How hard is it to get into this business. Anybody with experience in this game?
This is a business controlled by those with money. If you are doing trades in the region of $1m, then go for it, otherwise, I don’t see any actual gains to be made with this.
I’m in a place with a high density of foreigners who are always buying things with dollars. The local butcheries, liquor stores and cafes all have dollars. They currently go all the way to town to convert the dollars to shillings. This has been ongoing for a year or so. I thought opening a forex bureau in this area might make some good profit. I want tips on how to get into that biz, the pitfalls, what I need to watch out for, and the capital requirements
anza “black forex” hapo na uweke rates poa kushinda tao…i.e…a shilling or two more,karao wakija chota na uendere na biashara…
That’s different from what I thought you asked. Retail forex.
You’d have to do an analysis on how many dollars you’d be collecting a week. And have that float in Kenya Shillings. It would work as an MPESA outlet. Difference is you’d be shorting your clients on the dollar.
Challenge here is knowing how to identify fake dollars. I’d suggest knowing the guys who come to exchange, make them fill a form or something, where they are staying and such. If you want to be anal, go to the extent of recording serial numbers of the notes. Or you can buy one of those cash counting machines that detects fake notes and notes down serial numbers. Once you count out the cash, it prints a record and the chap signs he has given you those dollars.
Think of combining this biz with some other finance related activity. KCB Mtaani/Equity Agent/MPESA…
Invest in security. CCTv, mungiki, shepart…
I’d suggest you look for someone who has a branch of forex outlets and approach them to partner with you. Once you have started and have enough data to prove the business of course.