We were contacted by someone who left a comment on this blog. His name is George and he wanted to know what we knew about Puerto Rico because he had some business ideas that he would like to see go to Puerto Rico. We exchanged emails a few times and decided it would be fun to meet up in person.
So since they live in Colorado Springs and we live here in Greeley, we decided to meet at a halfway point. I thought Cinzzetti’s in Northglenn would be perfect since it is right off I-25. It’s an Italian Buffet restaurant.
With George and Sandy at Cinzzetti’s
We had a lovely meal and time with George and his wife Sandy. They are trying to start a new business sort of like Avon where they sell supplements direct to customers. It sounded interesting and we told him about our connections with Awilda and the naturalists in Puerto Rico.
I don’t think we would probably sell the products ourselves, but you never know. It seems a bit too pricey, and I’m not much for sales. I read a little about glutathione (one of the major ingredients in these products) later on. It is an important nutrient and energy source in our bodies, but I was surprised and happy to see that milk thistle also makes glutathione more abundant in the body. Milk thistle is what we gave our dog Schnoodle when she was really sick and jaundiced with some sort of liver disease as I mentioned before. Milk thistle, unlike some of these supplements, is also dirt cheap and the weed grows all around here.
So anyhow, it was a fun adventure and another example of how our blog connects us to the world around us with people of similar interests. Thanks George and Sandy for the meal and a very nice time. We wish you luck on your journey and hope that our roads will perhaps intersect again in the future.
If I come up with an idea and some time to implement it you never know.
The vast majority of supplement, cosmetic and such home sales schemes are pyramid. Nice for the head dudes, but the minions don’t make much.
Britton could probably make vastly more money in P.R. creating local webblogs, web pages or corporate web support to large companies interested in the P.R. market . Cassie could start a nice little orchid farm and the first P.R. international orchid show have lots of fun and just may make some money with a web site and mailing of orchids to the East Coast. Right now lots of orchids come from Hawaii and the West Coast which is a long distance for New York delivery.
P.S. There is an orchid show in Ponce, P.R. in February. 🙂
Great information Annie! Yah, I’ve been solicited to sell just about everything from Avon to Arbonne, Mary Kay to Amway. I’m just not into sales in that way. I like to do the work (and take all the risk) and see all reward (or not).
I think those are some wonderful suggestions for things Britton and I could do. We could even have a flower shop or supply for the destination weddings that occur in the Rincon area especially. But I like how you’re thinking big -the east coast is a huge market!
I’ll have to check out the orchid show when it comes around again! They have a flower fair in Aibonito as well, but I’ve never been.
The ornamental flower business is difficult. There are all kinds of regulations – you cannot ship anything out in soil. There is also a lot of corruption about who gets to have the monopoly. I know of someone who got their permit pulled (not Puerto Rican) to allow a monopoly by another individual who runs a similar fruit tree/ornamental flower business (guy was a previous UPR professor). Even the guy who does have the monopoly has tales to tell about shipping things out. Not saying it can’t be done…but I kind of am! The web idea though actually has potential – the problem is that only 30 percent or so of people on the island have internet. It may take a while to develop here. Selling fruit on the other hand is something I will be doing. Looks like I will have a truck bed or two of avocadoes this year – I’ve got a couple roadside stands interested in buying them and any carambolas etc…just have to have a large quantity! I think anything is possible here if you want it and don’t need much from it.
Hey…another idea…you can raise lots of chickens and sell fresh eggs! Not sure I have seen that in the Rincon area…usually saw it where my grandmother use to live. Or you were interested in the bee colony…sell honey. I think Pam Smith from Rincon was trying to do this a few years back..not sure how far she got.
Rosa,
That would be great! I love raising chickens and people always want to buy our eggs here so that’s a good idea to do there! We could even sell them at the Rincon farmers’ market! The bees/honey I still want to do, but since I’m not as familiar with them, I’m not as confident. They would be nice to help pollinate the fruit trees though too!
Katrina,
That’s pretty wild about the plant monopoly. Is it the same way for cut flowers (with no soil)? Strange because you can bring plants back to the states in your suitcases pretty easily. I saw a guy at the airport once with a whole suitcase full of little banana plants -with soil- and he even went through the USDA check! Maybe it’s just through the mail. But how do they know what’s in the boxes?
The roadside stands of fruit would be fun too! My mom and dad used to do that with Rocky Ford, Colorado cantaloupes a long time ago.