{"id":613,"date":"2018-05-23T10:48:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T08:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.larskophal.ch\/press\/?p=613"},"modified":"2022-01-18T03:07:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T01:07:04","slug":"knocked-down-but-getting-up-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larskophal.ch\/press\/2018\/05\/knocked-down-but-getting-up-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Knocked down, but getting up again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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FINALLY I am able to leave the nightmare that Kapares had become behind me. It was a good lesson, though a pretty expensive one, and I learned a lot. First of all, I learned that you really, REALLY should be careful who you associate yourself with. My former associate\u2019s real passions (and I\u2019m sure he will keep pursuing them for the rest of his life them now that he is finally free from that evil foreigner who tried to make him actually DO stuff) are sleeping (mostly), drinking, hanging out with his broadened family, and bossing around these poor boys he gives shelter to. Out of all these activities, only the last one was of any use to Kapares, though I was never comfortable with it. He is easily the laziest person I ever met (and I\u2019m far from being a stakhanovist) \u2013 I once saw him literally stomp and cry because he had to do some work (he was drunk of course). He hates Puerto, never went to El Nido, never left Palawan; he will never try anything new, or different, or change anything. His only loyalty is to his family.I wonder if Fililpinos like him, with this attitude, aren\u2019t at least a part of why the Philippines have been left behind economically these last decades. Luckily, I also think this \u201csmall town, small mind\u201d mentality will soon be a thing of the past here.<\/span><\/p>\n

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That guy was an extremely unlucky choice of a partner for sure, but I am guilty too, of course. Of taking what seemed the easier and cheaper (ha, big mistake) way at the time. Of deciding at first to trust and not get too involved in the daily operations (biggest mistake ever). Of wanting to believe that a proper partnership involved mutual respect and honesty. All this naive, egalitarian bullshit.<\/p>\n

I learned that if you pay, you call the shot. Keep an eye on everything. Have everything properly documented (having all receipts to my name and religiously keeping them was probably my only smart move). Don\u2019t be too nice. Don\u2019t trust anyone without knowing them well – and even then.<\/p>\n

That means also, do not buy anything yourself, you will pay twice as much as a Filipino. When dealing with contractors, remember that a set date, an appointment, a deadline don\u2019t mean anything. \u201cYes, tomorrow morning\u201d can mean \u201cmaybe one of those days\u201d, or \u201cno, never\u201d. On the administrative front, having all clearances, permits and registrations doesn\u2019t mean that your business won\u2019t be declared illegal at some point. Conversely, not having any of these doesn\u2019t mean that your business will be closed either… It\u2019s might still be about who you know, and possibly what you pay, though this seems to be changing\/ The days of “build \/ open first, ask permits after” seem well and truly over with the closing of Boracay and partial destruction of El Nido beachfront. I don’t know anymore, actually. Maybe it’s just that everything is always in a transitory state here.<\/p>\n

The more you stay here, the less much of what is happening makes sense, the more troubled times seem to be. Trying to set up a business is not easy, particularly when you have zero experience, in a totally foreign and different country, with laws to prevent foreigner to set up businesses on their own. But I console myself remembering that setting up a business in Switzerland would have been forever out of my reach. And that I\u2019ll be much smarter (though poorer) next time. Onward! 
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