Profitable Business Out Of Gf's New House?

[RY12]

So if my gf has a new house, are there any generally accepted ways to make money out of it (like opening a certain type of shop on the first floor facing the street) ? it would be in urban Ubon near the river. We have several creative business ideas in mind, I was just wondering if there were safer alternatives that always seem to work. we wouldn't have enough money for a 7-11 or anything like that. i notice a lot of those more primitive conveince stores on the first floors of houses, that sell odd items, i can't imagine those profit too much?

Edited July 9, 2008 by RY12

[Richie1971]

So if my gf has a new house, are there any generally accepted ways to make money out of it (like opening a certain type of shop on the first floor facing the street) ? it would be in urban Ubon near the river. We have several creative business ideas in mind, I was just wondering if there were safer alternatives that always seem to work. we wouldn't have enough money for a 7-11 or anything like that. i notice a lot of those more primitive conveince stores on the first floors of houses, that sell odd items, i can't imagine those profit too much?

Internet cafe would probably be a winner with some gaming chairs - Always seem to be full - could also sell nick nacks

[farang555]

how did yr gf get a new house?

knowing this then u can see what money needs to be made. if her house was free any business will be a good business.

[Richie1971]

So if my gf has a new house, are there any generally accepted ways to make money out of it (like opening a certain type of shop on the first floor facing the street) ? it would be in urban Ubon near the river. We have several creative business ideas in mind, I was just wondering if there were safer alternatives that always seem to work. we wouldn't have enough money for a 7-11 or anything like that. i notice a lot of those more primitive conveince stores on the first floors of houses, that sell odd items, i can't imagine those profit too much?

Internet cafe would probably be a winner with some gaming chairs - Always seem to be full - could also sell nick nacks

A photcopying and printing service could also be an option - got to be more profitable than selling prickly heat powder and joss sticks for a 3bht margin - Beer is also a winner, couple of chairs outside and a nice stock of Lao Cao, mmmmm - might even drop by myself when i'm in the area

[Dave the Dude]

First thoughts are how well do you know the area and what does that area need?

We have a small Store and Salon and you are right to assume that profit magins are miniscule. Internet cafe/copying shop seem to be good ideas. Most here in Surin are usually packed with kids 24/7. You mention your near the river and wonder if there is an oportunity for some type of restaurant?

I do not know your area BTW so I am just giving general assistance(I hope).

Dave

[jay-uk]

If you have a house/shop on the road side then how successful you may be in future will depend on how busy the road is. If the road has a good flow of traffic on foot and by car or bike then you could be reasonably successful with most little ventures. We know someone who runs a little 7/11 style mini-mart from the front of their house in Ubon and it is quite small with a couple of upright double door fridge units and many racks for dry food products such as sauces, noodles and obviously a few whisky bottles & cold beers. The type of stuff' people want to pop next door to get rather than going down the town. She makes on average 10,000 baht per month profit. Not a great amount I know but she basically sits on her bum all day talking with customers and takes the occassonal trip to Makro for stock. If you want to supliment your income then there are much worse ventures and by Thai standards 10k/month of extra income is usually welcomed.

[cynthialee]

whta do rural thais think of giving business if they know a farang lives with thai girl. is that a factor in rural consumers purchase of products. ive heard thais love thais.

[Dave the Dude]

whta do rural thais think of giving business if they know a farang lives with thai girl. is that a factor in rural consumers purchase of products. ive heard thais love thais.

Hi cynthialee

I understand where you are coming from, but in my personal experience it is down to 1)the personality of owner/worker 2)products on sale 3)price. It may be that a Ferang financed shop could be better equipped than some local shops but I am told by my wife it is down to who the customers like (She is a local girl with many,many friends)

I find living in a rural area that is not swamped with Ferangs to be very friendly and welcoming to my type( young,hamsum,very rich and with a sense of humour too).

Dave

[rockyysdt]

So if my gf has a new house, are there any generally accepted ways to make money out of it (like opening a certain type of shop on the first floor facing the street) ? it would be in urban Ubon near the river. We have several creative business ideas in mind, I was just wondering if there were safer alternatives that always seem to work. we wouldn't have enough money for a 7-11 or anything like that. i notice a lot of those more primitive conveince stores on the first floors of houses, that sell odd items, i can't imagine those profit too much?

You could also sell produce from your farm property such as bananas, coconuts, mushrooms, frogs, ants egss, pappya, plah rar, and sweets, such as banana sticky rice.

Oh, and many villagers love their alcohol. If you can buy cartons of beer and Sang Som whiskey at wholesale prices you're in with a winner.

Goodluck with your venture.

[bergen]

So if my gf has a new house, are there any generally accepted ways to make money out of it (like opening a certain type of shop on the first floor facing the street) ? it would be in urban Ubon near the river. We have several creative business ideas in mind, I was just wondering if there were safer alternatives that always seem to work. we wouldn't have enough money for a 7-11 or anything like that. i notice a lot of those more primitive conveince stores on the first floors of houses, that sell odd items, i can't imagine those profit too much?

"Near the river" is a little unclear, but the big market building and the new 500 meters + paved pedestrian river frontage area, both under construction, will supposedly be a major future attraction both for locals and tourists.

Personally I'm looking forward to someone opening a Mexican restaurant.

What about "La Cantina Moon River"........... or "Ubon Con Carne"............

Though it probably means you have to import a Mexican chef.......and be there yourself as well

Anyways - best of luck!

[jay-uk]

Korean Beef style grill restaurants seem to do well also in Ubon if you have the right location.

[RY12]

"Near the river" is a little unclear, but the big market building and the new 500 meters + paved pedestrian river frontage area, both under construction, will supposedly be a major future attraction both for locals and tourists.

Personally I'm looking forward to someone opening a Mexican restaurant.

What about "La Cantina Moon River"........... or "Ubon Con Carne"............

Though it probably means you have to import a Mexican chef.......and be there yourself as well

Anyways - best of luck!

Hola bergen,

we're by that big grade school just at the top of that hill which hat wat tai is at the bottom of. her family is in a legal battle of being evicted from the land where they're building that paved pedistrian river area you mentioned. we're behind the school on a little soi too narrow for cars, about 30 meters from either of two roads. i'd like a mexican restaurant too, but the food would probably be to expensive for locals and i couldn't trust them to cook it right while i'm gone. we're thinking an internet shop would be good since it's right next door to the school and i havent seen others around. anyone done internet shops before? my main worry would be technical problems- i imagine it would be expensive to have an on-call computer guy on hand, and viruses...

[Gary A]

A young couple set up a fried banana business near us. They do the breaded fried bananas as well as the crispy type. I didn't think much of it until I noticed they always have business. If you don't get there before about 3 o'clock they are sold out.

[bergen]

"Near the river" is a little unclear, but the big market building and the new 500 meters + paved pedestrian river frontage area, both under construction, will supposedly be a major future attraction both for locals and tourists.

Personally I'm looking forward to someone opening a Mexican restaurant.

What about "La Cantina Moon River"........... or "Ubon Con Carne"............

Though it probably means you have to import a Mexican chef.......and be there yourself as well

Anyways - best of luck!

Hola bergen,

we're by that big grade school just at the top of that hill which hat wat tai is at the bottom of. her family is in a legal battle of being evicted from the land where they're building that paved pedistrian river area you mentioned. we're behind the school on a little soi too narrow for cars, about 30 meters from either of two roads. i'd like a mexican restaurant too, but the food would probably be to expensive for locals and i couldn't trust them to cook it right while i'm gone. we're thinking an internet shop would be good since it's right next door to the school and i havent seen others around. anyone done internet shops before? my main worry would be technical problems- i imagine it would be expensive to have an on-call computer guy on hand, and viruses...

Hola 2 u as well RY12

There are some obvious things to me that might make a internet cafe a good option.

1. The location is near the river in an area that is undergoing a major upgrade.

2. Located near a big grade school

3. Located in the Chinese part of Ubon, which means many busy and business orientated people.

I would also consider to sell cold soft drinks, and ice cream.

And to be a little different from others I would try out to sell varieties of fresh baguettes, (buy in Tesco and divide in 3 or 4) with cheese (and cucumber/tomato/chili), ham (and spring onion/sweet basil/chili), egg (and bacon/mayonnaise), tuna (plenty options available in small cans), etc.

You'll need a small oven to offer the baguettes warm and crispy.

Young students are always willing to try out farang food, and it won't be a big investment anyway.

Cheers

Edited July 11, 2008 by bergen

[Dave the Dude]

Hola 2 u as well RY12

There are some obvious things to me that might make a internet cafe a good option.

1. The location is near the river in an area that is undergoing a major upgrade.

2. Located near a big grade school

3. Located in the Chinese part of Ubon, which means many busy and business orientated people.

I would also consider to sell cold soft drinks, and ice cream.

And to be a little different from others I would try out to sell varieties of fresh baguettes, (buy in Tesco and divide in 3 or 4) with cheese (and cucumber/tomato/chili), ham (and spring onion/sweet basil/chili), egg (and bacon/mayonnaise), tuna (plenty options available in small cans), etc.

You'll need a small oven to offer the baguettes warm and crispy.

Young students are always willing to try out farang food, and it won't be a big investment anyway.

Cheers

Good advice from my Horny Friend, Bergan of Berganland

I would add as numbers :-

4. Employ someone with recent computer know-how who can solve issues. Maybe a local Technical College might help?

5. Buy/install a computer system that monitors PC time usage, utillising 'log on' slips. Then labour& errors are kept to a minimum.

6. Keep the price cheap FOR STUDENTS (club cards?)

My friend here in Surin has 2 such shops and whilst electic bills are high, so are profits.

Dave ( still not using his PC to its full potential, but its a good night-light)

[jay-uk]

sounds tasty Bergen...i'd eat one of those myself!

[Farma]

One of the best ideas I’ve seen near a school is a stall selling the Thai version of milk shakes.

One shop in particular comes to mind. They have maybe 15 or 20 containers with different flavour powders, some black beans, ice, a couple of blenders and a cup sealer for the lids.

That shop has a regular clientele with queues forming throughout the day. They’ve moved into a back street after rents doubled on their original place and their customers followed.

I’ve watched this business since they started and listened to comments from local shop owners on how profitable that drink business is.

It’s low cost to set up, no shop fittings needed apart from a big table to sell from. Your location near a school could make it work.

[midasthailand]

So if my gf has a new house, are there any generally accepted ways to make money out of it (like opening a certain type of shop on the first floor facing the street) ? it would be in urban Ubon near the river. We have several creative business ideas in mind, I was just wondering if there were safer alternatives that always seem to work. we wouldn't have enough money for a 7-11 or anything like that. i notice a lot of those more primitive conveince stores on the first floors of houses, that sell odd items, i can't imagine those profit too much?

Not Isaan I know, but I know an enterprising girl in Kanchanaburi that started her current business by buying 12 bottles of Singha, selling them at a small profit, buying more ........ she now has a little corner bar with beer and spirits, three tables with chairs and a fan and ghetto blaster with plans to rent the bottom floor of the building where she sets up outside. My friendsand I had to pass her little business every night on the way to Phon Phen guest house and made a point of always having our last drink there.

[lungbing]

One thing I've noticed is that as soon as any little business starts up and seems to be doing well somebody else will start exactly the same type of business next door or facing you.

This also applies to bigger businesses like petrol stations and pharmacies. Our local village has two pharmacies in adjacent shops. One started and was doing well as the only one is the area so another one started literally next door.

[oceanrover]

Hello RY12,

My wife's cousin runs a Internet Cafe in Trakan just north of Ubon and it is always packed with kids even in that small little town. There is a food cart outside that sells noodles and a small store next door. Both the store and the noodle cart add to the location for sure. There are a few programs that allow you to image a PC and then restore it to that image with the a simple power cycle. I used one of these when I worked for a college with 400 PCs in the labs and it was a god send. Kids could infect them, screw up the desktops and all I had to do was reboot the PC and viola it was back to original condition. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to do if you really want to protect your investment and firewalls, ect are not always user friendly or inexpensive.

The brother-in-law opened up a pharmacy further north towards Mukdahan and is doing well enough to open a second one a few km away for the sister-in-law to operate. Pharmacies are not simple either and there is a level of expertise needed I think. Luckily he is a pharmicist at a local hospital so he is able to use his existing skills. We have spoke to many others though that seem to have no formal training whatsoever and do just fine. I would not recommend anything beyond over the counter offerings without education. The initial stock and setup would be a large investment for most Thais, but you might want to consider it.

Good luck with whatever you do with the space.

Cheers.

Mike in Seattle

[roygsd]

whta do rural thais think of giving business if they know a farang lives with thai girl. is that a factor in rural consumers purchase of products. ive heard thais love thais.

Like bees around honey, see you s a soft touch, until word gets out No Credit at this store, start as you mean to go on, or dont open a shop

Roy gsd