Going into a Business

[nikki23]

Hey peeps

The chance has arised for me to possibly ( we havent decided yet) go into business with my Tunisian friends uncle as he is looking to buy a restarant in yasmine. knowing that i want to stay in Tunisia he has offered that i pay half and therefore get half the profit from it. now i make no secret that im not too clued up on business but i do know all the paperwork will be overseen by the police and if i choose to go into it, my name will be on the contract. i have been told that if my bf wishes to work there then i can stay in england and still recieve profit for my share of the business as well as have a job over here.

has anyone gone into the same sort of thing or can they comment on the idea?
its just an idea at this moment in time, but if it sounds ok do i need to get a lawyer over here or anything?
nic xx xx

[Essem]

Hi, I've been offered a few partnerships from rabbit farms & importing incontinence wear to restaurants and leather factories. I haven't taken up any of these offers. I would make an appointment to speak to an English speaking lawyer and allow him to advise you on all aspects of going into business there. You can find an up to date list on the British Embassy website. Why not email some of them asking for general information in the first place and take it from there. I wouldn't hand over any money at all until all the groundwork has been done and you are absolutely sure of what will happen. One girl I know set her bf up in buiness in PEK and has lost in the region of £50K - he was a worker but no idea about running a business and at that time PEK just didn't need another artisan shop!!! Be careful. My favourite saying for Tunisia is 'Broken hearts heal a lot quicker than empty bank accounts'. Sorry to be so cynical but I'm sure you work very hard for what you
have.

[Kris]

I know a million stories of people (Tunisians loosing money in such investments) and the advice I get from everyone is that as a foreigner be exceptionally vigilant in such situations.

Now Tunisian friends uncle is not close enough for me to consider a good investment especially something large like a resturant in Yasmine which I am sure will not be mega cheap.

My business in Tunisia is me and my wife and money that I can afford to loose (the domain Tunisia.com is still owned by my UK company that I own and leased to the Tunisian company). As for my Tunisian family I just about trust them given that I have been with Hajer for over 3 years and know them well and importantly we are married with a baby so they are my father and brother in laws etc. There is a good saying never mix business with family/friends and this is good advice. I get relatives come to office wanting jobs but i always say no as I do not want the complexity this would cause especially for other staff.

My advice to you would be to buy the restaurant yourself (which you may be able to do) and then have a formal arrangement where they can rent it off you for mate rates if you like. That way you always have the restaurant and can sell it if you like and kick them out if they do not pay.

Never go into business with other people in Tunisia on this basis NEVER! remember a 50,000 business is worth 50,000 if your selling it, what happens when one person wants to go 50% is not 25,000 as it is only a share with no control? do you take a lesser offer if it is you or will you be left with other third party as your uncle has sold he share to someone else and or given it to his son? This is all legal stuff that needs consideration in the UK let alone Tunisia.

My advice would be to steer clear and buy yourself property that either you own or once your married/living there invest a little in family business to keep things interesting 30% circa (so they are the boss and motivated) ones that are ongoing and can prove profit generation and even then be prepared to be patient for returns as this is pure speculation in my book and just for fun.

Me personally never will invest anymore in anything I do not control, if my father/brother in law was going under and need money to keep things going I would consider it but that hasn't happened and I would consider it a gift/investment.

If you have the money to invest in a resturant in Hammamwt your obviously not an idiot I suggest putting some of it in gold for 2008 and wait until your married and living in Tunisia and save your relationship from such complexities.

The more I think about it the worse an idea it becomes please do not do this I only see pain and stress. I am not a lawyer but I have an MBA and have run businesses all my life and have a business in Tunisia and lived through the paperwork DO NOT GO FOR THIS ARRANGEMENT.

Please I care about my customers and I want you to be happy.

Regards,

Kris

[Angel]

Hi Nikki23,
Just read your message about going into business with a Tunisian you hardly know. Myself and my wife went into partnership with two Tunisian's, we had a 40/60% share in the business. mine was also a restaurant in Hammam Sousse. It was a large beautifully decorated cafe/restaurant called 'Titanic'. The two Tunisian's were brothers from Monastir and we drew up contracts etc with a lawyer and thought everything was ok. we handed over 50,000 dinars cash to the brothers for our share of the business, and guess what, they disappeared. It turned out they had no intention of doing the business with us and just saw the cash. It turned out they were heavily in debt and used the money to clear their debts.
Anyway, the restaurant never opened, and after a finding a brilliant lawyer in Sousse who fought for us in the courts, we finally got back around 30,000 dinars of our money, and one of the two brothers who's name was on the contract went to prison. This happen in August 2005 and we finally got our money around April 2006.
Many people did say we was lucky to get this money back, so even though we lost 20,000 we should feel lucky we got any at all.
Please don't think all Tunisian's are crooks,as I have met and made friends with many that are correct. But i advise you not to consider doing any business or parting with any money to someone who is a friend's uncle. I found out after, we could have set up on our own, without aTunisian partner. I did sucessfully run my own business after this ordeal and things were ok until i decided to return to the uk, so i sold my business to a Tunisian, but did it all correct may i add.

[issam]

i think you shoud not take it,as kris said to you the best thing is to invest in property ,you rent it on line and through a local state agent,plus you ac***ulating profit on top of what you paid in value,i own two properties one in yasmine hammamet next to theam park carthage land and the other in north of hammamet facing omar khayem hotel,both are generating extra in come between 6000 pound to 12000 pounds,i think to get this money in a restaurant you need to put a lot of effort

[tater03]

I have no clue but are you allowed to run a background check on anyone that you are thinking about going in business with? I imagine it might not tell you everything but it might throw up some red flags if there are any on the person you are considering going into business with. Especially if you don't know them all that well.

[ROULLA]

Hi All,

Hope that you are all in good health !
I would like to say that i agree with Kris 100% on this topic, try and find out as much information as possible, with your eyes open widely and i mean that.......personally iwould not trust ayone but thats me i like to do things by myself and besides i have been let down by Tunisians in the past........Trust me on this one and not your bf uncle........

[Riadh Chekaya]

Hi Nikki 23
I agree entirely with what Kris said, I hope you are not discouraged from doing business in Tunisia as there are a lot of opportunities out there. I suggest that whatever you do make sure that you employ an English speaking lawyer recommended by the British Embassy in Tunis and don't part with any moneys unless you are 100% satisfied.

[nikki23]

thanks for the advice people, really it is fully appriciated x x xx

[jools]

Hi Nikki,

I have only just read your post & I too must agree with Kris & Essem. Setting up a business anywhere is difficult & it can take you the best part of 2-3 years before you even see a good return, infact you are lucky if you break even in the very first year, which can be a very trying time. Its hard work & the hours must be put in 24/7 in order to see any form of return, but if you are trying to set up a business not in your own home country, but in a foreign country, with two foreigners that you barely know, I would say no & walk away now, while you still have the chance, & before you do something that you may regret at a later stage, & more to the point, it could cost you dearly!
Business should never really be mixed with friends, & in my experience you end up finishing the friendship because of disagreements over the business/money side of things!! Infact, you usually find many people, like distant friends & relatives start coming out of the woodwork looking for jobs, simply because you have now started your own business/company & it can become very irriatiating indeed. It is like you now have a licence or some sort of duty to employ them, simply because you are related to them, its crazy but it happens & you do have to be very decisive & say a firm, but a polite, NO!!!

To me this sounds a very shady deal & if I have to be honest with you I have heard many stories like yours in Tunisia, & probably will continue to do so. Sadly a majority of them were not legitimate businessess, infact in most cases a business was never ever intended, it was purely for the money. You must tread very carefully & check & re-check everything if this is what you want to do. What about investing in property or if you like the idea of setting up your own business, set it up for yourself, but do your homework & if that works out, then get a lawyer (a good one) to make sure that you have covered every legal area known to man, because from country to country the legal side of contracts etc does vary considerably, & never assume anything, not in business. I know some lawyers can be expensive but when you weigh up what they legally draw up for you, & what you could lose if they didn't, they are worth their weight in gold.

I am so sorry if I sound negative to your venture, I don't mean to, but I have read & seen this type of situation time & time again & it really annoys me when people end up losing their hard earned money because someone else sees them as easy pickings, please be careful!

jools.