all part of the fun!

Again, you can own it but not be issued a work or resident permit. Offshore ownership, while not a wise idea, is pretty common here. I cringe when I see absentee owners expect their businesses to run well when they are not here to oversee operations.

The warnings you have received here are pretty much accurate. In general, dive shops, restaurants and bars are the ones where you have a lot of trouble with the license transfer. The government recognizes that they would kill the hotel business if they made every hotel close while the license was being granted, so they make allowances for license transfers. They don't feel the same way about bars and restaurants. Even with them, it can nearly always be done, but don't be sneaky ... be very upfront, and get their approval before you start business. If you are caught operating on a license that they don't think is valid, you will have a hard time ever setting things straight again.

Most of the other small businesses (retail stores, accounting, etc) are much simpler, because they aren't as tightly controlled.

I fully concur with Michael on the problems an absentee owner faces. I wouldn't even consider it.

I was there last week and had tried to find out some info about starting up a snorkel biz there, just run by me and my husband.
I received so many different answers from residents and those that have moved there. Answers included: no possible way can a US person own a business unless you hire locals; no way you can get a job that a Bonairean (sp?) could do; of course, it's easy; if you are taking a job or business away from the locals, it won't get approved, etc.

Now, I saw so many places that had so many different folks working there from all over the world. Can someone give me a fairly straight answer (sigh)? I'm interested in buying/building down there and starting up a snorkel biz or some sort of biz that can support us. I saw some great info on building/buying on the BT, and that would be first? I'd like to initially get a place that I can rent out while I'm not there, and maybe get property with an apt that even if I had some renters, I could go at the same time. . .
Thoughts please...

We need a snorkel business. Renee is so busy thankfully for her. This is my opinion.

That's exactly what I want to do. Yes, it seems so many people wanted Renee, and she was so busy.
How about hi-tech snorkeling where you can have a live play by play in underwater headphones about the fish and stuff you see?
I always wind up showing the fish to the newbies, and I love it. I thought it would be a great idea, but had not received encouragement so much about being actually able to start up a business over there.
Not that I expect it to be easy, and I can jump thru the necessary hoops as I've had a couple small businesses here in the States.

Who would be a good person to get some info from on this?

Anyone that told you that you can't buy a business didn't know what they were talking about. I know roughly what I am talking about (having bought one, sold one, and started another), but I am still not an authority.

As Michael, Antony, and myself have all said, you can buy pretty much any business you want. Licensing and residence can be a problem, so it is possible to buy a business that you have a real problem trying to run.

If you have a clean criminal record, are free of "infectious disease", and have a fair amount of money piled up (minimum around $20K, but $200K or so is much more practical if you think you are going to start a small business from scratch), residence won't be a problem.

Licensing may be a problem with a snorkel business. There is a moratorium on dive shop licenses, restrictions on how close together two dive shops can be, etc. How the government would view a snorkel business is unknown to me. If they treat it as a dive shop, I would be extremely skeptical of your ability to start a new one, and wouldn't be that thrilled about you trying to buy one. I've heard rumors of a case where a dive shop was sold, and, rather than transfer the license to the purchaser, they gave the license to a person on the waiting list. If they view a snorkel guide business as a separate kind of business, you'd be OK.

Get your business plan together, and call DEZA: 011-599-717-5330, ext 521, and explain what you are up to. They will tell you what your chances are.

As a rule, the government is eager to attract capital and have successful businesses. There are some businesses (hotels, restaurants, bars, dive shops, construction contractors) where they make it difficult to enter in order to protect the businesses that they have already licensed. If you steer away from those, there shouldn't be a problem.

One thing you heard is pretty much correct: you won't be able to work for anyone else's company, except under unusual circumstances. It's quite difficult for an American to get a work permit. Not impossible, but not easy.

Hey thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate it. Will definitely take your advice and check it all out thoroughly!
Swimcerely yours, D

There are enough snorkle businesses presently. Renee is busy because she is one of the best. Woodwinds also has a first rate operation and there are more folks at the dive shops, mangrove center, water taxi that offer snorkle trips. I don't really see any room for more of the same, however, if you did something unique in connection with your business such as free diving you may find your niche. The only free diving company no longer is active.

Renee is the best. My clients love her. I really meant we need someone to deal with the cruise ship snorkel clients perhaps. Renee has a loyal following Our island is small and it is critical to research things to see what can be sustained. The free diving idea is a good one Michael.

Ann, in regard to the cruise ship snorkel clients, I was told that Dive Friends has a contract with the Cruise ships, and I think that the set up they have at Windsock is just for them. The tent, all the snorkel vests, etc. I wonder how hard it would be to compete with that.

Another thought, what if you offered the free diving option, but also educational classes like fish behavoir, fish Id, stuff like that. Or maybe snorkel classes, beginner, intermediate, advanced? Just throwing out ideas here

Other than Renee are there any other shore snorkeling businesses on Bonaire? I'd like to see more. If they exist I'm not aware of them.

I'm kicking around the idea of starting a business there. My wife and I have been discussing moving out of the U.S. for a couple of years but not found the place we thought was going to really fit us perfectly...

Reading more about Bonaire after we planned this dive trip, we both started looking at each other and saying this may be the place we were looking for. So this is all obviously "sight unseen" as we haven't even been to the island yet, but I'm still curious.

My area of expertise is computers, not only desktop installation and repair but extensive experience on servers that larger businesses use. I also have a lot of experience with running most Microsoft business server applications, hosting them for other businesses.

Is there much of a market for this type of service on Bonaire? I see myself doing a mix of the high skill level business/server work, and augmenting it with high caliber, reliable desktop/pc support for smaller businesses.

What do you think? Any demand for this?

A market? Certainly. Enough of one? I don't think so myself. We already have about 7 similar businesses competing in a market of 14,000 people.

You would have a very difficult time getting a permit. Perhaps you could buy an existing business