The order things have to happen in
Most of the money wasted on business setup in Mexico is wasted by doing the right things in the wrong order. This is the sequence.
01
Find out what your activity actually requires
Before anything is filed, we establish which licences your specific activity needs at municipal, state and national level, whether the premises you have in mind is zoned for it, and whether any of your qualifications need validating by a Mexican agency first. This is the step that decides everything after it.
05
Keep it compliant
SAT declarations with Hacienda, licence renewals, and the decisions that come up once you are actually trading.
02
Form the company
Company formation through a notary, and tax registration with SAT. Mexican law requires a notary at several points, which is why Founded MX keeps two on retainer rather than finding one when the moment arrives.
03
Licensing and permissions
The operating licences themselves, at whichever levels your activity touches, plus work permits if you or your partners intend to work in the business rather than only own it. These two run alongside each other, not one after the other.
04
Banking, property and contracts
Banking setup, and review or negotiation of the lease or purchase contract. The lease review comes before signature, not after, because a premises that turns out not to be zoned for your activity is the single most expensive thing that can go wrong.
Foundation Audit & Setup
For an owner who knows what they want to build and needs the legal foundation put in properly.
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A licensing audit establishing exactly what your activity requires, and at which level
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Company formation through a notary, and registration with SAT
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Compliance with state and national requirements
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Banking guidance
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Review of your rental or purchase contract before you sign it
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60,000 to 90,000 MXN. Between 40,000 and 60,000 of that goes straight to the notary and the government. I do not control that part and I do not mark it up. The rest is my work.
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If your activity needs a COFEPRIS registration, an alcohol licence, or anything else regulated, it sits outside this and I will quote it once I know the premises and the activity. I would rather give you that number late than give you a wrong one now.
Full Build & Manage
For a business being built from nothing, where you want one person accountable for all of it.
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Everything in the Foundation tier, plus the operational systems, the work permits, and the property or lease negotiation. Once your site exists, its ongoing management and updates are handled here too. I stay on it until the business is running, rather than handing over a plan and leaving.
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The initial website build is a separate service, quoted on its own. Managing and updating the site afterwards is part of this engagement.
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This is what I did at Satisana Medicine for two years. Sales went from 440,100 MXN to 2.6 million MXN, and bookings from 324 to 1,465, over three years. The growth continued after the engagement ended, which is the only real test of whether a foundation was built properly.
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Scope and fee are set after a discovery call. They depend entirely on the activity and the state, and any number I gave you before that would be a guess.
Ongoing Advisory Retainer
Every business in Mexico files with SAT monthly, whoever owns it. This is for any of them. For a business already operating that wants the compliance side handled and someone to call.
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18,000 MXN per month covers:
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Your monthly SAT declaration
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Your annual declaration with Hacienda
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Two hours of call time, as an hour every fortnight or taken in one go if you prefer
Anything beyond that I quote before I do it.
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That last line is the whole point of pricing it this way. A business running on a system that works needs very little from me most months, and charging it the same as a business that needs me every week is not fair to either of them. The base covers what has to happen whether you call or not. Everything else you agree to before it starts.
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If your business holds several licences, or operates from more than one location, or runs a regulated activity where renewals and inspections are frequent, the base is higher because the monthly work genuinely is. I will tell you which applies to you on the call.
Once a year I look at what the previous twelve months actually took and move the base to match, in whichever direction the evidence points.
Website Build
A separate service, available on its own or alongside any of the above.
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Most businesses here are found online before they are found in person, and a site put together by someone who does not know what you are licensed to do will describe a business you are not legally allowed to run. I build the site myself, which means the services listed on it match the licences you actually hold, and the booking system matches how the business really operates.
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I built the site for Satisana Medicine as part of that engagement. Over the three years that followed, bookings went from 324 to 1,465. The website was one part of that alongside the licensing and operational work, not the whole of it, but a business with no credible online presence was not going to get there.
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Quoted separately, because the scope depends entirely on what the business needs. Ongoing management and updates are included if you are on a Full Build and Manage or Ongoing Advisory engagement.
How payment works
Notary and government fees are paid before anything is filed. That money is not mine. It goes to the notary and to the offices issuing your licences, and I do not carry it on your behalf.
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My fee is paid in three stages, each one due before that stage begins:
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40% when we start, alongside the notary and government fees
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30% before licensing and permits begin
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30% before your licences, registrations and documents are handed over
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Retainers are paid monthly in advance. If an invoice passes 15 days overdue I pause work and tell you why, rather than carrying on quietly and sending a larger bill later.
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This is how notaries and lawyers in Mexico already work, and it is the reason I can quote you a firm number instead of padding it against the risk of not being paid. If these terms are a problem, better that we both know now than halfway through your licensing.
