I found a common peculiarity in each company visit throughout my time in Costa Rica. I noticed that the company visits did not feel like company visits at all. Each business owner had an obvious passion for what they did and an end goal that represented a bigger, more impactful purpose than making money or obtaining power. The presence of the common corporate environment we are used to seeing in the United States was not present in Costa Rica either. I think the culture of doing business in Costa Rica begins with having a passion for the business, then enacted values, and finally, an end goal that aims to improve the world or community, which people are able to connect with and support easily.
For example, two of the businesses we visited included an animal rescue ranch and a chocolate company, each was very different from the other, but both had a mission to improve the world. The rescue ranch kept profiles of the animals they were helping so people around the world could watch the healing process and support along the way. The rescue ranch’s main goal is to help nurture injured or domesticated animals into healthy, capable animals that are able to hold their own in the wild one day. For the rescue ranch, success is defined in how many animals they can help and eventually release back into the wild. As for the chocolate company, they want to make chocolate in the most natural, sustainable, and healthy way possible. They want to change the chocolate market into something that helps the health of people instead of damaging it, and they want to succeed through sustainability practices. Success for this company is defined in how their chocolate can help people without damaging the earth. Although this only provides a window into two Costa Rican businesses, the other businesses we toured were fueled by passion, a wholesome mission, and unshakeable values and beliefs as well. In comparison to the United States, sometimes as consumers, we don’t need a company to have a world rescuing mission in order to support them. I also notice that companies in the United States tend to define success in money, status, power, and financial wellness, which is very different than in Costa Rica. I think many companies have started to seek more sustainable practices and advertise a resonating mission with their target markets around the world, especially in the U.S. However, I do feel like the companies in Costa Rica had something different that set them apart from typical businesses I’ve studied or have been exposed to in the United States.