Starting an international business

I need help in figuring out which Caribbean country would best suit my new business needs. I live in Florida, so Central America or the Caribbean is my choice of regions. I would be starting a company that would manufacture and distribute a nutritional supplement worldwide. My company used to sell this product in the U.S. until recently when the FDA banned the product. My company, soon after, went out of business. We were just starting to tap into the international market. Any help or input about countries such as: Panama, Belize, Bahamas, etc. would be appreciated. Or, a point in the right direction, e.g. type of attorney to see, etc. Thank you!!

DROP the project and do something else.

The product you sold has already been banned and you still want to make it. You might as well paint a big red bull's eye on your chest and yell "Here I am" through a megaphone.

There are too many legal projects you can go with that don't come to anyone's attention, to bother with projects that have hit the government rader screen, let alone projects that have a radar lock on and have been fired upon.

Michael Ross


Publisher swears under oath that the profitable businesses written about are all legal

Michael, thank you very much for your input and quick response. I was not clear as to my explaination earlier. However, maybe after further explanation, you may still have the same advice; I don't know. The product I manufactured and distributed in the U.S. was banned here in the U.S. for sale as a dietary supplement. I have checked into the legality of the, U.S. banned, ingredient and have found it to be legal in many countries. That is why I would like to move offshore and manufacture the product again, where legal, and sell to distributors in countries where the product is also legal. Thanks for any input.

Just because something is still legal in another country doesn't mean it is something you should do.

And especially in the weight-loss market. The players are big and have deep deep pockets - and their pockets are chocker-block.

Look at Brazil and their sudden silence about Stevia once Monsanto (the Devil) built a Nutrasweet factory there.

Leave the weight-loss market (supplements, etc.) to the other people. They (the big guys) are ruthless in getting rid of the competition (you don't think the FDA decision was because the ingredients is bad for you do you? Since when does the FDA actually care about what is good or not? Seems funny how it's only the small guys who are found "guilty" of selling things that are "bad" even if those things have nothing bad in them and are full of accepted ingredients - let Ben Suarez's No Hunger Bread story be your warning.)

Better to "fly low and collect the dough." Trying to take some action away from the big boys of the weight-loss industry is not flying low.

There are other reasons - legal reasons - for staying out of the weight-loss supplement market - even if it is "legal" in other countries. Class Action mean anything to you? (There's always someone looking to win the Sue-for-a-million-dollars lottery.)

My original advice still stands. Pick another project.

Michael Ross


Free of artificial sweeteners

Again, Michael, thank you for your quick and insightful response. You sure hit the nail on the head in regard to the FDA. I have been a supplement distributor for 7 years and have a whole new outlook on the FDA and certain supplements now than when I started. Anyway, I think your opinion is a valid one and I think I will start to develope one of the other several ideas in my head. Again, thank you.