The area has quite a few unmet consumer and business needs, simply because it’s still developing.

1. Local Housing

With all the new real estate, construction, and tourism activity now going on, there’s a need for affordable housing for locals and for migrant workers. Everyone from construction workers to hotel managers needs to live somewhere, and in this part of the country, that housing has yet to be built.

2. Tourism-Related Ventures

At the time of writing there was a shortage of hotel rooms and rental properties in the area, presenting an opportunity in the tourism sector.

3. Dry Storage

With new foreigners coming to live in the area, many of them part time rather than full time, more people will be looking for dehumidified storage or bodega services to keep their things safe while they are away.

4. Rental and Property Management

Rooms and rental properties are needed, but so are good property management companies to handle the clients and marketing. This is true all over Costa Rica, but especially so in the southern zone.

5. School

Depending on how the area develops, in the future there could be a need for a private school that teaches students up to university age. In Nosara, for example, a young couple is building a private school that will provide SAT exams for the students who want to attend U.S. universities. Something similar might work in the southern zone some day.

6. Shops

Retail is wide open in the southern zone, as there simply aren’t many places to buy things. Whether the existing population is large enough to make them profitable is the great question, but the possibility is good.

The area has no interior stores, book shops, Laundromats, swimming pool installers, or computer supplies and repair. Neither does the area have any English schools to train future employees of hotels and other tourist-related jobs. Likewise, there are no Spanish schools that cater to expatriates who want to learn the language.

7. Commercial Forestry

There is plenty of land available for those interested in commercial forestry as a business venture. Given the amount of wood that Costa Rica imports annually, it could be a very profitable venture.