Los Campos is moving

[Mykul]

Thanks for the encouragement NanN,
It has most certainly been an expensive learning experience but we are still moving forward.
We have a lawyer trying to recoup some of our investment on Alonso, and he seems fairly confident but who knows what the time frame on that is.
Our real struggle as always is obtaining a license to sell alcohol. The landlord in our new location has an existing license he wants to transfer to us. The time frame? Basically the same as applying for a new one. Can we use it in the interim? Of course not. I have lived and worked in some regulation heavy places, but none as anti small business as Gto.

[colleen]

Anti small business. You got that right. And it's not just anti the gringos. 66 pages of the sign laws. If only they would let the businesses put up signs that are at eye level, not above the door. And not so darn hard to get a permit in the fist place. It would be great for the tourists and all of us to know what is being offered, not get the big surprise after the place is out of business and you realize you would have loved to have known about it.

I was told that you can get a license for beer thru the beer companies, but then you are stuck with buying certain amounts from then. I hope it all works out for you. Your restaurant is very good and I tell people about it all the time.

[Mykul]

Thanks Colleen. Believe me when I say we appreciate all of the support from the community we have received.

My frustration stems from a general unwillingness to help us along by the local govt people. We spent 4 months preparing paperwork to apply for our liquor license on Alonso. It was only once we spent 12 weeks compiling all of that and submitted the application that someone looked closely and chose to inform us that our landlord did not actually own the house.
Once we moved our new landlord went with us to see the same person with a valid license in hand and ask if we could please use it while we went through the process to transfer it to our address. Nope. This fellow knew our entire story and simply would do nothing to expedite the process or help in any way. This happening when I know of at least one other restaurant 3 blocks from ours that has been operating with a full wine list without any license for two years because the operator has family in the government.

We have made a point of supporting the local economy and paying local folks a fair wage and it is disappointing when you realize that at the government level they are just as happy to send you spinning in circles from one office to the next and watch you slowly go out of business than support or assist you in any way.

I apologize for the ranting. It has been a trying week.

---

We looked into the beer company license, from what I can tell that seems to be a pretty dead practice, and it basically takes the same amount of time as you still have to go through the entire process of having municipal approval.

Once you got the approval the beer companies would pay for a portion or all of the license fee in exchange for exclusivity. Apparently they also used to keep a handful of licenses and just transfer them from one place to another, but again, that doesn't appear to be an option anymore.

We are going to transfer the license our landlord has from another address to this one. I expect that will be another 3-4 months and if for some reason that does not work I am afraid we may just have to call it a day and go elsewhere.

[NanN]

GTO does seem to be a place where family connections come in handy and the "shop" is pretty closed.

After 11 years of very successful operation of my tour company in Jalisco and Colima states I really got tired of the dust, bugs and humidity at the coast and moved to Guanajuato.
Even though Sea to Sierra had been registered with SECTUR as a licensed tour company for over 8 years at that point (the only one in the Costalegre with that registration at the time I moved).
Even though I took and passed (3rd in my class of native spanish speakers) the SECTUR General Guide's Course at the University of Colima.
Even though I had been a Naturalized Tax Paying citizen of Mexico for over 6 years at the time and I paid my taxes as an FM3 holder for five years prior to that.
Even though I could show a track record of employing and providing IMSS for my tour guides all of whom were Mexican by birth and were native to the area we operated.
Even though I could prove how I was well known and recognized for marketing the area where I operated in print and on line in notable publications not to mention my own high traffic and very detailed web site.

To operate in Guanajuato I would have pretty much needed to start from the beginning and I wasn't made to feel welcome. This surprised me because I was well known in many parts of Mexico for eco-tours on bike and horseback - I got referrals from other Mexican companies and guides all the time and I returned the favour. Plus, there wasn't anyone offering anything here that was remotely close to that on any sort of professional level.

So I sold my imported bikes and all of my fancy imported English and Western tack (it all sold like hotcakes BTW as did the contents of my house.) I went to Dolores and bought a ton of wonderful ceramics, mirrors etc. Went to Michoacan and did the same all around the artisan towns near to Pátzcuaro even making it up to Ocumicho for over 60 of their wonderful devil statues - and I packed all of that up and I moved back to Canada. I hope it doesn't come to that for you.

[philyrossy]

I tried 10 years ago to start a business (Jalisco-Chapala). My wife is from Leon. We had "hell" getting anything out of the City government, except "anything you want to do in Mexico is possible'. They wanted a bribe, and more than one entity did. I would not pay and my wife told me that they will drag their feet as long as they legally can, and then even more. She was right. When we engaged a lawyer, he wanted lots of money up front, saying it was very difficult to go against the locals and very time consuming (i.e. they really could do nothing if they wanted any local business). Finally, we gave up and stopped. It did not bother them at all that they lost a business that was a Big tourist attraction (small mentality on their part). At least I never encountered the visits from the Mafia (Unions) like a Belgian friend that opened a local waffle place, and he only had 1 employee. He was closed down and doors were locked by Union, because he did not "join" and provide Union benefits as they wanted for his 1 employee(who did not want to be part of the Union). No choice. What a mess. If you haven't been visited yet, I am afraid you are in for a "shock". BTW, I doubt there are any other restaurants that are "happy" you are here, just us. :) And, helping locally, does nothing for your lack of paying "mordida". Good Luck.