Does anybody have any feedback or personal experience signing up and running a local franchise. I am talking small business. Suitable for a couple people making a living. Without major investment. 

For example NOODLE #4 or anything up to 250K per shop. Good feedback might help some people to get on the right track.. MS>

 

Yes, Do you mean 250k Thai Baht? If so and you are a foreigner you won't be able to get a work permit. You will have to invest at least 2 million baht to get a work permit. However the requirement is lower if you have a Thai spouse or business partnership I believe 1 million baht.

Thanks you mods. Thank you VB. This is not for myself or a foreigner. In fact it is an idea to be part of a Will, giving certain hardworking Thai friends a shot at a better life. THankful for any feedback. MS>

 

16 hours ago, vinegarbase said:

Yes, Do you mean 250k Thai Baht? If so and you are a foreigner you won't be able to get a work permit. You will have to invest at least 2 million baht to get a work permit. However the requirement is lower if you have a Thai spouse or business partnership I believe 1 million baht.

Thats not correct only need to be registered for 2mb

I have set up a couple of business for "she who must be obeyed" some were franchises. Very little investment .....10,000 Bt. or less in one case (meat balls of sorts). She sold them in the big market in Pattaya.

    Like every business I imagine....the 3 most important things are....Location...Location ....Location.

PS....set her up in a couple of other ventures ( non-franchise)...each one an investment of around 300,000 Bt...both failed.

I would add one more important factor to the 3 above....make sure the person involved has a "business head". In other words, that they know how to run a business....or are quick on the uptake.

Thank you for your response. MS>

2 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I have set up a couple of business for "she who must be obeyed" some were franchises. Very little investment .....10,000 Bt. or less in one case (meat balls of sorts). She sold them in the big market in Pattaya.

    Like every business I imagine....the 3 most important things are....Location...Location ....Location.

PS....set her up in a couple of other ventures ( non-franchise)...each one an investment of around 300,000 Bt...both failed.

I would add one more important factor to the 3 above....make sure the person involved has a "business head". In other words, that they know how to run a business....or are quick on the uptake.

Also personnel can be a major headache, with 'can be' I mean more often than not. 

Yeah staff seems to be a nightmare according to business owners. ?? and foreigners stating that. MS>

As said, location, location.  Wife's family were set up in a beautiful restaurant at a cost of over 2 million baht (not by me, before i arrived on the scene), Worked for a while but after novelty wore off and good chef left went into a slow decline. Problem - not on a significant road, just a dead-end soi. So no new customers from passing traffic, only existing customers, there friends or ones from advertising campaigns. Not enough profit to maintain the place and eventually not enough to pay the staff.

 

Other consideration - overheads. You could rent a wonderful location, but is the rent sky high too? You need to make enough to pay the rent. If a franchise, do you have to pay a percentage of turnover? More overheads. So many enterprises fail in Thailand because after paying the running costs there is nothing left.

 

If you have a suitable property already (e.g. live in a shop-house) Then rent is not an issue, and making a small profit is easy. Turning that into a bigger profit is then down to those involved, but hopefully a disaster is less likely.

 

Believe it or not, a 7/11 is a reasonable franchise idea.  Every Thai is familiar with it.  You can make a decent living, but don't expect to make a killing.  Especially if someone opens another one a block from you.

6 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Believe it or not, a 7/11 is a reasonable franchise idea.  Every Thai is familiar with it.  You can make a decent living, but don't expect to make a killing.  Especially if someone opens another one a block from you.

I think so too. Could I open one as a foreigner? No Thai wife. Much appreciate any pointers.