NiwPix

Well, I'll give it a shot :). I will just hope this really is a genuine post and my reply is not a waste of time.

1. Where to start?
Budget. How much money are you willing to invest / loose. What type of coffee shop are you looking to open? Only coffee? With some food or just some cake and bakery? Only drinks?
Depending on these answers depend big part of your budget. Also how big should it be? Do you want her to work on her own or with 1 or 2 staff or a coffeshop with several baristas?

2. Given the lack of previous experience it would definitely make sense to look for something that's already established. However, since a small coffee shop is fairly simple, it would be best if she works at a coffee shop somewhere for a few months. It would help aaaaaalot.

3. Which target group? Don't count on the farang. They are a minority here and don't have much influence in bringing friends and family to the shop. And many come and go. Unless you'll be in a tourist area, where your shop just needs to look appealing and clean. In that case you could do well with foreigners / tourists.
I would however stick with focus on Thais ( but keep it convenient for foreigners as well...ie English menu as well ): Thais are a majority here ( d'oh :) and usually have friends and family around...post pictures etc on social media. Treat them well and they'll be long time repeat customers.

4. Questions to ask? Do you mean if you want to take over an existing business? If that is the case, basically the common sense things:
Monthly income ( you'll probably receive a bit higher number that actual income or the highest number the shop ever made.
Monthly expenses: be prepared many things won't be mentioned and you'll definitely have more expenses in the coming months.
Accounting cost will be veeeery low. Don't worry about it ( unless your planning a big scale coffee shop and making it a company )

5. Besides a business license ( you'll probably go with sole proprietorship ), nothing I can think of. You miiiight need a health department license, but not sure if a coffee shop needs to have it. Costs roughly ฿3000 per year.

6. Mafia / police could care less about a small coffeeshop ( as far as I am aware of ). They're more interested in the alcohol and prostitution side of things.
Make sure the building you are renting is leak free and that the electricity can support several electrical items ( coffee machines use ~3000 watt. A cake fridge about ~1000 watt ) that itself is already quite a bit. Imagine a microwave to heat up food or deep fryer or a blender to mix drinks. You certainly don't want the breakers to pop. Or that during rainy season water drips onto anything electrical.
Another pitfall: staff. Goooood luck finding AND keeping staff more than 3 months. Assuming you will need staff, this will probably be your biggest headache once up and running.

A couple things I would like to suggest, in order of priority and with the fact the business will be a coffee shop and nothing can change your mind :)
1. Let her work at a coffee shop for a few months. NOT at brand name shop like Starbucks etc where they make everything idiot proof and a monkey could make you a coffee. Use a small / medium independent shop where she can still learn things while making coffee...dosage of coffee, different beans, various ingredients and many other things.
2. Start small with the possibility of expanding in that building ( upstairs? ) or next door.
3. Buy used equipment. Industrial equipment is made to last. Don't buy too old of equipment. A couple year old stuff should last you quite some time and not much money lost if you need to resell. You can always upgrade if you expand :)

Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

First, I have no first hand experience in house flipping, but it did cross my mind and this thread caught my attention.

My very first reason I dont flip houses yet or looked into it in more detail is because I don't have the cash saved up yet. Lets say I did have the cash and am interested in it, these are the things that I know and / or worry me ( btw, I am just going through financing my first house with my thai wife in a new development ).

1. There is a business tax. I am not sure if they have this in the US as well: 3.3% of the appraised valuation of the property if selling within a 5 year period. This applies to both individuals and companies.

2. Banks tend to finance 80-90% of THEIR appraisal value....not how much you will buy it for.

3. I am not to sure flipping in developing/growing areas is a good idea, but this can be due to me not having experience with flipping homes. I live in Ubon Ratchathani which is growing very fast in my opinion. There are new developments EVERYWHERE. New ones about to get started. Yet I see so many old AND new houses completely empty as well as several housing blocks...even in good condition. I wonder why they don't sell and what it takes to sell them.

4. If I would have the time and especially patience, I would buy a piece of land somewhere in a decent location and build a house. It will definitely come cheaper ( probably about a third cheaper ) than buying a newly built house and I could get better quality and customization at the same time.

Suggestion: Sounds like you come to Thailand from time to time. Before you make the final move, why not give it a try on one property next time you're here and see how it goes. If you make money, great. If you loose money, it most likely will not be much or you have a house to live in if you do end up in thailand :)

I think they dont know it yet either :)

I havent seen any signs on the road about the dates. If I do see it or find out, I will update it here.

Yupp, that sign is also up at the chayankhun / Makro intersection. Let's see what happens :)

Thanks for the update. Let us know how it turns out :)

Yupp, they're still picking up within the airport. However, upon leaving the airport, you will get hustled by the "limousine" drivers. Just ignore them. When you exit the building, turn right and they're about 30m away waiting for passengers.

2 hours ago, bkkmick said:

Agree with Smokie about foodpanda. There used to be a great selection of restaurants when it was FoodByPhone but the new crap website that zones the restaurants reduces the selection of restaurants dramatically where I live. Much better selection on ChefXP.

 

FoodPanda should sort that out as I won't be using them again and I'm sure others that live outside the CBD feel the same way. Way to step backwards panda.

You are aware though that ChefXP marks up the prices, right? Eventhough they claim they dont.

Black guys grunting, no musicality, lyrics glorifying violence, crime, expoiting women, money, drugs.

Most Thai people would be shocked if they could actually understand the rubbish rap/hip-hop is about. None of these guys can play a musical instrument can they? Samples and studio production

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah yes, a narrow minded person that generalizes. You may be old and you may not like rap or hip/hop, but let me give you some food for thought. For roughly 15 years I have been wondering why the people that criticize rap for "violence, crime, exploiting women, money, drugs" are the same people that watch Hollywood movies. For each rap song you name me, I can name you a Hollywood blockbuster that does the exact same thing. Rap puts an entire story in 3 or 4 minutes...a movie is 90 minutes. However, movies get away with it. Please explain to me why movies can, but rap cannot?

As for hiphop artists not being able to play instruments, may I offer you some YouTube videos with them playing instruments...

Wutang member RZA playing piano:

Two brothers "grunting, no musicality, lyrics glorifying violence, crime, expoiting women, money, drugs. "

Another great hiphop artist playing the guitar. Wyclef Jean

I rest my case :)

Please, I am not retarded, and there is nothing that has been said here that I don't know already.
 
I want to know EXACTLY how much to pay from the first month, and when to raise the salary, when to give bonus, etc...
 
Thank you.

Just an idea to "outsmart" the tessaban.
There are companies in Thailand that refurbish and remodel 20 and 40 foot shipping containers to complete homes with bedrooms, kitchens, toilets, showers etc. Cost 150-300k
Buy one of those, put them on the land. Get the blue book / address. Sell the container again. You might loose a few thousand baht, but cheaper than building a house from scratch I think.

I took over a Bakery & Cafe about 3 years ago and slowly converted ( or actually added ) a full restaurant menu. Am I glad I did. Soooo many bakeries and cafes opening and closing in a 1 km radius. Everytime a new one opens, my coffee sales drop and then pick up again a bit. I couldnt have survived with Coffee and Cake alone. But with the addition of a full menu and some marketing etc it is running really good. Experience was very important too when doing the Restaurant Menu. Without any knowledge about food cost or how make certain dishes with limited resources it most likely would have failed too.

Be prepared to work at least a couple years until everything starts running somewhat smoothly and be prepared to have Staffing problems....people staying 1 week to 3 or 4 months and then just not showing up to work anymore. Third year we have faaaar less turnover, which actually starts making it fun to run a restaurant :).

So, it is possible to make ( good ) money, but realistically the chances of making little money / break even / loss is much higher.

Hi,
It sounds like she is running the business as a "Sole Proprietorship". Under this business model it is possible to obtain a work permit. It is the easiest / simplest business setup there is, but more risk than a limited company. Just google "sole proprietorship"
However, there are other things that might hinder you from obtaining a work permit. There are certain jobs reserved for Thais only. Make sure your job does not fall in that category.
I am not sure if and how many other Thais you will have to hire as another requirement to obtain the work permit. It can be 0, 2 or 4. If you are required to hire two or four Thais, you don't reeeeally have to hire them. You just need to pay their monthly social security ( currently 900฿ per person ). Best to use your wife's relatives for this.

I haven't used it here in ubon yet, but in bangkok many times. When it was announced for ubon, I opened the app and saw 1 taxi in the area. I think it may be only one or two taxis at the moment, but surely more will sign up soon. Just give it some time :)

Mistakes happen. They're human beings...not machines.
They handle money all day long. If it were true that bankers are out to steal money, banks / bankers would have a bad reputation ( probably similar to the Thai police )...however, they don't. So the vast majority is honest or at least very little mistakes happen.

good luck on your search. Hope some locals will be able to help.

I am curious about decaf coffee though. Have you been able to source decaf coffee for home use? I haven't been able to find any...except starbucks and boncafe.

Hmmm, you need to specify "inexpensive". I'm looking into getting one soon. Coincidentally there is a shop that sells drones, spare parts etc in my wifes moo-baan in Nonthaburi. Next time I'm there I will pay them a visit. They have a website and I have been eyeing the Phantom 3 advanced ( this would be my first drone ). I did some research on amazon.com. they list the features of the drone models side by side...very informative.

The website of the Nonthaburi shop: http://www.k-rc.net/

Keep us posted if you end up buying one and how you like it please.

Thai Turkeys, oven ready run about 200 Baht /kg. Just need to find them

I find it very disrespectful what is going on here. Cudos to Passion Delivery for keeping their cool and staying professional.

It is one thing to agree or disagree on pricing , but to go around and claim that before it was a lot cheaper ( true or not true doesn't really matter at this point ) and now because of the price adjustment you wont be ordering anymore?!

If find the prices reasonable...despite if it was higher or lower before. If you don't agree with the prices, just move on...don't make a big stink about it. Show some respect to a business trying to give a service to the farang community in Thailand.

Who is "she/her"? girlfriend / wife?

Reason I ask, I think your Visa should be your first concern before the work permit.

If she is your wife:

O-Visa: Work permit possible. Wife can setup sole proprietorship ( "cheap" ). Then hire you...but she still needs 4 Thai Employees on payroll before she can hire you.

Is she your girlfriend:

B-Visa: She needs to open up a company ( expensive ) and loooots of paperwork. Then the work permit is possible as well...with 4 thai employees on payroll.

None of the above? Only option I see is stay under the radar.

Basically you want to start a business "on a budget". So, forming a company is out of the question. Which in turn means you won't be able to get a B-Visa. The only other Visa ( as far as I know ) that allows you to stay in Thailand AND get a work permit is an O-Visa based on marriage.

Since B-Visa is not an option for you, you need to be married.

Workpermit shouldn't be too difficult ( remember though that same as Immigration, the labor department has their own interpretation of rules....what works Korat, may not work in Pattaya for example ). The business is in your wifes name ( Sole Proprietorship is the easiest business setup, but comes with a major downside: business owner is 100% liable ). You can apply and get a work permit, however, you will need to be able to show 4 Thai employees. I found obtaining a work permit and renewal is a lot easier than obtaining a Visa / dealing with immigration.

Since you do not plan on making an official business with walk-in customers, then just start out behind the scenes in your own 4 walls and test the waters. If everything works the way you had planned it, maybe then consider doing the right thing ( business + Work Permit ).

Unfortunately I think more people will be able to get into the "top 4%". The beginning was soooo easy, I was positive there was some sort of catch. But there wasn't, but did get a bit more difficult towards the end.

Only 4% of the human population can get the same result as you did!
You have a truly unique mind that can spot even the slightest difference and calculate all the different possibilities.
On top of that, you're very patient when you need to be and that gives you the peace of mind to actually concentrate and reach the right conclusion instead of giving up like 40% of the population.

Have you guys tried searching online ( maybe even have the wife search in Thai )...I'm sure there will be an online community and lots of useful ( and not so useful ) info.

Scroll to the bottom of this post if you just want the solution and dont care what I went through

Ok, today I tried my luck with obtaining one of those ID cards. As stated previously, my yellowbook is registered to my Surin residence, though I spend most my time here in Ubon. So I was a bit worried they wouldn't issue a card based on that. I brought my yellowbook with me, but was "hiding" it. I tried my passport + Workpermit + Drivers license ( both documents have the same Ubon address ).
 I prepped my wife on what I want and that it might be difficult to obtain and to use the yellow book as last resort.

I entered the city council by the park. We walked straight to the information counter and said we wanted to get the ID card for foreigners and showed my dads Card as example. All three ladies had questions marks written all over them and shortly after pointed us to through the door on the right. We entered, and on the left hand side another lady asked what we wanted and again explained and showed a sample picture. She pointed us to the end of the room to a desk in the corner. A man in his late 40's was sitting there. Again, we explained what we wanted etc. He pulled out his book and said we needed a bunch of documents ( Residence Certificate, medical certificate, police clearance and other weird things ). It was a lot of back and forth and polite arguing with smiles and so on. Questioning how my dad got it with only his passport and yellowbook, yet here I need a whole lot more. He ended up calling Surin and finding out what they did ( he went into another room for that ). In the meantime my wife struck up a conversation with a lady at the next desk over. She confirmed what the guy said, and the last time they issued that card to a foreigner was approximately 3 years ago. She did mention there is another City council in the area.

When the guy returned he said the Surin office made a mistake, but there were also rules that changed last february and he had to find out about them and to call him back tomorrow morning at 10. I already knew that I wasn't getting a card from him, but really wanted to get to the bottom of this. The whole back and forth took about 1 hour...with lots of changing the subject and answers given that didnt relate to questions....you guys know how it goes :). So we left and decided to go to the other City council.

How to get your Pink ID Card in Ubon:

You have to go the other City Council. NOT the big council by the park. Go to the smaller one on Srinarong Rd ( It's also near the park, but on the street of Smile Restaurant...I will post the GPS coordinates of the exact location at the bottom of this post ). As you enter the property there is a building to your left. Walk in there. Half way in on the right, let the person know you want to get a pink ID card. Immediately they will ask for your passport and yellow book on they will start the process. They knew exactly what was going on.

Now, my case....I tried my work permit: No Go. then I tried in combination with my drivers license ( both documents have the same address )...also no go. They insisted on the yellow book. So, I pulled out my yellowbook and they looked at it and quickly checked with their supervisor and came back and said it is a Surin address, so I would have to go to Surin.

So, if your yellowbook has an Ubon address, bring your passport along and they will issue you a Pink ID Card.

You're welcome.

I'm off to Surin in the coming weeks...

GPS Coordinates of the council office that issues the card: 15.228771 104.854112 ( enter those number just like that in google search )

See attached pictures for the city council sign and the entrance to the office.

I wouldn't know where to look if franchises are available for the normal person. I can name a few and you can check if they have been "reserved" already.

Subway

Popeyes

Dominoes

Pizza Hut

Carls Jr

Denny's, IHOP, Taco Bell ( I dont think they're present in Thailand, but maybe they are looking to? )

Out of curiosity and not to sound like the police....I noticed that the location is near the airport. I kept reading that it is generally banned flying drones ( I assume RC Planes would fall into the same category? ) within a certain distance of an airport and military base. Does anybody know what the current law or regulation is in thailand? I kept thinking about getting a drone, but whenever that thought crossed my mind, I remembered I am right next to the airport.

If in fact the laws are very lax, I may know what my Christmas present will be