Business in Marrakech

You do need a licence and if not a Moroccan you will also need a Moroccan business partner. Frankly there is no opportunity for yet another ice cream seller in Marrakech - the market is saturated. Sorry.

Hi

It's a good idea to think about this business in Morocco. And i know in europe the quality of ice cream is excellent.
About the licence i think you can get it after a request to the municipality. Sûre it can take time.
But any way you can have it i suppose.
For the Local i don't know if you have the intention to buy or to rent. What i can say in business streets it's not easy to find shops with cheap prices but you can begin slowly.
At last what i can say starting a business in Morocco must be much easier than in Europe.
I say that because i have been many times in Europe and i know there rent, taxes,...are much more expensive than here in Morocco.
I wish you to succeed in your business

Khalid

Hi thank you to you for your reply and advice, appreciated, but RWT the Ice cream I intend to sell is of very good quality, compared to the local Ice Cream in Marrakech, and also I intend to sell as a mobile ice cream vendor, which I believe is none existing at the moment in Marrakech!

The market for ice cream in Marrakech is highly seasonal with sales actually dropping in summer as tourist numbers dramatically decrease. And it is tourists who are the main consumers. The quality of ice cream here varies from good to excellent and I really do not think that there is a niche in the market. Where would your ice cream van visit In the course of a day? There is little call for this kind of service in the medina or Gueliz where there are already many good outlets, or the suburbs where are almost exclusively Marrakshis who are not big consumers of this kind of product.

Opening a business in Marrakech as a foreigner and is fraught with difficulties - you need to register as a business and the paperwork is staggering, the costs high, the long waits for official approval, the different and changing "rules" applied seemingly randomly by various officials. In short the burocracy is stifling. I admire your ambition but as someone who has researched these possibilities (and I do have a Moroccan business partner) you would need to seek advice every step of the way.

If you are UK citizen then you can contact

http://www.britishbusinessgroupmarrakech.com/

for advice.

Thank you RWT for the information, I will look into this, and I will definetly not do a business where there is less income or alot of haggling.
I have lots of Morroccon Friends who are already in the process of looking into this matter for me, and I am hoping to get a successful result.
I am still doing homework regarding this matter, and maybe it will or maybe not work, I want to fo my own business in Morrocco because I want to settle there with my family, if you know of any other business that I could do and be successfull in, your advice will be appreciated. Thanx

Salamoalykom Boushra,

I think ice cream is a good idea

Thankyou for your reply, but M'Hamid is not the area I want to do business, I am looking to invest in the city centre Area!

Hello,
you definitely need lot of patience and know the Moroccan system well. yes you ll need a license to start the business. the whole process may take between 1 month to 6 months. the costs may exceed five thousands dh including business registration and the accountant charge. usually the company is a SARL. the minimal capital to start a business with is ten thousands dh. if you are a permanent resident then you wont need a Moroccan partner. but you ll need one if you are not permanent resident. you are granted a 1 year residency card once you get your company "STATUTS" after you apply for it at the police station of course. the statuts is the document where you specify all the clauses re the business. i ve been into a business with an expat. the business is almost similar to yours, we used to sell take away coffee in a cart. It was set up in Casablanca and Rabat in the supermarket sites and in the intention to spread it into other cities like Marrakech once it prospers. it was working well but the rent was too expensive. i ll tell you more if you are interested to hear our experience. I also have ideas that may help you into your business.
cheers
MM

hi there a lot of foreigners   in morocco doing their own business. getting a license in definite,would cost a bit not much. and you have the right which ever city you want to.

is there any vacancy for English speaking people?

Selling Ice cream is a good idea. However it is 100% seasonal, I live in Marrakesh and I can tell you in confidence that the demand for this kind of product is extremely low during the winter. You can expect a slight increase in spring and the highest of course is during summer time. As for foreigners who decrease in numbers during this time, a lot of Moroccans come to Marrakesh and they too buy ice cream as long as it is affordable that's their main concern.
Of course everything that has been said in this board are just speculations, a business person must make his own due diligence. Good luck!

(Moderated: Please register on the Marrakech business directory)

Hi There,
Can you teach english for teams of 5 student if so please send your resume to
[email protected]

Thanks and Regards,
Zack

Hello,

We teach English for groups of any size. We check all the levels therefore to be sure that the group is homogenious. Our rate is per hour (same price for 1to1 or group) We can send one of our teacher to your workplace at the time you'd like or if they prefer they can come to our study center (in Guéliz) You can contact me for further details at [email protected] or [email protected]

Which examination board syllabus to you conform to nathalieidealog and do you have a website to consult for further details? Thank you.

[Moderated: pls post in the Classifieds section]

That is totally NOT TRUE. You do not need a Moroccan business partner. And the market is saturated?? HAHAHAH!!! Obviously you know nothing about Morocco. How many hanoots are EXACTLY the same? How many more "Snack Cafes" can possibly be opened? How many "Juice shops" exist here? Are you kidding me?? This WHOLE COUNTRY is copy+paste, copy+paste. There is definitely opportunity for an ice cream business!

I think your ice cream business will do just fine here! You absolutely do NOT need a Moroccan business partner and you can apply for a business license for around $1,000 USD. The only trouble is getting the truck here. You are probably better off buying one here and customizing it here. Getting a vehicle through customs is REALLY REALLY expensive. They look at it and determine what they think the value is, and then tax you soooo high that you might as well just buy yourself a Ferrari instead. Good luck! And if you end up getting your truck, drive it down to Agadir and I'll buy some ice cream!

save your self the trouble . It think our debate revolves on some one who is NOT Serious.

What makes you think she's not serious?

most expats living abroad away from their home towns work hard to earn money, and deprive them selves from living pleasures and leisure (most and not all) they all dream of going back home and start an easy business that makes them easy income money.
our friend here has chosen a project of Ice cream vending van and started a dialogue about this. many responses came back including mine. some are with some against some are aside . the point is that she has not reacted to any of these replies nor shown additional interest in communication.
As a business marketeer i can only read out of this 2 things either she is reluctant to make a decision and invest in her life saving that may be her last and only bullet.So she cannot be serious and unable to make decision.
Or .... shoe could be exercising the oldest trick in the book...... Offer and get offers , meaning lay down an idea in a place crowded with people some will get greedy to eat you up or they will get greedy and try to seize a share of the cake by offering partnership.

I think she is not serious.....as she has not explained the aspect of her project but nly as a headline or a general idea , A Gosip issue not more to pass the time and chat about.

And good luck to you in your business as well! Hopefully you can make enough to live here comfortably and happy.

My advice is head to the services sector where daily cash is involved is is a quick, safe,business with daily cash income and NO Credit  .I for example have started a beauty salon and on the side whole sales selling hair care and beauty products and virgin hair but ...now i stopped it as credit is a killer problem in the market . so i decided to trun the table instead of import .... I will export.
So the question is .... what kind of business are you starting?

I once was involved with a school that taught all of the same things. The problem is--it shut down. There' s so many schools offering all of that type of programming/web design/app design etc that it's hard to find one that's fully functional. Another downside is work ethic. So many of the students either showed up late or not at all and then expected to be at the same pace as everyone else. The other problem is that after graduation, a lot of the students still find themselves unemployed. Whether it's because of lack of job availability or lack of motivation, I'm not sure. All I know is that the 2 places I was involved with ended up closing. And they were run by 2 French men who were experts in the field. So that's just something to think about.

Maja.
Jamie brown is correct in your line of business there are hundreds of schools and institution for the government that can offer these services as low as 50 US dollars a moth per course in FRENCH . I know that for a fact cause I was the Owner of one of most successful advertising agencies in the UAE and I came here to start fresh but when i came earlier for market study i have had some assistance locally when i came to set up all was different. the risk was too high the market is seized by major players that cannot intervene with and the biggest problem was the employees and the employment loyalty and behavior and conduct and mentality. so I re estimated the situation and found that the risks of investment were too high cannot secure my indoors of the company by a good reliable team cannot secure the market by good accounts at least not before one year and the expenses were high to take that risk.
the positive thing about this situation is that there good minds in this area and they will work for low cost freelance so a basic set up for a remote market would create a chance . as for rent and business set up i faced the same problem "" You are Lebanese you have money"" directly the rent goes triple then i found a solution and a good PR guy from medina (old city) his service cost were 300 usd dollars all was done in the perfect manor he found me a nice shop great cost and rent , a house great rent cost . now i know every thing.
Morocco is a wonderful place to be a live but you need to find out where your income should come from other wise you will be .....................................................................  on your way back

One other + to JamieBrown from me.
You don't need a Moroccan partner. Just go to an accounting office and with 7.000 - 10.000 mad open your company. After you can get your residency also but tons of paper to collect. You will get it but bored during the process.

And as a personal advice, ice-cream always sells but when the season will finish there will be need of another business to live. Casablanca is also a great market for anything unusual (selling on truck) but I'm not sure that you can find a place to park a truck. Soo bloated city.

And final note. Ok maybe no need for a partner but absolutely need somebody to deal with paperworks and bargains. If not progress can cost 50% to 100% more.  Good luck

Hi Maya,

My name is Mehdi Abdoun, I'm a business communication student from Holland (Bachelor degree) and my speciality is Online Marketing. I'm also familiar with IT/SEO/SEA. I'm interested in your business plan in Marrakech. I am looking for a company that creates and maintains websites for Moroccan companies. I think there are great market chances in this branche in Marrakech and the city is booming, a lot of people use their online devices to look for products and services. If youre interested in my expert send me a message or replie so we could discuss furthermore!

Looking forward !

Greetz

Mehdi

Hi,

A lot of interesting information in this post.

I just wanted to add that you do not need a notaire (accountant) to set up a company.

Go visit your 'centre regional d'investissement' (as I did) and, if you speak some french, they will guide you through all the paperwork for free.

Also, the law recently changed, the minimal amount of capital to open a company has dropped from 10 thousand dirhams to 1 thousand dirhams, but you might not be taken as seriously if you only invest 1 thousand.

Also, bear in mind that if you're a foreigner, it's in your best interested to open a provisional account with a Moroccan bank and wire funds from abroad. As long as more than 51% of the constituant captial comes from abroad, your company will be able to export profits.

Another interesting thing is that the constituant capital can be in goods (in our case, as we opened a language centre, books and tables), as long as the amount does not exceed the legal limit (sorry can't remember, but somewhere along the lines of 250 k andless than 49% of the total).

A final point to consider is that once the money has reached this provisional account you've opened and you've finished all the procedures, this money can be fully retrieved and is in no way stuck in the account.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have on this forum, by PM or by email michael[at]fulbridge.com

Hi,

A lot of interesting information in this post.

I just wanted to add that you do not need a notaire (accountant) to set up a company.

Go visit your 'centre regional d'investissement' (as I did) and, if you speak some french, they will guide you through all the paperwork for free.

Also, the law recently changed, the minimal amount of capital to open a company has dropped from 10 thousand dirhams to 1 thousand dirhams, but you might not be taken as seriously if you only invest 1 thousand.

Also, bear in mind that if you're a foreigner, it's in your best interested to open a provisional account with a Moroccan bank and wire funds from abroad. As long as more than 51% of the constituant captial comes from abroad, your company will be able to export profits.

Another interesting thing is that the constituant capital can be in goods (in our case, as we opened a language centre, books and tables), as long as the amount does not exceed the legal limit (sorry can't remember, but somewhere along the lines of 250 k andless than 49% of the total).

A final point to consider is that once the money has reached this provisional account you've opened and you've finished all the procedures, this money can be fully retrieved and is in no way stuck in the account.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have on this forum