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New here As the title says, Im from South Africa and we're moving to the USA. I have family in Denver, but we plan on moving to NC to open a small family business, as I hear there are great opportunities in NC -being the number 2 State for business opportunities.
We plan on visiting to Look See and Discover but before that i would like some help on the following, please:
- My mom wants to live near the beach - now with opening a family business, would the business even do well in a coastal city like Wilmington. I heard its really hot and humid there as well...
-Where would be a big city close enough to the beach that would be great fro business (and less humid - if thats even possible)
-What sort of business would service the people of NC? Sorry for the randomness of this question, but we are looking at restaurant or catering or even an events company?
My mom wants to live near the beach - now with opening a family business, would the business even do well in a coastal city like Wilmington. I heard its really hot and humid there as well...
-Where would be a big city close enough to the beach that would be great fro business (and less humid - if thats even possible)
-What sort of business would service the people of NC? Sorry for the randomness of this question, but we are looking at restaurant or catering or even an events company?
Since most of the population growth is in the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill), I'd suggest locating there, perhaps on the eastern side in Johnston County so that you are closer to the beach. Is there any way to benefit for the CSX Container Hub to be built near Smithfield? Catering for the workers? Could you be an importer of South African wines, and be a freight-forwarder for them??
I live near Wilmington, and I believe there is plenty of competion there with restaurants and wedding venues. I think it would be hard to break in. It also suffers from having a seasonal economy, with slow-downs in the winter.
I also think Jacksonville could use an elegant Continental restaurant. (Anything other than another chain restaurant, please!!!) Perhaps an elegant farm-to-table restuarant to use our local pork and turkey in more sophisticated ways. Thinking of this place, but closer to the beach: http://chefandthefarmer.com/ The restuarant could have wine-tasting events to compare South African wines to our local Duplin County wines.
I would also love to see a restaurant that knows how to cook our wonderful fish, shrimp and scallops in more sophisticated ways. Teach us that there are better ways to cook than batter-frying!! Perhaps a mediterranean-style restaurant near a beach that served fish in oil and lemon or wine sauces.
Just tossing out a few ideas. HTH.
Last edited by goldenage1; 01-18-2016 at 07:54 AM..
As I read this, you are locating to a state you've never visited, to start a business but you don't know what kind?
Restaurants have an exceptionally high fail rate, everywhere. What do you have experience in? I would strongly pick what kind of business you wish to start BEFORE picking a place, based on what you have experience in.
Don't always go by what the magazines say as far as "this state is the best for X", especially coming from outside the USA--they have their own agendas. I would contact Small Business agencies in various states to find out "from the horse's mouth". A good place for NC is the NC Small Business & Technology Development Center, but they will want you to t least have an industry narrowed down as to what kind of business you're going to be starting.
Thank you Goldenage, those are some wonderful ideas. I appreciate the suggestions an all the thought that went into it. We love our wine tastings paired with good food here in SA.
Francois, as mentioned we are planning a LSD trip...But you're right, we need to think of the business first. Hence restaurant as my husband is an exec chef. Was worried that restaurants can and do fail.
I think Virginia was on our radar at some point too, as well as Houston, Texas.
I have 12 years of Marketing and Communications experience having worked for Accenture, however, starting a consulting company small business requires a client base...That's where the proble comes in. (and we have to start a business as we have an L1 visa pending)
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Originally Posted by marcola
Hi All
New here As the title says, Im from South Africa and we're moving to the USA. I have family in Denver, but we plan on moving to NC to open a small family business, as I hear there are great opportunities in NC -being the number 2 State for business opportunities.
We plan on visiting to Look See and Discover but before that i would like some help on the following, please:
- My mom wants to live near the beach - now with opening a family business, would the business even do well in a coastal city like Wilmington. I heard its really hot and humid there as well...
-Where would be a big city close enough to the beach that would be great fro business (and less humid - if thats even possible)
-What sort of business would service the people of NC? Sorry for the randomness of this question, but we are looking at restaurant or catering or even an events company?
Thanks in advance
As was already suggested, a restaurant & an important business would work. If you want both businesses to be more year-round look at the bigger cities. They won't give immediate gratification for the beach , but you don't want to go into the water in the dead of winter. In the heat of summer a lot of restaurants slow down so you might not miss a lot of business to close for a week or two in the heat of summer, but I wouldn't do that the first year. You'd want to pick the slowest time.
New here As the title says, Im from South Africa and we're moving to the USA. I have family in Denver, but we plan on moving to NC to open a small family business, as I hear there are great opportunities in NC -being the number 2 State for business opportunities.
We plan on visiting to Look See and Discover but before that i would like some help on the following, please:
- My mom wants to live near the beach - now with opening a family business, would the business even do well in a coastal city like Wilmington. I heard its really hot and humid there as well...
-Where would be a big city close enough to the beach that would be great fro business (and less humid - if thats even possible)
-What sort of business would service the people of NC? Sorry for the randomness of this question, but we are looking at restaurant or catering or even an events company?
Thanks in advance
Hello/Groete!
Just wanted to wish you luck in your seach. I'm from SA as well, and after living in NJ for 25 years, my husband and I are also looking to move to Myrtle Beach area. We visited there (he has family outside Conway) and liked it very much. Planning to spend a week looking around in more detail at the end of April, 2016. I'll be happy to share my findings with you. Cheers!
Hi, we are also from south Africa and looking to move out to NC as well as soon as possible. With all the thoughts and everything still new about this big decision we would like some input on how exactly everything works in detail and how to go about this as to where to live, what expenses to expect and so on. Are there any house rentals like here in South Africa or should one buy a house? What does rentals if any cost or cost to buy a house? What does schools cost cause I have children. Are there any Quarry jobs around for my husband, as he is currently in that trade and I am in the bookkeeping trade. Would really appreciate some input on this matter. Hope to hear from someone soon... Regards Linda De Abreu.
Hi, we are also from south Africa and looking to move out to NC as well as soon as possible. With all the thoughts and everything still new about this big decision we would like some input on how exactly everything works in detail and how to go about this as to where to live, what expenses to expect and so on. Are there any house rentals like here in South Africa or should one buy a house? What does rentals if any cost or cost to buy a house? What does schools cost cause I have children. Are there any Quarry jobs around for my husband, as he is currently in that trade and I am in the bookkeeping trade. Would really appreciate some input on this matter. Hope to hear from someone soon... Regards Linda De Abreu.
A lot of these answers will entirely depend on where in NC you will be settling and how large a property you will want. I rented when I lived in NC- moving anywhere new I would suggest renting first so you can get an idea of where and what you want to buy.
Public schools are free but again their quality varies depending on the school district. NC on the whole isn't known for well ranked public schools but I'm sure there are still decent ones to be found.
I would honestly start looking at job boards (indeed, careerbuilder etc) to try to narrow down which part of NC would be the best fit. Expenses can vary quite a bit throughout the state.
Also, while NC has its pros (beaches, mountains, low property tax etc) I would keep myself open to other areas of the U.S as there are definitely more affordable states if affordability is a concern.
We did a one month home exchange in November 2015 with a family from Capetown. They have been trying to immigrate from SA to the US for several years. Because the husband owns a computer related technology company in SAN, they targeted the Triangle. They arranged for three home exchanges in the area which gave them a solid four months to see what this area had to offer.
One of their biggest concerns was sticker shock for everyday costs. (Likewise we were sticker thrilled with how cheap it was in SA). The cost of food, health care, gasoline, dining out, wine - all scared the bejesus out of them. Purchasing a home like their capetown home (4000+ sq feet, distant ocean view, high end neighborhood) would have been impossible.
There are also barriers having to do with immigrating to the US legally. His ability to start a business and make new jobs was his ability to get permanent residency for hime, the wife and kids.
They are looking at other areas of the Us and posdibly canada.
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As the title says, Im from South Africa and we're moving to the USA. I have family in Denver, but we plan on moving to NC to open a small family business, as I hear there are great opportunities in NC -being the number 2 State for business opportunities.
