They made two more trips to PV (as the locals call Puerto Vallarta) between September and December 2010 looking for a place to live and a business to buy or start. We knew we had to work when we got to PV and we knew we wanted to own a business, so we did lots of research on the different kinds of opportunities that might be available for us down here,” Ms. Corley said. “Restaurants are big because it is an international tourist city but we did not want the crazy hours.” They also investigated other tourist-oriented businesses, but finally settled on buying a Mail Boxes Etc. franchise. “We actually found out about the franchise opportunity through our real estate agent. He had a friend who had owned the franchise rights for about two years but had never exercised the right to start a business.”
They decided not to buy a home when they moved and opted for renting instead. “Initially we rented a home in the Marina area north of downtown, where the American school is located,” Ms. Corley said. “We found it online and took a leap of faith by renting it after doing a quick drive-by and looking through the windows.”
In December 2010, the two purchased the Mail Boxes Etc. franchise rights for the Old Town area of Puerto Vallarta, just south of the Cuale River. “We found a space on the retail street level of a new condominium,” Ms. Corley explained. “It was perfect. A raw space that we could design and build to our needs.”
The franchise made sense for them, primarily because they are not fluent in Spanish and the business allows them to cater mainly to the English-speaking expat community. Lack of language skills, though, did complicate their franchise training experience. “We had to do our training at corporate headquarters in Mexico City, which was two weeks of intensive training from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day and it was entirely in Spanish,” Ms. Corley said. “I studied the book every night and looked up words I did not know to prepare myself for the next day. We also found another person who was born in the U.S. and bi-lingual. He became our best friend for two weeks.”
Purchasing a franchise provided them with not only professional training but also help from corporate headquarters when they opened their doors. “We asked corporate to send someone to help us for the first three days, which was very helpful,” Ms. Corley said. “We had to pay all expenses but it got us started on the right foot.” They bought the franchise in December 2010 and were able to open their business six months later in May 2011.
