Our Long Term Plan to Stay in Morocco

February 11, 2016

Just kidding, Mom and Dad! But if we were planning to stay in Morocco, we could probably open one of five different types of businesses and make enough to survive. For whatever reason diversifying in Morocco (or at least in our small city) doesn’t seem to factor into business plans. We don’t quite understand it, but the logic seems to be, “If there isn’t one just like it within two blocks, we need another.” So what are the top 5 types of business in Morocco that could become our long term plan to stay because for whatever reason they just don’t seem to go under?

5. Plastic Paradise

These stores sell all of your made-from-plastic needs. From containers to chairs, if it’s made from plastic, then you’ll find it here!

4. Fashion Boutique

Sometimes they don’t even need to be a block away! Here’s a street with 3 right next to each other. Do all your shopping in one place!

One of the most fun words to say in Moroccan Arabic (our opinion of course) is the word for chic: mfrks. And no, I did not forget any vowels. And if you want to look mfrks, you should have no trouble doing so because these shops just keep popping up all over town.

3. Sewing Shops

You want something tailored just for you? You want it done cheaply? Come for a visit. Although, you’re choices are limited. Shops usually make traditional Moroccan clothing or business suits, but the large quantity of tailors in our town helps keep the prices down. Interestingly, these shops are just as likely run by women as by men in our town, and are often a place where women can gather and visit friends.

2. Hanuts

Hanut is the Arabic word for shop, and usually means a place where you can buy most of your day-to-day needs. If there are not two to four within 30 yards of your home then, there’s still room for one more to open up in the near future. It’s very convenient to be able to walk outside and buy anything you just ran out of (no produce or meats though). It’s also interesting that often hanuts stock slightly different things so you might have to go to all three of those neighborhood hanuts before you find those peanuts you’ve been looking for.

And the number one type of business in Morocco that could become our long term plan to stay because for whatever reason they just don’t seem to go under are…

1. Cafés

The number of cafés in our town never ceases to amaze us. They all serve the same things, for the same price, (6 MAD or $0.60 for coffee and tea. Sometimes a bigger teapot will run 8 MAD) and the majority don’t serve food. They are typically only frequented by men, and boys who stand outside and steal the wifi signal on their phones (as pictured above). Cafés are the place to go to watch a soccer match, or if you just want to sit around and chain smoke. If you want to gamble, there’s a café or two for that. There are also some more relaxed cafés, which we prefer, where we can sit and enjoy the weather or do some work and not be bothered.

So there you have it. If you want to start a business in Morocco, want a safe bet, and don’t want to think outside the box, find a street corner that doesn’t have one of these five within a block or two and set up shop!