Hello all.
I hope this is an appropriate place to post this sort of thing.

Background:
Finding myself alone for the first time in 30(-ish) years, I’m strongly considering the idea of starting life afresh, in a nicer climate. My preference will be to run my own business, and not seek employment with some ‘soulless major corporation’.

I’m 50+, and have worked in oil, IT, and (of late) hotel related businesses, as well as making a living as a consultant. I have worked as project manager, IT manager, IT support management, and I have also some experience as an entrepreneur.
My interests as diverse: Cooking, literature, travel, gaming, photography, technology, to name a few.

I’m able to fill many roles, some better that others, but there is strength in numbers, so I’m seeking 1-3 others who have been thinking along the same lines. The idea is to create a team (for lack of a better term) that will help and support each member, as well as cooperate on the business end of things. Helping each other deal with ‘culture shock’ is also a great reason to not go solo.

I have been mulling this over for a few months now but I’m keeping this post very general in nature, on purpose. Specifics such as location and business model will be worked out by the team, if this thing leaves the ground.

Goals:

• • Move to a new country in 2016
  • Set up a holding corporation, owned and managed by the team
  • Short term: Set up a business that is able to support the team members at some minimum standard we define
  • Mid term: Make the business profitable enough to expand into yet more businesses
  • Long term: Being able to enjoy our new life. For some this means staying active in the business, for others it might mean
  • Work hard – have fun – enjoy life – make friends

PM me* if:

• • You’re keen on such an idea, and would like to form an informal (in the beginning) workshop
  • You’re strongly considering relocating to another country, preferably in the southern part of the EU (Italy, France, Malta, etc), but I have also discussed Ecuador of late
  • You have some funds to invest in this, as well as supporting yourself until a revenue stream is established
  • If you have a family: They are 100% on board with the idea and are prepared to deal with lean times in the beginning
  • You would like to invest in one, or more, businesses managed jointly with others
  • Although renting seems the prudent thing in the short term, buying property is your long term goal
  • You are an absolutely honest person. Mistakes are ok, as long as we learn from them, but there can be no leniency where honesty is concerned
  • You are the sort of person that is prepared to work hard for little or no salary in the short term. You enjoy this type of challenge, and are both mentally and economically prepared for it

Of course, there is no commitment at all at this stage, but I strongly encourage you to share your own thoughts on settling abroad and becoming self employed (in the context mentioned above). You should also say a few words about yourself and your current situation.

* Having just joined, I'm not sure how PM / the email user features work, as both are disabled for me. I'm reluctant to leaving my email address in the open, for obvious reasons, but if worst comes to worst, we can figure something out.


Cheers,
Tore

 

Thank you for your response, Cyrilexpat