Expat Entrepreneurs Find Opportunity in Argentina

Entrepreneurs who start new businesses in a foreign country, expat entrepreneurs, can be found in countries all around the globe. Expat entrepreneurs start new ventures in a foreign land for many different reasons—specific opportunity, the desire to live in a different country, the wish to leave their home country or life circumstances. Whatever the reason, entrepreneurs face unique challenges operating businesses in countries other than their homeland. What follows are profiles of three entrepreneurs from a book, Expat Entrepreneurs in Argentina, by David English, an expat himself.

Michael Evans

Michael Evans’s career as an expat entrepreneur in Argentina began with what he thought was going to be a one-week vacation in Mendoza, in the heart of wine country. What he found was that Mendoza had none of the amenities of other wine destinations he had visited. Argentina felt like a new frontier to Evans.

Evans decided to stay in Mendoza for six months to do research with a potential partner he had met, Pablo Giménez Riili, whose family had been in the wine business for several decades. In addition to having the skills, knowledge, and local credibility that Evans needed for this business, Giménez Riili’s approach to business meshed well with Evans’s business philosophies.

The two developed a business plan for a start-up to serve the emerging wine industry and its associated tourism. The concepts of a small hotel, a wine tasting room, and a direct wine sales business emerged from their work together.

The business, The Vines of Mendoza, was successful beyond any of their plans. The Vines of Mendoza has grown to include operating a wine store in the Park Hyatt Mendoza, managing more than 100 private vineyard estates, overseeing a direct wine sales business that exports Argentinian wine to the United States, and operating their own winery. They also have opened their own five-star resort for wine tourists.

David English

David English was a technology consultant for Qwest Communication in New York City on his way to meeting with executives of CitiGroup to close a contract for a new project. On that sunny morning, everything changed. It was September 11, 2001. As he left his offices on the way to the meeting, ashes began to fall. People were saying that someone had flown a plane into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. English did not think much about it. He hopped on the subway to go to his meeting. When he emerged from the subway, the city was in chaos from the attack on the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. Although it was several more years before English left America to start his new life in Argentina, he sees the events of that day as the turning point that led him down the path to eventually becoming an expat entrepreneur.

After graduating from college, English traveled to Argentina in 1997 through an exchange program run by the Rotary Club. English spent six weeks in Argentina visiting Rotarians in Argentina and touring their businesses. He fell in love with the country and began to look for an opportunity to return.

He got that opportunity in 2003. He discovered a niche in helping American businesses by serving as their connection with local Argentines. He launched English & Associates with a single client developing a wine business in Argentina. English enrolled in an MBA program in Argentina that he credits with teaching him about doing business within the culture of Argentina and honing his Spanish communication skills.

The scope of his business broadened over time. English & Associates provides due diligence for foreigners buying real estate in Argentina, prepares and files tax returns for nonresident investors, consults with entrepreneurs looking to start a business in Argentina, and develops study-abroad programs in Mendoza for leading universities worldwide.

English says that becoming a successful expat entrepreneur involves more than knowing how to run a business. Successful expats play active roles in their new communities and find ways to make a positive impact beyond just the economic impact of their business venture.

Week 6’s Assignment Goal: Your final assignment will have you create an APA-formatted 7-8-page summary paper (not including the title page and references) covering

1- How do expat entrepreneurs’ assumptions about conducting business internationally differ from those of entrepreneurs pursuing more traditional international strategies? Explain.

2- What advice would you give someone wanting to become an expat entrepreneur? Explain.

3- What lessons did each of these expat entrepreneurs learn that would be useful for others interested in this type of lifestyle? Explain.