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Ten Years in Puerto Vallarta with Lifestyles by John Youden    fall-winter/99 I arrived in Vallarta in early January of 1987, a wonderful time to escape the cold Canadian winters, and probably the best time to find work in Puerto Vallarta. I did not have much in the way of belongings; most I left back in British Columbia, with my intentions being to first try out working in this foreign country, if working was at all legally and financially possible. The most immediate opportunities were in timeshare, and I did that for a year before other opportunities arose. One was a chance meeting with a fellow who had just bought the latest Macintosh II computer, (which most incredibly is still operating in our office today), along with a printer and scanner. He had hopes of establishing a multiple listing service for the Puerto Vallarta real estate market. As I had some experience with database programming, I offered to build the program in return for a share of the soon-to-be-formed company. He generously offered me half, which I accepted, and the rest, as they say, is history. We did get the MLS service up and running, and it still functions well today. However my partner did not fare as well. Doing business in Vallarta, or Mexico for that matter, can be a very difficult and strenuous experience for those of us from north of the border. The manner of doing business just isn't the same as what we are used to, and if you try to fight the system, you are most surely going to lose. I've seen many people come and go, more go than actually survive, and fewer still who succeed. It's not that the system is BAD, it's just DIFFERENT, and the sooner you realize that, the easier your life, and the more successful your business, will be. There's more to it than just another language, there's a way of doing business that many foreigners have difficulty relating to. I remember once being asked to talk with a group of money managers from the USA, who get together once a year to share ideas. This year the location of their meeting happened to be Vallarta, and they had chosen me to talk a little about what it was like doing business in PV. As soon as I arrived at their luncheon I was bombarded with questions about Mexico and Vallarta business, my opinions on the economy and what my business consisted of. It was only much later that they got around to asking about me, about my life and my family. One manager asked what the differences were between doing business here compared to back in the USA. I remarked that if this had been a luncheon with myself and Mexican businessmen, they first would have asked about me and my family, how we were doing, and then, if there was time, we'd talk business. Mexicans put family and personal relationships in front of business. And the more I stay here, the more I find I like that. After a year of operating Multi-List Vallarta, I had come to realize that my past partner's projections were way off, and that if I was going to survive I had to diversify, to offer more than just a real estate directory. Local realtors suggested I start a magazine, a color publication that could be distributed on the newsstands and would give people an idea of what was available in Vallarta in the way of real estate. I decided to give it a try although there were some hesitations. I couldn't help thinking back to the time I ordered the first covers for Multi-List Vallarta. When the printer asked the size I told him it was 8 x 11. What I neglected to say is that I'm used to working in inches, and two days later when I picked up the covers I discovered that in Mexico things are done in metric. My covers actually measured 3 x 4.5 inches. I had visions of printing 5,000 magazines only to have them arrive at half the size I had requested, or thought I had requested. Click here to continue...

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