Business Ideas For My Unskilled Inlaws

[macleod101]

Hi, I am looking to fund a business for my inlaws who live in the petchabun province, Thailand. My wife will soon be paying for a new home for them and I really want them to be able to support themselves.

They live in a small thai town with a population of 2000 people approx, they own 2rai of land but It would not suit a retail business. I am prepared to buy a shop unit or land to build a shop unit as I can only see a retail business working in their village/town.

I have 1.3million baht to invest into this business

I have owned 7 business's to date and will help set-up their business

The business needs to be fairly idiot proof

Ideas I have come up with as follows: 7/11, family mart, privately owned newsagents, internet/game shop, breed fish for eating, hydrophonics, cosmetics shop

any ideas TV?

[macb]

Hi, I am looking to fund a business for my inlaws who live in the petchabun province, Thailand. My wife will soon be paying for a new home for them and I really want them to be able to support themselves.

They live in a small thai town with a population of 2000 people approx, they own 2rai of land but It would not suit a retail business. I am prepared to buy a shop unit or land to build a shop unit as I can only see a retail business working in their village/town.

I have 1.3million baht to invest into this business

I have owned 7 business's to date and will help set-up their business

The business needs to be fairly idiot proof

Ideas I have come up with as follows: 7/11, family mart, privately owned newsagents, internet/game shop, breed fish for eating, hydrophonics, cosmetics shop

any ideas TV?

This is nearly a decision that you have to make yourself, very difficult for business ideas.

1. Has your Thai family had a business before ?

2. There is a thread on 7-11 expensive and not very good income and goals to be met ewvery month.

3. How many in the family.

4. Difficult to have and idiot proof business as not many seem to understand what profit means.

5. Any skills in the family ? ie are they farmers any one at University

6. How long have you and your wife been married/together ?

Lot of questions but common sense

[macleod101]

This is nearly a decision that you have to make yourself, very difficult for business ideas.

1. Has your Thai family had a business before ?

2. There is a thread on 7-11 expensive and not very good income and goals to be met ewvery month.

3. How many in the family.

4. Difficult to have and idiot proof business as not many seem to understand what profit means.

5. Any skills in the family ? ie are they farmers any one at University

6. How long have you and your wife been married/together ?

Lot of questions but common sense

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) my father in law owned his own taxi, but hardly a business and they have no other expereince

2) 7/11 profits from what I hear are poor but I feel they might be able to make enough from it

3) 5 workers, 3 children aged between 14 and 17 who can work part-time

4) they don't understand profit or much at all when it comes to business

5) 2 lorry drivers, petrol station mechanic, gents hairdresser & thai chef

6) its our 4th wedding anniversary today, been together much longer

[kennkate]

OK I will have a go at this.. I was in business and ran it sucessfully for 25 Years.

So I do have a little experence.

.

You could try open a Small conveniance store 7/11 Type But not a 7/11 Franchise.

We have one in our small village. I doubt it will make them a fortune but it may provide them with a living.

If they have had no expereince at running this type of business. they could do it,

Problem will be understanding Profit & loss, They may think if they take 1000 Baht it is money for them to Spend,

No Thought about replaceing the Stock.

How you get them to understand this is in my view the difficult part.

If you don't stock it with too many items that are perishable to get it up and running then you stand a chance.

You will have to give them the hard word about replacing the stock, It's not All profit (Bookeeping)

A Small till would be a good Idea. You will certainly have to keep your eye things for a month or two.

Best of Luck.

Edited June 3, 2009 by kennkate

[Misplaced]

How about a small mechanic shop that can repair Motorcycles/cars?.

Good luck/good fortune to you and your family. It's going to be a rough ride ahead.

[Orac]

I appear to be in a similar position to you in that I want to support my wifes family - they are good, hard working, people but there are just not the jobs around here at the moment apart from the seasonal chilli and rice picking but don't just want to give them the money.

I would be wary about setting them up in a retail business unless you are on hand to keep an eye on them - without any experience in profit and loss or stock control they may struggle.

I 'invested' 1m baht in farm land (rice and chillies) which we are in the process of transferring from my wifes name to our new daughters. Our intention is to let my wifes three brothers farm this land and they keep whatever they make off it (and keep us all in rice!). This has solved three problems:

1. A saving/investment for our daughter to provide for her future.

2. Added security for my wife (when you come from a very poor family that sort of security 'cushion' counts for a lot).

3. Ongoing employment/income for the extended family.

I am in little doubt that they will be self sufficient from this and I will still need to keep providing in some way, particularly helping towards the education of their young families so that hopefully the poverty cycle can be broken.

[thaihome]

In a small town of 2,000 people there are probably few opportunities for a new retail business, unless it is a unique idea. Have to agree that farming is probably better, but like the one poster said; be prepared to continue to help out. In reality, it is much more then a lack of capital that makes people poor. You need to focus on the next generation to break the cycle.

TH

[rick75]

I would take that 1.3mil and put it into the kids education, English tutoring etc while they are young and furthering there education as they get older through Uni etc.

I would say the falure rate of business ventures on here seems to be 99%, give the next generation the opportunity to feed themselves.

Just my opinion

[givenall]

I would take that 1.3mil and put it into the kids education, English tutoring etc while they are young and furthering there education as they get older through Uni etc.

I would say the falure rate of business ventures on here seems to be 99%, give the next generation the opportunity to feed themselves.

Just my opinion

I tend to agree with Rick75.

They will not be serious with the business you start for them and surly will fail

I also have two separate business over here and knowing my wife and family, it would be better for you to save your money, and just help them sometimes and let them continue to earn their own money their own way. Make sure do not take the responsibility supporting them all the way, which is very easy to get trapped into and hard to get out of that.

[hammered]

I would take that 1.3mil and put it into the kids education, English tutoring etc while they are young and furthering there education as they get older through Uni etc.

I would say the falure rate of business ventures on here seems to be 99%, give the next generation the opportunity to feed themselves.

Just my opinion

Sounds about right. Recently my wife opened a small business in a small town. Every day she looks at what she has taken and how much it will cost to replenish stock, pay rent etc. Every other small business owner in the vicinity who all have far more business experience than her think she is stupid and stingy and that all the money you take should just be spent on gambling, food, alcohol and consumer goods. Needless to say they are all in hock to someone everytime they need new stock or to pay rent unless they have a lucky streak on the cards or snooker or if they are really lucky they just wait untikl a salaried member of the family gets paid and that can be used to cover debts and expenses. There seem to be a lot of ideas on business but unless someone has an inate understanding of cash flow and expense, has a background in it or is disciplined enough to learn and carry it out then things wont go according to plan.

Having said all that, even after three months of only modest profit my wife's business has recouped 15% of intitial investment cost, which was nowhere near 1.3 million. If you can find a family member who can maybe learn to control the flow of money maybe try something very samll first and see how it goes. A Thai person doesnt need much money to set uop a small business and the relevent papers are very inexpensive for a small operation.

[howardjarvis]

such horrible advice!

inlaws have no skills end of discussion. no good going to come out of buying business for them.

you have quite a wife , able to build ma and pa a house with her own money? where did she get this money, buy her the dam_n business.

or just do whats expected, pay for your inlaws, thats what you signed up for.

op needs to buy idiot insurance, if anyone catches my drift . skilled guys would have a hard time running a 7-11, cosmetics shop, internet shop,hydrophonics shop.

unskilled business i s buying a lawn mower...........i dont know!

i just dont understand what your guys expectations are when you marry upcountry. do you think you show up everyone going to work hard and not mooch off you?

Edited June 3, 2009 by howardjarvis

[coventry]

I'm with 'howardjarvis'. Give it a miss and save your money.

Edited June 3, 2009 by coventry

[TheLaughingMan]

Some people just want to throw their money away. Would be better off giving it to a legit charity for children. At least then it would do some good.

[rixalex]

A big problem is that you are putting it on a plate for them. Had they toiled and saved their own money to start a business they are more likely to be desperate to make it work. Giving it to them it's likely their attitude will be "if it works all well and good, if it fails, oh well, nevermind - not our money down the swany".

(Also, 1.3 million i don't think is close to being enough to start a 7-11 - double that i would think is needed)

[G54]

As opposed to all the negatives. I have a friend who started a small internet shop with 8 computers on a street where you would not have expected many customers.

1 year on and he has now opened a second shop and is doing quite well.

The family help in the shop. The systems are set to log how many hours each computer in on-line and in use, so no fiddling the 'books'.

The rent for the shop is cheap. No air con. Little need to replace parts.

Some ideas in the right place can work.

[bkkjames]

I have an idea. Give me the 1.3 million and I will send them 5000 baht per month for the next 10 years to a dedicated bank account.

This way will not have to worry if you got good value, no worries about people running your investment into the ground or selling it off piece by piece to cover gambling debts.

Trust me, we will all be better of because of this.

[TheVinylMan]

Dont do it........... you will be a mug if you do........... unless you can watch them 24/7........... remember they will be only wanting to have money for the next meal........ and not look into the future and stock etc. They will live like kings and queens until the stock has gone then you will have the job of refilling the shop.

A mate of mine did something similar but with a club with the in laws running it........... when ever he not there........ The club is never making any money ......... when he goes there for a couple of weeks the clubs makes GOOD money. They will be skimming the tills until its all gone and they may be unskilled but they be come very skilled at covering there own tracks to make money disappear.

Take the other posters advice and invest in something where they havent got 100 and 1000 baht notes looking at them all day long..... you will live to regret it.

But what............ that is the big question.

Ebay shop??

you have control of the finances and send them x amount of the profit every month....... selling thai silks or stuff like that...... just an idea.

[Livinginexile]

I'm with 'howardjarvis'. Give it a miss and save your money.

I second that.

[keestha]

Hi, I am looking to fund a business for my inlaws who live in the petchabun province

Ideas I have come up with as follows: 7/11, family mart, privately owned newsagents, internet/game shop, breed fish for eating, hydrophonics, cosmetics shop

any ideas TV?

Some parts of Petchabun are quite beautiful, maybe you could consider a homestay program for tourists. Homestay programs by the way are also advertised for Thai tourists.

[ballbreaker]

Have a friend that did what OP is talking about doing. This guy bought all the equipment and stock for the shop which was a 7/11 type store. After opening sales were going great and they quickly sold out most of the stock and came to him for money so they could replace the stock. It seems they spent all the money they were making on personal items and none was spent replacing stock. OP what will you do when this happens?

[macleod101]

I would take that 1.3mil and put it into the kids education, English tutoring etc while they are young and furthering there education as they get older through Uni etc.

I would say the falure rate of business ventures on here seems to be 99%, give the next generation the opportunity to feed themselves.

Just my opinion

My wife and I are saving up for the 5 kids to goto university when they reach that age. but yes this is a good idea. I have a business freind in Bangkok who I have thought about using to keep a watchful eye. and I will be their to set the business up.

[macleod101]

Have a friend that did what OP is talking about doing. This guy bought all the equipment and stock for the shop which was a 7/11 type store. After opening sales were going great and they quickly sold out most of the stock and came to him for money so they could replace the stock. It seems they spent all the money they were making on personal items and none was spent replacing stock. OP what will you do when this happens?

Things like this do worry me a bit, this isn't going to be my business. I will set it up and help manage it until cash flow is good and then teach my inlaws to run it day by day and give it to them. If they mess it up, they so be it but I look at this as high risk I feel if the business oppurtunity is right then its worth doing. Yes its easier to just send them the money, but I bet they will feel a real sence of achievement from sucessfully running this business venture.

cheers for everybodys help, My favourite idea is 7/11 style mini market without buying the franchise oppurtunity (i.e. indpendantly owned).

tourism home stay ideas I will look into, never even thought about this one.

[Moonrakers]

but I bet they will feel a real sence of achievement from sucessfully running this business venture.

Unfortunately, I feel as though this would be the major flaw in your plan.

Good luck either way.

[TheWalkingMan]

Good luck!

At minimum, have one of them go through a basic accounting class to get an idea of what to do with the numbers. Quiz them yourself on things... Maybe start small and get them a 5 star chicken cart. Small money to start and if they screw it, no problem and you just lose a bit of money no biggie. But whatever you do, you need to start small and get them to understand the basics of customer service and accounting. Once they pass that, then you can think about a larger investment.

Have fun!

[BusyB]

Hi, I am looking to fund a business for my inlaws who live in the petchabun province, Thailand. My wife will soon be paying for a new home for them and I really want them to be able to support themselves.

They live in a small thai town with a population of 2000 people approx, they own 2rai of land but It would not suit a retail business. I am prepared to buy a shop unit or land to build a shop unit as I can only see a retail business working in their village/town.

I have 1.3million baht to invest into this business

I have owned 7 business's to date and will help set-up their business

The business needs to be fairly idiot proof

Ideas I have come up with as follows: 7/11, family mart, privately owned newsagents, internet/game shop, breed fish for eating, hydrophonics, cosmetics shop

any ideas TV?

hi macleod101 (+ hi everyone else - just wanna answer mac first)

i don 't think it's a very good idea to set people up in business with neither experience nor education, certainly not by handing them over TB1.3m and expecting them to run say a 7/11 or whatever. it's all too big. they can't possibly and failure is preprogrammed. your post struck me as a genuine request, so i decided to finally register in order to suggest you google "microloans" and "mohammed yunus". he won the nobel prize for economics in 2006 for pioneering the system, which has helped millions climb out of poverty under their own steam in Bangladesh for instance.

what i'm suggesting is that you check what the basic conditions for such loans are (they include things like no further loans till the first is payed off, that a minimal amount of personal capital/collateral is involved (the in-laws'll be able to throw a few thousand B together for sure) etc.). then YOU offer them a SUITABLE, SMALL loan at the corresponding rates. you can research the ins and outs yourself in google and wiki if you're genuine/interested. i don't think it can go wrong.

to wit, the advantages - they've got a personal investment in it, it's small enough to be understandable and relevant to their situation so they're not overwhelmed by new and strange input. consequently it becomes learning by doing, and mistakes and failures aren't catastrophes either. they can also build on success by taking out a new loan with increased collateral they've accrued. it also keeps any of your losses to a minimum. lets face it, 1.3m lost to the in-laws would unleash a feeding frenzy on TV (which i confess i would thoroughly enjoy, but i'd rather save you from it first).

hope you're successful with it.

otherwise hi everyone else. i've been following TV for a few months now. i've got some experience in los, spent about 11 months out of the last 5 years there (i'm outta country right now). been mostly around los, but also sniffed into camba, lao and VT a bit - not a complete greenhorn anyway. i am planning to relocate to los in a few years but i'll let that story unfold naturally. had mostly great experiences and a cuppla inevitable bumps and scrapes. have had a dalliance with a BG but broke it off myself and i'm happy on my own anyway.

anyhow, for now i'll just say thanks for all the reading and the info and the entertainment as well.

regds

Edited June 3, 2009 by BusyB

[fullservice]

listen to all the good advice here and don't do it!

[macb]

OP:

Agreed with most of the guys, dont invest in a business. But maybe consider investing in your wife not with a business but with assets for her future.

Example land does not depreciate but don't rush out and buy 1 million baht worth. You could in time buy the parents a couple of Rai up to them then if they sell it well don't buy any more. If you buy land for you wife tell her its for her future, but survey around don't just pay the asking price. 30000 baht up to millions for land, just a suggestion. but don't blow money straight away. I know I lost 2 Million and a daughter. Now at 60 I got to start again. Safeguard your self OP

[Cuban]

With this type of situation - seriously consider who will be the customers of the business (locals have money to spend? if so on what?) - look in detail at the flow of money.

> ....privately owned newsagents,

Do the locals currently buy papers?

If so you are setting up competition - probably against some relation.

Do you have contacts to get papers delivered daily?

What is the wastage rate? Buy-back?

If they have no experiance at running a business they will (probably) take your investment and spent it - not reinvest it as you hope.

With growing something whether it is fish or rice - look at your end to end costs - not your profit. Count the mouths that need to be fed by the business each day - are those costs covered?

Spending money on education is a wiser (IMHO) investment - get younger males into house building or wiring/electrical work. Getting them to speak English might be a skill (or seen as a skill by some of them) if they aspire to jobs with tourist contact, and for the unskilled masses a driver's licence and some tips on finer points of transporting tourists around the country is realistic. Talking some English/German/Russian will allow for the extras they provide turning into cash tips from their customers. I've seen this format work in Cambodia and Thailand, otherwise without university education skills English have limited outlets.

HTH.

[tw25rw]

Maybe buy a rental accommodation of some kind and let them have the income from it. Doesn't then need to be near them unless they are going to clean or maintain it.

Then when they die, you have something left.

[sanook2me]

Spending money on education is a wiser (IMHO) investment - get younger males into house building or wiring/electrical work. Getting them to speak English might be a skill (or seen as a skill by some of them) if they aspire to jobs with tourist contact, and for the unskilled masses a driver's licence and some tips on finer points of transporting tourists around the country is realistic. Talking some English/German/Russian will allow for the extras they provide turning into cash tips from their customers. I've seen this format work in Cambodia and Thailand, otherwise without university education skills English have limited outlets.

HTH.

That seems to be most sensible option send them to university.

A wise man not from TV funnily enough once told me.

Son, you can lose your house, money, wife, car, everything you work for but they cannot take your education!

I think education for the younger members of the family would be better then let them work to look after the older generation. You're in a win win situation because if they <removed> up you have paid the education and its their fault.

With a business you are putting alot of responsibility(your money, always easy to spend someones elses) on people who may not know how to deal with it. What happens when the money runs out?