A Tale of Two Expats Doing Business in Ecuador

International Living Postcards-- your daily escape
Friday, June 29, 2007
Cuenca, Ecuador

Kjetil Haugan arrived in Quito in 1996 with a modest amount of investment capital and a lot of ambition. Two years earlier he had managed the Olympic Village during the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway and he was hungry for a new adventure.

Taking note of linguists' assessments that Ecuador, because of the purity of its spoken Spanish, is one of the best countries in Latin America to study Spanish, Kjetil launched the Simon Bolivar Spanish School in Quito. In 2003, he capitalized on the tourist boom and youth culture in the southern Andean city of Cuenca, and established a second school.

Columbus Travel was established to compliment the Spanish schools, which had a ready clientele in the hundreds of Europeans and North Americans who studied there. In 2005, Kjetil entered the competitive Galapagos tour business with a custom-made luxury 40-foot catamaran. In 2007, his second yacht went into service and today his cruises are booked months in advance.

But not every venture turned out to be a success. Kjetil lost his investment in a sustainable lumber operation in northern Ecuador. His advice? Know your partners better than you think you need to. He also found the learning curve of a new language and culture proved more difficult than he expected.

Leslie Breen's Café Eucalyptus in Cuenca has become Ecuador's version of Rick's Café of Casablanca movie fame. The bar and restaurant is a popular gathering spot for expatriates, tourists, students, artists, and local professionals. Recommended in travel guides and numerous newspaper and magazine articles, the café has gained the reputation as a place where tall tales are spun and minor intrigues played out.

Leslie and her husband opened the Eucalyptus in 2002 following major restoration of a colonial house on Cuenca's Calle Gran Colombia. She had previous careers in association management in Washington, D.C., and in the catering business in Fort Lauderdale. The Eucalyptus has an international menu and, on weekends, bands from all over Latin American come to play gigs. Leslie established Cuenca's first ladies night which proved hugely popular among Cuencana women. Today, she continues to develop new marketing ideas. The café offers dance lessons on Tuesday nights. On Fridays, two or three dozen expats gather for the live broadcast of Cuenca disc jockey and California native Ron Gordon's blues radio program.

Leslie went through a divorce in 2005 (even in paradise, the laws of life and love still apply) which set back the business for the better part of a year. Although the Eucalyptus has a strong reputation among foreigners, Leslie learned early on that she had to pay careful attention to the local clientele--the majority of her customers are Ecuadorians. She says: "Yes, there's a lot we can offer that Ecuadorians want. We have knowledge and skills that sometimes allow us to do things more efficiently. On the other hand, the Ecuadorians have a lot to offer us and we proceed at our own peril if we don't pay attention."

Besides language schools, tour agencies, and restaurants, successful foreign-owned businesses in Ecuador include export operations, eco resorts, hostels, and English language bookstores. But the best business idea could be the one you haven't yet pursued.

David Morrill
For International Living

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P.S. You can contact Kjetil through his website, http://www.bolivar2.com. If you would like to talk to Leslie you can usually find her sitting at the end of the bar at the Eucalyptus.