Costa Rican business culture operates on connections. If you can get well connected, you’ll be a success. If you’re not well connected, any number of mysterious obstacles might just appear in your path. It depends, of course, on the kind of business you’re doing, but you might want to consider finding a local partner. A

As in many Latin American cultures, tax evasion in Costa Rica is quite common. Many businesses will sell you products and services tax-free if you pay in cash. A large number of business are completely off the grid. In other cases, the tax laws are so outdated as to be completely ineffective or insignificant. At

Costa Rica is technically one of the most difficult countries in the world in which to legally start a business. The latest “Doing Business” ranking put out by the World Bank places Costa Rica 123rd out of 181 economies in the ease of opening a business. It takes an average of 12 procedures and three

For whatever reasons, Costa Ricans like to put everything in writing, on paper. When you purchase something moderately significant – a blender, shoes – your name goes on the receipt. Officials at state institutions all have a whole battery of rubber stamps (sellos) on their desks that they use to approve things, and at some point

Business negotiations with Costa Ricans can be tedious, circumspect affairs, and in keeping with the general cultural aversion to confrontation, it will take a while for talks to get down to business. The health of family members will be inquired after, and small talk will ensue. Bear with it. It’s the only way you’ll eventually

There’s always quite a bit of talk in the expatriate community about the importance of greasing palms to make things move. Undoubtedly, that is the case, though bribes are illegal and you can never be sure if you’re even bribing the right person. However in many other cases, and especially in rural areas, friendship is

For whatever reason, it is often difficult to get Ticos to return calls and E-mails on a timely basis, if at all. This especially holds true when the communication would involve bad news, a difficult decision, or any sort of uncomfortable issue. It also holds true, believe it or not, when you are the customer. Of