mushtaq

Let's have some positive stories of doing business in Turkey.

JohnF

I do business in U.K., EU countries and Turkey (legally). Doing quite well thank you very much, with the bulk of my turnover coming from Turkey.

Have I had a lot of the problems mentioned in other threads? In a word, no. I've lost money when a deal/contract hasn't panned out the way it should, in fact as Starman can testify, I've just recently been stiffed for 2,000YTL by an emlak client and I'm still fizzing about it. But truth be told, it was my own fault for being too trusting. I don't do that often, but sometimes you don't have any option other than to turn the business away. The 2,000YTL was a final payment and I've already had the bulk of the money, so at the end of the day I haven't actually lost out of it, just made less money than I'd hoped. The previous time this occured in Turkey was over three years ago...

If you accept that firstly, you are in Turkey and if you want to do business, you do it their way. Who are we to come in and impose western European standards and values on a country that has been a trading post between east and west for hundreds (thousands?) of years. Ok, I know Turkey is relatively recent, but I think you know what I mean.

Secondly, by showing respect to those you are dealing with, in the way they expect - not the way you think, i.e. by purposely NOT making it clear that you are doing them a favour dealing with them. This level of respect should start at the very bottom of the heap, from the little guy who brings the cay through to the principal in the negotiation. One other related area where a lot of foreigners fall down here is language. You don't have to be able to speak Turkish, but you will get a lot more respect if you can (mine is nowhere near good enough, but my partners is, which helps).

Thats how I go about business in Turkey, and to date have had very few serious problems. Things have looked like going pear shaped on many occasions, but with the help of Turkish friends I've usually managed to keep things on track. The endless paperwork is an issue, but thats just the way it is here. My partner told me years ago to always take a book when dealing with Turkish bureaucracy, so I do, and look upon the waiting time as a bonus "time out".

JF

mushtaq

Thanks for that JF, a positive post and some good advice, do you think having a Turkish partner (Wife/Husband/GF/BF) helps with settling in, because most of the people who have managed to settle down well there seem to be in that category.

no-nem

We have benefitted greatly by opening a company in Turkey, and we are one of the lucky successful ones. I must admit that we were unaware of some of the small punitive taxes ie 'stopaj' and the likes and the SSK etc. Our web site was professionally designed, mmmmmmm wonder who did that, and brings us good business, although many Turks do not use internet/computers. Turkey is a great emerging mkt. and providing you bring something new that is of use you will succeed.