Top 10 - Business in Brazil

Here is my Top 10 most important things when starting a business in Brazil.

As the country is so diverse, and so is the parts of Brazil. From the not so developed northeast, Amazon rainforest, huge cities of São Paulo (with ca 11 mil people inside the city), Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and the capital Brasilia.

Many businesses, even foreigners is building there business in either Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, but so many forget about the capital. Of course Rio and S.P. is where the most people lives and most foreigners (so it's relative easier to do business). They seem to forget about the capital. 
Keep in mind Brasilia has around 2 mil people (incl. suburbs), but all the federal offices, embassies, and ministries are placed there. This brings a massive buying power, not influenced by general economy.


Here is my Top 10 advise for doing business in Brazil:

1) Personal permission
You need to have a staying visa and work visa in order to do your own business in Brazil. These laws can be tricky and bureaucratic.

2) Business legislations
It's very difficult to get to know all the laws and regulations of starting a business, let alone if you want to hire someone. So get local help from a consultant or start a Joint Venture with a local. There are great help to get from SEBRAE that is a state controlled institution to help micro and SME companies with start-ups, market surveys, consultants etc.

3) Language
Knowing portuguese will help you everywhere. From meetings with authorities, communication with customers, contracts with suppliers and general life. Brazilians are very helpful and friendly (in general), but not everybody speaks english. 

4) Have patience
There are lots of bureaucracy and everything with authorities is in portuguese. If you need to bring papers from your country they all need to be approved in your home country and then translated in Brazil, before they will consider your application. Coming from Denmark I was used to efficiency as keyword and strict time management, it's not like that in Brazil. If you, as a foreigner, practice the same (as I in used to in DK), they can be a conflict. 

5) Connections
In Rio and S.P. there is a dynamic business environment and as they are so big there are lots of possibilities. In Brazil in general, especially in Brasilia, connections is everything. It takes time to become close and get advantage of this. Many people express their willingness to help, but mostly they just want to benefit from you, until you get closer.

6) Open mind
As well as doing business a different place, you need to have an open mind and listen. Great benefits can be obtained with watching and listening to get more aquatinted with business life and personal life.

7) Bureaucracy
Get used to it. There are so many different authorities and public offices. When applying for certifications or approvals, in general they have 20 work days to answer, and if the reply is somehow wrong one can complain to a senior staff who has 20 work days to decide (and if you are right) sends answer to the staff who then have 20 work days more to reply to you.... it can take a long time.
And of course everything is in portuguese.
This can be helped by having a local business partner or a local consultant/lawyer.

8) Have some money
The interest rate is much higher than in many other countries (especially than DK), but you need to have the money transfer explained and approved by the bank and authorities. For small amounts one could simply used international credit cards from local country.

9) Import taxes
This can be tricky too. There is a high import tax for goods and the import itself involves additional paperwork and bureaucracy (get used to it). The tax level is around 60%. Comparing this to brazilian produced goods with no tax, you need to have special products for it to be profitable. This is of course done to keep labour work inside the country and not get flooded with imports.

10) Body language
As with most latin countries, people use lots of body language, loud voices and temper. For many people this seems intimidating, but is only part of communication. You are never in doubt of the meaning of the words coming out in these situations and in many cases it goes over once the steam is out.

This is just Top 10 - there are many other things to consider when either doing business here or moving here. The internet is great for getting prepared. Access brazilian forums for business, talk to your embassy, search the local government pages of Brazil (there are quit informative).

BRAZIL is a fantastisc country and very diverse. People are very friendly, great service and it's fascinating lively... so much different from cold, rainy northern Europe...