Business

[hegralow]

I have invested in a seven-eleven franchise in Thailand. It is being run by my sister-in-law who was a former assistant manager of a seven-eleven. I am not happy with the returns I am getting and am thinking of selling. Much to my surprise I was told by my wife that I could not sell as we are on a six year contract. I am having a hard time believing her. I know you can sell a 7-11 franchise in the U.S. at any time you wish so I am wondering if things are different in Thailand. Does anybody have any experience or knowledge with a seven eleven franchise? I do not want to contact the corporation at this point but I will if I have to. I have some other questions that need to be answered but do not trust that I will get a straight answer. Any help would be appreciated.

[Khun Jean]

What about reading the contract. Should be clear.

[Korat88]

I have invested in a seven-eleven franchise in Thailand. It is being run by my sister-in-law who was a former assistant manager of a seven-eleven. I am not happy with the returns I am getting and am thinking of selling. Much to my surprise I was told by my wife that I could not sell as we are on a six year contract. I am having a hard time believing her. I know you can sell a 7-11 franchise in the U.S. at any time you wish so I am wondering if things are different in Thailand. Does anybody have any experience or knowledge with a seven eleven franchise? I do not want to contact the corporation at this point but I will if I have to. I have some other questions that need to be answered but do not trust that I will get a straight answer. Any help would be appreciated.

Not sure if you have tried, but there is a Thai seven-eleven franchise website with links to information. Only problem is that is mostly in Thai, so if you can't read Thai, like myself, then you will have to get someone you can ask and who you wish to help you let you know what it says. I can see a table for instance on one page that states there are two Types of franchise available. One is the B Type and the other is the C Type

B Type has a box that states:

วงเงินกู้

ไม่เกิน 600,000 บาท

ระยะเวลา

สูงสุดไม่เกิน 5 ปี

C Type has a table that shows:

วงเงินกู้

ไม่เกิน 900,000 บาท

ระยะเวลา

สูงสุดไม่เกิน 8 ปี

Since this is in the public domain I don't think there are any problems reproducing the above, but if there are and this is edited you just need to do the search yourself. Otherwise ring or e-mail as you say. I haven't put a link as I don't think TV allow this.

EDIT: Found a link on another post so must be allowed. Here is the page referred to above - http://www.7eleven.co.th/corp/franching_ho...a_franchise.php

Edited February 24, 2008 by Korat88

[SWINDON MASSIF]

I have considered a 7-11 franchise myslef in the past and so this has some ineterest to me.

I must say that the website being available in Thai only is far from comforting and I would refuse to enter into any business agreement without having a contract that is translated into English by a reputable translator/lawyer of my choice in the first place.

I have been married to a Thai for four years now and my wife knows automatically that i will sign nothing unless I understand it, It's not so much a matter of trust, just common sense really.

I will follow this thread to see how things develop.

Good Luck.

[percy2]

Selling your franchise contract is one thing.

Selling the company that owns it is probably completely different.

I don't see how they could stop you.

Obviously this is assuming the franchise is held by a company and not an individual.

Cheers

[Chang_paarp]

Sevens are pretty much a formula business, so if you are not getting the returns CP claimed you should look at how the business is being run. Maybe it needs more active management. A talk with the area franchise manager will assist here.

I am guessing you ahve a seven year agreement with CP for your franchise that will need to be renewed at the completion of the term. This is a standard operating procedure to be able to get rid of non performing franchises.

You may find your wife has her sister's interests at heart in this issue. What happens to sister if you sell the business? The cynics will say we come well down the list of priorities some where between the buffalo and the soi dog.

Your best bet is to take your agreement to an independant professional who speaks your language to explain it to you clause by clause. It will be worth the money for your own peace of mind.

There are other options if you own the site, CP will install their own staff and management to run the shop for you, or will run it as a company store and give you a % of the profits. Whether YOU can do the negotiations with CP is another story as they are reluctant to deal directly with foreigners because they are not permitted to own retail businesses..

For the poster that said he would not deal with a company that only gave a contract in Thai, it is the language of the country, you will be given a contract that they will hold you to if you sign. If you do not understand Thai it is up to you to get a trusted translation of the contract, I would not blindly accept their translation in any case but get independent translation of the contract. It is not the English language version they will present to a court if things go pear shaped. One lease I got translated 4 times by different people because Thai does not translate directly into English easily, the translations all varied a little so if you have the option to get a couple of opinions it is worth the effort. This could be difficult with a 10 or 20 page document, but in my case it was only 2 pages.

[hegralow]

What about reading the contract. Should be clear.

That is the problem. It is in Thai. I was told by an advisor at Sun Belt Asia that the reason I can"t get the contract in English is because farangs can't directly own a 7-11 franchise. Like another poster said, getting a translation from 4 different people will most likely yield 4 different results. I am trying to avoid talking directly with the franchise people but will if I can't get my questions answered.

[blizzard]

this is for others wanting to puchase buznits for others. not a good idea at all. if you want a buznit run it yrself.

1.asst manager manager not same same. just like head coach in nfl not same same as top asst coach.

2.maybe sis in law is dubble dipping. her own salary and a bit of the profits,.....lol. she does know system and to her op is rich man and not a blood relative.

3.if relatives approach you for financing just say like nancy reagen said "cannot".mai dai mai dai.

4. if you do go ahead dont expect mut munney in return, you just purchasing goodwill with family...................lol.

5, if you have problem with franchis i tink its best to go to them not avoid them.

[PattayaParent]

Never could understand why someone needs a franchise to open a corner shop? Why not just open a shop and stock it with stuff to sell?