Esteban Morano is an Argentine businessman who settled in Florida seven years ago. He is not the typical case of immediate success, he had to put up a fight. He tried several businesses and investments in the United States since 2011, what are not entirely what he imagined. Far from being discouraged, he redoubled the bet with an asset that not everybody has: experience. For this reason, he met lawyers specialized in immigration, people from finance, business, etc. Everything you need to undertake, this time with more chances of success.
Thus, an idea that arose precisely from the missteps he took as a Latino looking to do business in the US was born. The Thinkinworld platform brings the United States closer to Latinos looking to emigrate or do business in the country. With a group of advisors on key issues, Morano tries to make life easier for those who dream with the "American dream", whether it is settling in the country or just investing in different businesses from their country of origin.
Los migrantes, claros ganadores de la recuperación del empleo
In dialogue with LPO, Morano told what investors from Latin America, who seek to immerse themselves in the United States, are asking for. In which states do they invest or do business, how does this "gateway" to the US work through business visas, and how being a Latino entrepreneur you can create a company that promises to bill 1 million dollars next year with an initial investment of $30,000.
You recently did a study with your Latin American customers about who, how and where to invest in the country. What results did you see?
What we see a lot - and let's say the strongest investment for the United States has always been and continues to be due to a matter of proximity, idiosyncrasy and culture of Mexico. And Mexicans invest mainly in the states that are closest to them along the border. I would tell you Texas and California. Good investors, the strong ones in Mexico, are very used to having good levels of profitability, so they either invest in what is called the internalization of their own companies to the United States, either through imports or exports, or by setting up a subsidiary of their company in the US. They are also very strong in properties and things that has to do with developments. Then there are some who, through investment, also reach the immigration issue and invest in some models such as franchises or the purchase of a business in progress to obtain that visa that allows them to reside.
Are the typical crises in Latin America associated with greater interest in investing or directly emigrating to the US?
Yes. For example, when things with Evo were bad in Bolivia and people went out to the streets, it was kind of a disaster, we held a seminar that year and we were struck by the number of Bolivians who contacted and connected to see the lectures at that time.
Then the Peruvians, because everything exploited there, six months later, the Chileans. So countries like Peru, Chile, Ecuador are more active based on the political and social changes that their countries have. Argentina is almost a constant. For years it has been a straight line, that is, it goes up and down very little. In general, there is a constant flow of Argentines consulting, it does not mean that they are the ones who do the most business here.
In other words, is the Argentine one of those who keep an interest in the United State more evenly, be it through a business or directly to emigrate?
Yes. Why? Because of the vicissitudes we have, precisely because there is so much change in political issues and there is so much instability and anxiety, we Argentines always looked to the United States as a place to protect capital.
The report says that Latinos allocate 25% of their wealth to invest in the United States...
Yes, but I think Argentina is below that average. The one that is always very very active in terms of investment in the region is Mexico. Brazil is a different case. It has a separate context and is also very strong in terms of investments. Colombia also tries to replicate or reach the United States with its businesses, that is, with internationalization. They have their businesses in Colombia, but they are concerned about coming and bringing their own businesses. They are very good at franchising.
Does everyone looking to do business in the country want to emigrate?
I would say that 55% of people intend to migrate and the other 45% just want to invest to protect their capital or have an income. The ones who leave the door open are almost 50%. They invest and are not out there thinking about emigrating. In other words, they are interested in the business they are investing in giving them the possibility, perhaps not for them but for their children or a relative. So they say "No, I am very well in my country, I have my business, the truth is that I'm interested in growing with my business, but I'm fine, I come and go to the United States with an E2 visa at most but not with the intention of residing." Because the E2 visa is actually a non-resident visa. That means that you don't have to reside to maintain your immigration status. You can enter and leave the country as many times as you want without being asked what you are coming for.
That is the big difference in residence, you can aspire to be a citizen, from the investor visa, no. It's only for investment. Some people gets that investment visa just to control their business, but their home, their primary residence is still the country of origin. And many use this for this business issue. Now they leave the door open because their children want to come and study, it would be good to have a brother in my company there, and that would be good for me because that way he controls the progress of the company and then they do what is called an executive transfer from the company itself, there are a lot of mechanisms through which they can access that and they carry it out that way.
Have these Latin American investments been growing in general terms in recent years, or are they rather constant? What states do Latinos go to?
Investment in the United States grows year after year, but it is always from Latino foreigners. There are also Europeans and people from other countries. But it is true that more and more people are arriving and that obviously makes the flow of investments grow naturally and in a better proportion to Florida than in the rest of the states. Little by little, Florida is gaining more and more ground. California is losing a bit and Florida and Texas are gaining. Because of the taxes. Then the capital flows of Latin Americans are basically centered in Florida.
What are the other states that Latin Americans look at?
Texas is the other one that is receiving a lot. Before it was much more exclusive to Mexicans, and now it is a little more open and there are other nationalities that are discovering that it is a good place to live and it is also cheaper than Florida. Today the average cost in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio is below the cost of living here in Miami or South Florida.
Obviously, Latin Americans go for legal security, political stability, a lot of other things that do not exist in the countries where they come from. But how profitable is it to invest in the United States?
Look, there is a fantasy and a problem that has to do with how we Latinos are. We Latinos live without predictability and without planning, because we don't know what will happen to us in five years. In this American country you have to adapt and understand that here you plan and here you must have a strong back and patience.
If you want to start a business from scratch, you won't open the door and people will pour in because you don't have 48 friends to call and they start. That Latin thing we have - and that is very good - you don't have it here. Here the American is pragmatic. It is, it works for me, I take it; it does not work for me, that's all. Retaining a customer from the United States is extremely more difficult because the market, with such a large level of supply, makes the probability of gaining loyalty very meager.
Imagine that you have to change your mentality in business time...
If you have a problem, there is great ease for change. So that makes it different when thinking about profitability. We Latinos are used to doing a great deal and saving ourselves. Another day we did a great deal again, but it went wrong and we went bust. Here it is more difficult. It is more step by step. You start a business and you grow little by little. My wife says that Miami is like a huge net, the kind that fishermen throw into the water. You catch a lot of fish, and the fish start to jump. They jump out of the net, there are four now but two escape and of the other two one has a broken fin. But you have that fish with the broken fin and one day you have another and you can add more.
That's the way you have to understand how business is done in the United States. That thing of a fantastic business and three days later you get 100% profitability does not exist here. The usual thing is to set up a business and work hard, dedicate many hours and a lot of head to differentiate yourself because this is the realm of specificity. In Argentina you have a multi-item store and you sell everything, and tomorrow you add another item and it is totally normal. Here it does not work like that. You have to be the king of what you do, you have to be the best in what you do so that they identify you and in the medium or long term people identify you with that and go looking for you. If not, it is very difficult to differentiate yourself and that makes it complex.
And is it difficult for Latinos to adapt themselves to such a different way of thinking about the business to which they were accustomed in their country?
There is like a fantasy of no, "but they give me nothing more than 5%", and one says yes, but it is 5% in dollars in a stable country with a product. If we talk about real estate, for example, in five years you will have capitalized a lot. You have to project at medium term. It is not a country to do quick entry and exit business, as you can do there in the Stock Market. At the tangible business level it does not work like that. There are Latinos who are doing very well because they examine a lot, because they understand this dynamic, because they are patient, because they think in the mid-term, and others who are doing very badly because they want to replicate what they do in their countries.
I think the main difference is there, in the specificity and in the possibility of planning mid-term and say OK, this year I'm going to do this, next year the other and after that, I am going to get here. When we want to do that in Argentina, Colombia or Mexico, it doesn't work. For some reason, numbers are always wrong and external. Here you have more control.
Is the "American dream" still viable for Latinos heading to the country?
What I always say, and that is true, is that the American dream exists but you have to help it. It is not that you come and everything is a theme park where everybody smiles at you, everything flows and everyone is going to help you. You have to do a lot of work, but it is true that if you do, if you carefully analyze what and you walk slowly, you plan and carry it out, the dream will end up being fulfilled.
Translator: Bibiana Ruiz.
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