Asked if Austin, Texas computer-maker Dell would soon open a manufacturing operation in Mexico, Michael Dell replied, "Why? We're right here." He's right.: The border, business-wise, began its slow disappearing act soon after the signing of Nafta, more than decade ago. Most of the provisions have kicked in by now, so new opportunities are everywhere you look.

Here are some steps to get you started on your southern expansion.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Head to a show first

Trade shows can help you get contacts, find potential customers and partner and understand the lay of the before investing.

I recommend: Export-Import Bank Bancomext maintains a calender of trade shows at its Web site.

Crunch the numbers

Hiring and firing, credit availability, taxes — all of these factors will affect your costs going in and could make or break the investment.

I recommend: The best and most complete analysis of the Mexican economy is at the World Bank. Bancomext publishes a detailed guide (PDF file) for foreign investors, as well as a step-by-step, "setting up a business" checklist. It also runs a fascinating "simulator" that allows users to forecast actual business costs in major business cities.

Work the crowd

It helps to have a sense of who among your potential competitors is active in the country, and where your partners and possible customers might be.

I recommend: The American Chamber in Mexico maintains an open list of its 2,100 (mostly Mexican) members. Business News Americas maintains a pay database directory of companies in Latin America searchable by geography and sector.

Make friends on the ground

Often the best guide to doing business in a foreign land are colleagues who have been their first. Here, the U.S. government spends a lot of money to make things easier.

I recommend: The U.S. government also runs commercial offices worldwide with staffers assigned to dozens of sectors to help you get started.

Sell to government

Mexico, like many Latin American governments, moved its federal and state purchasing systems online, to cut costs and stem corruption problems.

I recommend: Mexico's award-winning Compranet is the government's central purchasing system.

Understanding the law

You will almost certainly need a trade lawyer before making a large investment in a foreign country, better one with local offices in-country.

I recommend: Get started on the basics of investing Mexico through this English-language legal guide published by Bancomext.

Brush up on free trade

Nafta, the free trade deal that really started the ball rolling for U.S.-Mexico cross-border business, is as complex and bureacratic as you can imagine. Yet it's important to understand.

I recommend: The closest thing to an official, yet simple, explanation of the rules and regulations that might affect your plan is at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection site.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  A little empathy could help. Picture yourself in a Mexican's shoes: The largest economy in the world, by far, is on your border, and it wants to be 'friends.' Good intentions, yes, but the actual impact has been swift and deep. Be ready to be an ambassador for your brand and for your country.
• •  Get out of the capital. While Mexico City is famous for its huge sprawl (and pollution), a lot of amazing investment is going on in smaller towns like Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla and along the U.S. border. Not all of it is low-tech assembly work either. Software and serious manufacturing is taking hold.
• •  Hire locally. There's a huge crop of hungry, bilingual business professionals, many of them educated in the United States or products of bi-country business schools. If you are ready to invest, don't assume the talent has to come from your side of the border.
• •  Get down there. Nothing about life and work in Mexico will be real until you have spent some time understanding the realities of business on the ground. Opportunities simply will not be obvious from your U.S headquarters.