Sucessful Business By A Foreginer In Thailand

[India]

Hi ...As my user id suggests - I am Samy form India and am very interested to set up an alternative base in Thailand without moving their completely at present. Reason for setting up a base is mainly because - I would like to provide my family with a better life style than what India can offer.

I would like to set up my base in Thailand mainly by investing into a Business that gives decent Returns...The business should be low risk and should be such that can be monitored form my home country India (4 hr flight form BKk). Of course I am willing to travel once every three months to Thailand and send a month at the business - meaning that presently - I can spend 4 months in a year in Thailand.

At present I am at a stage of Due Diligence - and am investigating business and networking ... !

Please feel free to share experiences/ideas that fit in the above requirement and also your thoughts how to go about establishing a start up.

Please keep in mind that I am a married and with a big family man and am not eligible for any privileges of have Thai spouse !!Also I have an engineering business in India - and would be unable to run any BAR's related business as I have interested or experience in it.

I am open to ideas like convenient stores, 7-11, Gas stations, Guest house, hotels, franchises of Starbucks, Subway etc...etc...

Also - Most articles I read have negative things to say about foreign entrepreneur in Thailand - explaining difficulties

India too is a tough place to do business - Is Thailand better or worse for a foreigner to do business as compare to India ?

Also - There has to be success stories of foreigner how have set up business in Thailand - What did they do right? What is the correct way to go about this ?

Please feel free to add any further comments on the subject.

Thanks

Regards

Samy

[sanook2me]

Business that gives decent Returns...The business should be low risk

Let me know once you have researched and found the answer will you...i'll pay you a good finders fee.....

Teaching at international schools pays from 80k per month...

time and investment...

4 years university and what ever fees.... gives decent guaranteed profits in future and low risk as always work anywhere in the World ...

[p_brownstone]

Samy, I am not at all sure whether you are a Troll or not - I suspect so - however assuming your request is genuine:

1) To ask on a Forum like this (well, any Forum really) for people – strangers – to give you ideas on how to establish a business that gives “decent returns” is naive in the extreme. Surely you must realise that if anyone had such information they would utilise it themselves? Why would they give it away to you – or anyone for that matter - free?? That you even pose the question clearly indicates you have negligible business acumen.

2) It is equally naive to expect to run ANY business almost completely “hands off” - by visiting for one month out of 3 or 4 – I assure you that you - in fact no one - will ever set up a successful business anywhere with that work ethic.

Patrick

[India]

Business that gives decent Returns...The business should be low risk

Let me know once you have researched and found the answer will you...i'll pay you a good finders fee.....

Teaching at international schools pays from 80k per month...

time and investment...

4 years university and what ever fees.... gives decent guaranteed profits in future and low risk as always work anywhere in the World ...

Dear Sir/Madam – with politeness your Sarcasm ignored … however when I say decent returns, I do have nominal expectation!! Not sure what you mean by other text you have mentioned

[India]

Samy, I am not at all sure whether you are a Troll or not - I suspect so - however assuming your request is genuine:

1) To ask on a Forum like this (well, any Forum really) for people – strangers – to give you ideas on how to establish a business that gives "decent returns" is naive in the extreme. Surely you must realise that if anyone had such information they would utilise it themselves? Why would they give it away to you – or anyone for that matter - free?? That you even pose the question clearly indicates you have negligible business acumen.

2) It is equally naive to expect to run ANY business almost completely "hands off" - by visiting for one month out of 3 or 4 – I assure you that you - in fact no one - will ever set up a successful business anywhere with that work ethic.

Patrick

Dear Patrick - I am not Troll and as you guessed my request is genuine –

I do respect your opinion about judging my comments ! .. however disagree,

1. This forum seems to have a decent reputation

2. People do exchange ideas and sometime guide you to a good source.

3. This is a forum … I can always accept and reject ideas…

4. If you have comments and ideas with regards to my original request – I would appreciate it !!

[sanook2me]

Business that gives decent Returns...The business should be low risk

Let me know once you have researched and found the answer will you...i'll pay you a good finders fee.....

Teaching at international schools pays from 80k per month...

time and investment...

4 years university and what ever fees.... gives decent guaranteed profits in future and low risk as always work anywhere in the World ...

Dear Sir/Madam – with politeness your Sarcasm ignored … however when I say decent returns, I do have nominal expectation!! Not sure what you mean by other text you have mentioned

Well, what you have done is ignored the free advice i have given you.

Invest in a university education for yourself and then sell it for a lifetime to who ever wants to pay..

ie. international schools who will pay minimum of 80,000 baht per month...

This is what i meant...low risk...as always work and guaranteed investment.

However, it appears you just want to joust on the forum.

So for that reason...i am out

[CanInBKK]

Looks to me like the OP is looking for hands off investment opportunities. Most of us who make a living in Thailand (myslef included) do so from gainful employment; however, it doesn't seem this is an option for the OP. Well, with these criteria in mind, pretty much any investment will have equal risk, from convenience store to golf course since you are relying on someone else to manage it. Thus the real question should be - who can you rely on to manage your business? From here you have answered your own question by assessing what kind of business this person would be most skilled at managing. It would be a mistake to think of yourself as the management, you're merely an investor trusting someone else with your money. Find the person who you can rely on and trust, then go from there.

[India]

Looks to me like the OP is looking for hands off investment opportunities. Most of us who make a living in Thailand (myslef included) do so from gainful employment; however, it doesn't seem this is an option for the OP. Well, with these criteria in mind, pretty much any investment will have equal risk, from convenience store to golf course since you are relying on someone else to manage it. Thus the real question should be - who can you rely on to manage your business? From here you have answered your own question by assessing what kind of business this person would be most skilled at managing. It would be a mistake to think of yourself as the management, you're merely an investor trusting someone else with your money. Find the person who you can rely on and trust, then go from there.

hmm... I see your point !! thanks

[mrtoad]

How much money can you afford to lose?

[sarahsbloke]

Thai lady I know in Pattaya has very good beauty salon, makes lots of money, always a queue of customers.

When she comes up North to visit for a week she leaves one of her trusted staff in charge.

When she goes back, sorry bad week no customers come. Even though the next week will be just as busy as when she was last there.

So Thai lady has good business which only has customers when she is there ............ how do you think your business will be differert?

PS

This was only one example, staff don't skim in Thailand, they take the lot.

Edited July 7, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[sanook2me]

Thai lady I know in Pattaya has very good beauty salon, makes lots of money, always a queue of customers.

When she comes up North to visit for a week she leaves one of her trusted staff in charge.

When she goes back, sorry bad week no customers come. Even though the next week will be just as busy as when she was last there.

So Thai lady has good business which only has customers when she is there ............ how do you think your business will be differert?

PS

This was only one example, staff don't skim in Thailand, they take the lot.

Here is an example from my wifes business.

The old lady in the office who was the goafer/cleaner etc....used to have go and collect products from suppliers.... she ran up a bill at some suppliers by not paying them and just pocketing the money given to pay for the goods.

Obviously my wife dismissed her instantly as she was trading on my wifes name and running up bills using my wifes name as credit !

One supplier had reduced the cost of an item but she never said anything and pocketed the difference.

This went on for 1 month before she was outed by suppliers phoning for their money and invoices arriving with the new cheaper price !

I have no idea how long she thought she could get away with it...but it cost a bit to fix and put right...

My wife is in the office most days and she has trusted long term staff and yet it still happened.....

The above is true and not just a made up example.

[Thongkorn]

To be honest friend , if I were you I would invest in some thing that you can keep your eye on all the time , probably in your own country , then you could just take the profits and spend the month in Thailand holidaying knowing that your investment is Ok back home , at least you can take appropriate action in quick time ,if there is any problems,

[elkangorito]

You could start an electrical business but most foreigners do not want to pay for quality electrical work.

[avcomth]

I have quite a few Indian friends here in Thailand (2nd and 3rd generations Sikhs) And most of them are into loan shark business, a lot of them are into fabric trading and tailoring, and a few I know are into real estate and property brokerage/trading. May be you should get in touch with a few of them before deciding to settle down for a business here. You cannot avoid interacting with them because these guys are like old neighbourhood bullies!!

Edited July 7, 2010 by avcomth

[CarlBkk]

Food.

Even better, food for the wealthy Thais.

[Crossy]

You could start an electrical business but most foreigners do not want to pay for quality electrical work.

Have you seen Indian electrics? Makes Thailand look first world quality

[Berkshire]

Samy, I am not at all sure whether you are a Troll or not - I suspect so - however assuming your request is genuine: 1) To ask on a Forum like this (well, any Forum really) for people – strangers – to give you ideas on how to establish a business that gives "decent returns" is naive in the extreme. Surely you must realise that if anyone had such information they would utilise it themselves? Why would they give it away to you – or anyone for that matter - free?? That you even pose the question clearly indicates you have negligible business acumen. 2) It is equally naive to expect to run ANY business almost completely "hands off" - by visiting for one month out of 3 or 4 – I assure you that you - in fact no one - will ever set up a successful business anywhere with that work ethic. Patrick

Dear Patrick - I am not Troll and as you guessed my request is genuine – I do respect your opinion about judging my comments ! .. however disagree, 1. This forum seems to have a decent reputation 2. People do exchange ideas and sometime guide you to a good source. 3. This is a forum … I can always accept and reject ideas… 4. If you have comments and ideas with regards to my original request – I would appreciate it !!

Sorry India, but I'd have to agree with Patrick on this one. What you're asking for is something that several thousand in-country farangs are looking for. And they're competing with several million Thais looking for the same thing. Having a wad of money in Thailand will not guarantee you a successful business. You don't know the lay of the land here. Or possess the cultural knowledge. Or the language skills. Laws and regs. I can go on and on. And this is assuming that you have the requisite knowledge in the business that you're interested in. As for this forum, yeah, it's a good place to get info on Visa regs or how to find a decent restaurant. It's also a good place to listen to the latest gossip, and to complain about how much this place isn't like farangland. But to get good investment advice? I'm sure you've heard of this saying: "Free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it."

[Payboy]

Get in touch with a good stock broker - invest in SET blue chips - particularly energy sector and agri-business.

Buy a couple of condos in the foreigner ghetto, lease them out on annual contracts - not to individuals but to expat companies, particularly Japanese firms.

Buy or rent a condo for yourself to enjoy your 4 months annual stay here.

Not much chance of anyone skimming with the above or other losses - except for the usual (calculated) risks with stock investment.

PS: Do not buy guesthouses, tailor shops or fast food franchises unless you are here full time or have a reliable family member to handle the business for you.

[imaneggspurt]

Unfortunaly sammy there are a lot of losers and or people that cant make a business work in Thailand , this will be reflected in some of the bitter/sarcastic replies,,but basically you have to be a businessman to have a business,a lot of these types are not and never have been, that they have failed and gone back to sending copy goods to their home country or worse reflects what goes on in many cases, ,i wish you luck in your idea, but Thailand dosent suffer fools and its not an easy place to prosper for foreigners ,good luck

[BigPanda]

Unfortunaly sammy there are a lot of losers and or people that cant make a business work in Thailand , this will be reflected in some of the bitter/sarcastic replies,,but basically you have to be a businessman to have a business,a lot of these types are not and never have been, that they have failed and gone back to sending copy goods to their home country or worse reflects what goes on in many cases, ,i wish you luck in your idea, but Thailand dosent suffer fools and its not an easy place to prosper for foreigners ,good luck

You must be in that category... Because if you had a successful business you would know and be around people who have some success also. For myself every single foreigner i know as a good business, they may not all be making millions but we all have good and bad years.

[ESB7]

If a major company such as Carrefour are pulling out of Thailand to start up in India, I would think the 'proof is in the pudding' so to speak as what you should do.

[Thakkar]

Sammy,

First of all, check that this isn't just a mid-life crisis.

I applaud your effort to try and make a better life for your family.

Many have moved here and succeeded in businesses, many more have failed. If you are going to be an absentee boss, you're more likely to end up in the 'failed' category.

As someone has suggested, if you can't be here to run the business, investment in rental property is an option. But then, that's not really business.

Language barrier is an impediment, but not a huge one. I personally know several Indian, Chinese and farang business owners here who run businesses with varying degrees of success but do not speak much Thai and are not married to Thai's.

Here's a short list of businesses that people I know have succeeded in:

Electronic imports for the Thai consumer market

Export of Thai products to the world market

Restaurant

Tourist shop in hotel lobby

Afghan carpet imports

In every case, they started from scratch, put up substantial sums and worked their butts off 24/7. Also, they had prior experience in the businesses they entered. None spoke Thai and some still don't. One guy I know was doing fine till he got involved in an extra-marital affair. Then everything went downhill.

You'll get only limited help on internet forums, but I guess it's a start. Don't ignore the naysayers—there's something to be learned from everyone.

Good luck and be careful.

[MB1]

If you are going to be an absentee boss, you're more likely to end up in the 'failed' category.

And that IMO is what it will come to "FAILURE".

Anyone who thinks they can come to Thailand and set up a buisness and be absent from it for long periods of time are living in cloud cuckoo land.

[RAZZELL]

To own a 7-11 Franchise you need to be Thai.

RAZZ

Edited July 8, 2010 by RAZZELL

[India]

Sammy,

First of all, check that this isn't just a mid-life crisis.

I applaud your effort to try and make a better life for your family.

Many have moved here and succeeded in businesses, many more have failed. If you are going to be an absentee boss, you're more likely to end up in the 'failed' category.

As someone has suggested, if you can't be here to run the business, investment in rental property is an option. But then, that's not really business.

Language barrier is an impediment, but not a huge one. I personally know several Indian, Chinese and farang business owners here who run businesses with varying degrees of success but do not speak much Thai and are not married to Thai's.

Here's a short list of businesses that people I know have succeeded in:

Electronic imports for the Thai consumer market

Export of Thai products to the world market

Restaurant

Tourist shop in hotel lobby

Afghan carpet imports

In every case, they started from scratch, put up substantial sums and worked their butts off 24/7. Also, they had prior experience in the businesses they entered. None spoke Thai and some still don't. One guy I know was doing fine till he got involved in an extra-marital affair. Then everything went downhill.

You'll get only limited help on internet forums, but I guess it's a start. Don't ignore the naysayers—there's something to be learned from everyone.

Good luck and be careful.

Hi Thakkar .... thanks for the most sound advice i got so far ... !!

FYI .. no mid life crisis here .. checked and rechecked .. ... Just want to get this best life has to offer... !!

Also ... most people are unable to understand where I am coming from... When I saw I can be in Thai for a limited time .. that does not mean I am not willing to work hard !! niehter does it mean that i will work for 4 months and blow savings in bars with the rest 8 months... all i am saying is I want to stay pluged into my current business as well as ... slow start expanding my ventures to get the best I can form life...

Anyways ... like u say there is always someting to learn form everyone.

[India]

Unfortunaly sammy there are a lot of losers and or people that cant make a business work in Thailand , this will be reflected in some of the bitter/sarcastic replies,,but basically you have to be a businessman to have a business,a lot of these types are not and never have been, that they have failed and gone back to sending copy goods to their home country or worse reflects what goes on in many cases, ,i wish you luck in your idea, but Thailand dosent suffer fools and its not an easy place to prosper for foreigners ,good luck

You must be in that category... Because if you had a successful business you would know and be around people who have some success also. For myself every single foreigner i know as a good business, they may not all be making millions but we all have good and bad years.

WOW... i notice ... people love to start of rude... ! very imature of you to judge .!! btw.. the only reason I can't completely move is cause i realy a sucessful business already... I want to do is establish it !! ...

a suggestion - u can be a lttie polite next time -- remember - what goes aroung comes around

[Thakkar]

Sammy,

If you haven't already, check the Thailand Board Of Investment website for some useful info.

Also, visit the nearest Thai Embassy commercial attache. Depending on your luck, i.e., who you encounter there, you may get some additional help.

I know that there is a Chinese Chamber of Commerce and it offers some resources. I'm sure there's also an Indian Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok. You may try your luck there.

Thailand is a low-cost production base for many engineering products and enjoys low duty or duty free access to ASEAN member countries, pretty huge market. Thailand does not much lack for foreign investment so the Thailand Board of Investment does not offer any mouth-watering incentives to investors, but there are some incentives.

Be careful taking on partners; as in India, sharks abound, sharks of every ethnicity. Much better to hire qualified Thai's and pay them well.

Finally, my personal wish is for you to open a top-notch South Indian Restaurant in Chiang Mai that also serves Gujrati food

[thaibutty]

As I understand it you already have your own business in India. Would you let us know what kind of business you have? My advice would be, if that is possible to see, whether you can either transfer your business to Thailand or establish a cooperation with a business in Thailand. This will give you the chance to come to Thailand more often, establish some network here and you will find new opportunities more easily.

[garrfeild]

I have a buisness Idea for you. I will help you set up a company here in Thailand. It will guarantee you an income to live on. But it is going to cost you 5,000,000Baht to invest in my Idea.

If you are interested you can contact me by sending a private message.

Speak soon!

[gtm2k]

Sammy,

Reading your post i am still unclear about what is your proposed business area ? Language, cultural knowledge and investment are the three most important things to run any business in a non-english speaking foreign country, but every expat business owner (here in thailand) has these things in varying proportions (still being successful).

If your intention / plan / idea is to throw money and get involved part-time, then you will lose everything, irrespective of the business you get into. And, i feel at this point of time you are unclear about what is your investment going to be, ie, money, time / involvement & commitment.

Getting down to what you asked in your first post -

1. Alternative base in Thailand without moving their completely at present - You will need a trustworthy indian in thailand to keep your involvement to the minimum.

2. The business should be low risk and should be such that can be monitored form my home country India - My ten cents .. this is an imagination. There is no business which is low risk & on top of that which can be monitored from 3000kms remotely.

3. Here is what you will need - i will explain what is easier to do -

A. You will need a thai business partner who will hold 51% of your company shares - convince yourself for this first. This practically means that you being the owner of the business can get kicked out anytime. And this is exactly where "trust" plays huuuuuuuuuuge a factor.

B. For a thai+foreign shareholding setup - you will need to register for at least 2 Million Thai Baht of registered capital ( Thats approximately 24 Lakh Rupees ). This will enable you to get yourself a work permit and make regular travel into thailand easier. Again, convince yourself about your pockets.

C. Any business will need a bare mimimum of -

# Accounting services - About Baht 5,000 - 10,000 Per month, annual audits and closing extra.

# At least one Sales Person - At least Baht 10,000 - 15,000 per month, depending on what you are trying to sell, experience level requested.

# An office, bare minimum - about Baht 20,000 pm -- i am not talking about an office in a CBD area, but somewhere you can sit.

# Be prepared for another Baht 200,000 on misc setup expenses such as travel, agent fees, paperwork, translators, office fixtures etc etc.

For a small expat business, a monthly expenses of Baht 35,000 - 40,000 is the bare minimum. (again this is about 45,000 Thousand Rupees per month).

You may want to ask, what if I dont want to have a thai business partner ? Well the rule here depends on the "nationality" of the business owner (americans, europeans for example have investment related privileges as compared to indians). But to go this way, you will need to be probably more than the average SME category, meaning you wud'nt have posted here !!!

Hopefully, this has answered some of your "questions".

Cheers,

Gautam