Search Results for: chile

Why is Chilean Customer Service so Bad?

Over the past two weeks, I’ve eaten at three restaurants in Santiago that had incredible customer service. I was so surprised by good service that I had to compliment the waiter at each restaurant and got to talking with each one. What did they have in common?

One was Uruguayan, one was Peruvian and the other was Venezuelan. The Uruguayan waiter told me that he makes about 80% more than his Chilean coworkers because he’s nice to people and tries to go the extra mile. The Peruvian waitress was so nice, warm and got everything right and said that she counldnt undestand why service was so much worse in Chile than in her home country. The Venezuelan waiter was incredibly attentive and got everything right. His Chilean partner gave zero fucks, forgot parts of the order, disappeared for long periods of time and added two extra items to the bill.

Chilean customer service is the worst I’ve experienced in all my travels. I’ve been all over South America, North America, Europe and parts of Africa and the Middle East and Chile (more…)

Startup Chile Application Help

Startup Chile just opened the 15th round of applications this week and will stay open from now until September 29th with the winners being announced in December. In each of the previous rounds, 1500+  startups from more than 60 countries applied for the right to come to Chile for $20m Chilean pesos (US$34,000). Chile invited 100 of these 1500+ companies who applied and they will begin to arrive in the next months, joining the 1000+ startups who have participated in the program since 2010.

Startup Chile has become more competitive as the number of applications has grown. Round twelve saw applications grow and more than 2500 companies will likely apply to Round 13.
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Case Study: Ecommerce Opportunities in Chile and Latin America

Una versión de este post fue traducido a español por @Joseia (muchas gracias!) y apareció en Pousta con el nombre Conversamos sobre cómo montar tienda online con alguien que aprendió DEMASIADO al respecto.

In late 2012, I met up with two ex startup chile friends over beers. Like most beery conversations between entrepreneurs, the conversation devolved into new business ideas. All three of us had seen ecommerce’s steady growth in Chile and were certain that it would continue to grow toward levels seen in other developed markets. After a few more beers, one of us said, “why don’t we just start a small ecommerce business, it’s the best way to learn about the market and see where the real opportunities are.” (more…)

The VAT Trap: Why Is Chile’s VAT System So Poorly Setup?

Chile’s VAT system doesn’t make sense. Once you are in the system, the reporting system is world class and has been ranked in the top five in the world for ease of use. The Chilean IRS’ website works incredibly well, is fast, reliable and makes paying your taxes a breeze. It blows the US system out of the water and it’s not even close.

But getting legally approved by Servicio Impuesto Interno (the Chilean IRS) is a bureaucratic, capricious, time consuming process that doesn’t make any sense. After the long and complicated process to incorporate and get a bank account (that I’ve talked about before), you need to get your boletas (receipts) and facturas (official invoices) so that you can legally sell and pay your taxes. (more…)