Doing business with Latin America. Gabriela Castro-Fontoura
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book, you feel closer to Latin America and better equipped to do business in the region. Happy exporting!
With thanks
To Brightword Publishing for believing in this idea.
To Emma Jones and Sandra Strong, two leading ladies in international trade, for the inspiration and for believing in me all the way.
To all the businesses and individuals that have contributed with quotes and case studies.
I would also like to thank my family in both continents for always supporting my global restlessness.
And I dedicate this book to all those small businesses around the globe that genuinely believe that international trade is just one way of bringing us together and making the world a better place for all.
Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that information provided in this book is accurate, the author and the publisher accept no liability for any errors, omissions or misleading statements in such information and accept no responsibility as to the standing of any firm, company or individual mentioned.
Introduction
Latin America is a fascinating region. It has some incredibly attractive markets, such as those of Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Brazil, to name but a few. But they are not the only markets in the world.
This book is about Latin America but, particularly if you are fairly new to exporting, it is important from the outset to take a step back and think about international trade as a wider business activity and then focus in on Latin American markets from there.
International trade in general – and particularly exporting – has its risks, whatever markets you are looking at. From managing payment terms and different currencies, through to getting documentation right, logistics, intellectual property concerns, bribery and corruption, and more. In my opinion, all of these risks (with the exception of currencies) are also present when you trade domestically. All small businesses will know about the logistics involved in their own country, such as the risk of your designs being copied, the risks of not being paid or being paid late, etc. When you add to the pot the distance, language differences and cultural barriers, the risks grow.
I will explore these risks in relation to doing business with Latin America, but the risks will clearly exist (in different degrees) no matter what part of the world you focus on. If you are interested in finding out more about international trade I would recommend the book Trade for Good: The Essential Guide to Business and Finance in UK and International Trade by Kevin Shakespeare.
What I personally like to emphasise is that international trade (and all trade) should be about win-win. It is not about patronisingly dumping what we produce on people in poorer countries. It is not about telling people how they should consume or how they should behave. And it is definitely not right to assume that what works in your domestic market will work somewhere else. Sustainable trade is about understanding what the other party wants and providing it. When you start out by thinking “What’s in it for me?” (business is run to make a profit, after all) you also need to think “How can I help?” alongside that. Have you spotted a problem that you can solve? Have you spotted a demand that you can fulfil?
If you design mobile phone applications, you might be saving your customers precious time and money. If you can build a stadium, you will improve their infrastructure and potentially contribute to your export market’s growth. If you craft the most beautiful quintessentially British pottery, you will enhance someone’s home and even their quality of life, at least one tiny bit.
So there are many ways in which you will reach that win-win position that I insist upon. You don’t need to be a public health specialist or a teacher. Doing what you are passionate about, and pursuing the idea that started you in business, can also benefit others across the world. If you think about it that way, you will feel a lot better when you are waiting for that customs clearance or that third connecting flight to get to your South American destination.
1. What is Latin America?
Latin America is not just one market; there is no such a thing as the ‘Latin American market’, just as there is no ‘European market’. Would you say that selling to the Czech Republic is the same as selling to Wales or Norway? Surely not. Is it only the language that makes them different? Surely not.
My experience in the UK shows me that most business owners will struggle to define what ‘Latin America’ means or even to name more than a handful of Latin American markets. They often get confused between South America, Central America and Latin America. They ask me if Brazil is included in Latin America. And what about Mexico? Is Jamaica?
So, without further ado, let’s discuss what Latin America really is.
There is a geographical division of the Americas into North America (Canada, USA, Mexico), Central America (all the countries south of Mexico to Panama, including those in the Caribbean such as Cuba and Jamaica) and South America (all the countries south of Panama, which include French Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana). Sometimes, particularly in the UK, Central America is split into Central America and the Caribbean or Central America and the English-speaking Caribbean.
The maps below illustrate the divisions of the Americas into North, Central and South America (source: The World Factbook, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook).
So no mention of Latin America yet? Well, Latin America is not a geographical unity but a cultural and linguistic one. As the name hints, it encompasses all countries of Latin origin, which means all of those speaking Spanish and Portuguese.
Therefore, Latin America includes Mexico, all the Spanish-speaking Central American countries (El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, Panama), Brazil (the only Portuguese-speaking country), all Spanish-speaking South American countries (Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay). It does not include the non-Spanish and non-Portuguese speaking countries in South America (of which there are three: Surinam, French Guiana and Guyana).
You can see that the definition of Latin America is a cultural one and it will vary from person to person. Some will include Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti as part of Latin America as well as Surinam, French Guiana and Guyana. After all, the official language of some of these countries is French, which is of Latin origin. Cultural allegiances also vary over time, are extremely subjective and not always geographically-motivated.
Using my criteria, here is a list of all the countries of Latin America, with population data.
North America
Mexico – 114,975,406
Central America
Belize – 327,719
Guatemala – 14,099,032
Cuba – 11,075,244
Dominican Republic – 10,088,598
Honduras – 8,296,693
El Salvador – 6,090,646
Nicaragua – 5,727,707
Costa Rica – 4,636,348
Panama – 3,510,045
South