Vacation rentals are a great way for an investor to create an income overseas but, unless they’re living next door, anyone who owns a vacation rental needs someone to manage it for them. Property management is a business you can start with absolutely no investment. You are simply trading your time and effort.
Jennifer Posner fell in love with San Miguel de Allende during trips there as a young girl. In 2007, when it came time for her “to unplug from corporate America,” San Miguel was the first place she thought of. Now she makes her living there from a quirky, but successful, catering operation. She’s taken the American food truck concept from the streets to private catering gigs and just about anywhere there’s a gathering that needs to be fed.
My husband, Kevin, and I both turned 30 this year, and while the rest of our cohort is punching a time clock and climbing up the bitter corporate ladder, we’re sipping sangria on the balcony of our seafront apartment on Spain’s Mediterranean coastline… savoring café con leche (Spanish coffee) as the sun rises…or celebrating with cava (sparkling wine) under the moon.
Imagine if work involved saddling up and taking to the trail instead of being stuck in morning traffic, heading into the office. You don’t need to have a lot of money to work with horses overseas. If fact you don’t need to own much land or spend a fortune buying horses to set up your own business.
The organic food industry is growing steadily each year, as consumers across the globe demand access to healthy and pesticide-free produce, meat, and other foods. Thailand is no exception to this growing trend, especially in the country’s urban, high-population areas of Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
Malaysia is on the rise. The middle class is growing, disposable income is increasing, and it is one of the easiest places in the world for a foreigner to set up a business—ranked 12th of 185 by the World Bank. In my experience of observing start-ups here in Malaysia, franchising is a very feasible business opportunity in this economy.
The first time John Morgan set foot on Little Corn Island, he was under its spell. “The moment my feet sunk into the soft, coral sand where the captain beached the water taxi, I had an overwhelming feeling of being home.” “I had never traveled to Central or South America and had certainly never heard of these remote undeveloped Caribbean islands off the coast of Nicaragua.
In my line of work there’s no such thing as a typical day. One recent Tuesday, my partner and I sat side by side on the beach, sipping morning coffee in our swimsuits and flip-flops…our two dogs lounging in the sand beside us. I was translating a presentation for an advertising company…she was working on a set of by-laws.
For every substantial, bricks-and mortar business set up by an expat overseas, there are hundreds of small enterprises that people operate from their own homes with very little investment. Within a year of starting their micro-enterprise overseas, Jim and Mariellen Wiemann are making a profit and supplementing their retirement income. “The business allows us to purchase the things we might otherwise not have. We are planning some vacations abroad, and the business will support those adventures,” says Jim.
I had a cute house with a backyard, a great job, a wonderful marriage, and two beautiful little boys. I was living the American dream, but it didn’t feel like it. The long hours at work meant I didn’t have time to enjoy gardening in the backyard. Our sons Diego and Dante spent more time in daycare than with us. My husband and I were once so stressed that we both forgot our wedding anniversary.