How Can Foreigner Want To Do Business In Thailand

[Latt]

Hello everyone..

I want to know more about how the foreigner want to do business in thailand?

Me and my boyfriend(British) will get marry on next week and we been talk about i'm go to live in uk or he stay here with me.My boyfriend he's really want to stay here with me in Thailand and we want to do some business here.

But the problem is we dont know how to start and how much money he need to show the government.We talk with someguy and he's told us that's to start do business here you ahve to got like 2 million Baht in the bank or something.

And if like that when we do the business can my boyfriend be the owner or just gonna be my name? And can he work in that's business?the business that's we talk is to be franchise 7eleven.So if anyone know about all this please give me an advide...

Thank you very much.

[autonomous_unit]

I believe a company can be registered in Thailand with a majority foreign ownership, but only a Thai company (more than 50% Thai owned) can sponsor work permits for foreigners or engage in a number of restricted business areas. (I do not know whether a convenience store falls under any restrictions or not.)

To register, a company's founders only needs enough capital to reasonably start the business and get it to the point of making profit, but the company needs registered capital of 2 million baht to sponsor a visa extension for a foreign employee. Less is needed if the employee is married to a Thai.

With enough capital, it is easy for a foreigner to get a work permit as a managing director of a company that he co-owns. I am not sure, but I think he needs Thai employees for most of the jobs you would have in a convenience store, such as cashier, cleaner, or stockkeeper. He does not need a work permit to own the company without being a manager, but in that case he cannot even sign bank or accounting documents legally for the company.

I imagine the franchising fees and up-front investments are not trivial to open a 7-eleven, so it would be well worth your money to pay a professional adviser to help you understand the issues and requirements before going too far with planning something like this.

[meelousee]

want to do business in thailand?

franchise 7eleven?

The franchise for 7 Eleven is a great idea if you have the money.

Fees and Expenses:

The Franchisee pays a one-time initial franchise fee to 7-Eleven (averaging approximately $70,000, depending on the store's gross profit, but that may vary significantly depending upon the area).

A Franchisee is required to make an initial cash payment to 7-Eleven in an amount equal to the cost of the store's initial inventory, supplies, business licenses, permits, bonds and cash register fund. 7-Eleven will finance the Franchisee's continuing operating expenses. A typical initial cash payment to 7-Eleven for a franchise is about $89,000, but again, that may vary significantly depending upon the area.

A prospective Franchisee may wish to purchase an existing 7-Eleven Franchisee's interest in his or her store for which the prospective Franchisee must negotiate a price with the current Franchisee. This is called a "goodwill" sale. The "goodwill" price is paid to the existing Franchisee and would be over and above the typical initial cash payment made to 7-Eleven.

7-Eleven Franchisees are independent contractors, and 7-Eleven's relationship with them is multi-faceted. The company is not only a franchisor, but also serves as landlord, financing source, business advisor and record keeper to the Franchisee.

I know of no better if you have the money.

I do know of some other businesses you might want to consider send me a PM and I will contact you.

Be careful on who you talk to on doing business in LOS on a first time basis there are alot of bar stool lawyers that can cost you your sanity and all your money.

[KM_FUBAR]

want to do business in thailand?

franchise 7eleven?

Be careful on who you talk to on doing business in LOS on a first time basis there are alot of bar stool lawyers that can cost you your sanity and all your money.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree on the above quote be careful who you use to set up your paper work as in general you can have one shot to it and if you mess it up it will be a lot more dificult to get the right papers.

Use steve his company for advise and let them help you, it will be the best investment you make in LOS

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

Bangkok

[email protected]

www.thaistartup.com

Good Luck

Kurt

[~G~]

I believe a company can be registered in Thailand with a majority foreign ownership, but only a Thai company (more than 50% Thai owned) can sponsor work permits for foreigners or engage in a number of restricted business areas. (I do not know whether a convenience store falls under any restrictions or not.)

There are so many incorrect statements in this post I don't know where to begin.

1. Any company registered in Thailand can sponsor WP for foreigners, regardless of ownership.

2. The requirements for that are 2M baht in capital per foreigner who in not married to a Thai, 1M baht for one who is. The company needs to be VAT registered.

3. Foreign majority company cannot do retail in Thailand. For this you need a Thai majority company.

To register, a company's founders only needs enough capital to reasonably start the business and get it to the point of making profit,

Not quite. Company's documents state how much capital was actually paid-in, and these documents are being checked when applying for a WP. Anyway, I don't understand what does the profit issue had to do with anything (since when does a company needs to be profitable??! most companies started by foreigners here are not )

Anyway, I agree it is better to seek professional advice, such as from Indo-Siam, before starting anything.

[snoophound]

They(seven11s) do seem a good solid business if you get one in the right area.

Theirs one in Jomtien soi4 i think its flat out pretty much all day and night and never seems fully stocked.

Wouldnt mind that one.

Must be some hooks somehwere.

want to do business in thailand?

franchise 7eleven?

The franchise for 7 Eleven is a great idea if you have the money.

Fees and Expenses:

The Franchisee pays a one-time initial franchise fee to 7-Eleven (averaging approximately $70,000, depending on the store's gross profit, but that may vary significantly depending upon the area).

A Franchisee is required to make an initial cash payment to 7-Eleven in an amount equal to the cost of the store's initial inventory, supplies, business licenses, permits, bonds and cash register fund. 7-Eleven will finance the Franchisee's continuing operating expenses. A typical initial cash payment to 7-Eleven for a franchise is about $89,000, but again, that may vary significantly depending upon the area.

A prospective Franchisee may wish to purchase an existing 7-Eleven Franchisee's interest in his or her store for which the prospective Franchisee must negotiate a price with the current Franchisee. This is called a "goodwill" sale. The "goodwill" price is paid to the existing Franchisee and would be over and above the typical initial cash payment made to 7-Eleven.

7-Eleven Franchisees are independent contractors, and 7-Eleven's relationship with them is multi-faceted. The company is not only a franchisor, but also serves as landlord, financing source, business advisor and record keeper to the Franchisee.

I know of no better if you have the money.

I do know of some other businesses you might want to consider send me a PM and I will contact you.

Be careful on who you talk to on doing business in LOS on a first time basis there are alot of bar stool lawyers that can cost you your sanity and all your money.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[monty]

A 7-eleven in Thailand will set you back around 3.5 million. This includes the initial stock.

The major problem over here is that the cp-group (which owns the 7 eleven franchise) is very picky to whom they award franchises. One requirement is that the franchisee needs at least a university degree!

But it is indeed true that a 7 eleven in a halfway decent location is a money machine.

Due to the huge buying power the company has, they get their products very cheap, creating much better then average profit margins.

Add to that the extra services they provide (accepting payment for electricity, water and phone bills)....

[Jolly_Roger13]

A 7-eleven in Thailand will set you back around 3.5 million. This includes the initial stock.

The major problem over here is that the cp-group (which owns the 7 eleven franchise) is very picky to whom they award franchises. One requirement is that the franchisee needs at least a university degree!

But it is indeed true that a 7 eleven in a halfway decent location is a money machine.

Due to the huge buying power the company has, they get their products very cheap, creating much better then average profit margins.

Add to that the extra services they provide (accepting payment for electricity, water and phone bills)....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can you select a brand new location yourself? or CP-Group award you the franchise and a new location?

[Khun Jean]

Location is of course the most important thing for an 7-11 store.

But it is amazing that sometimes there are four-five 7-11's in one street. Is this not controlled by the franchiser? It seems rather stupid when you have more than one 7-11 in a radius of 200 meters.

If i would open one i would really make sure nobody else will open one very near. If it is not possible, than why take the risk.

[SBACM]

Who do i contact to buy a 7-11?

[autonomous_unit]

There are so many incorrect statements in this post I don't know where to begin.

1. Any company registered in Thailand can sponsor WP for foreigners, regardless of ownership.

...

To register, a company's founders only needs enough capital to reasonably start the business and get it to the point of making profit,

Not quite. Company's documents state how much capital was actually paid-in, and these documents are being checked when applying for a WP. Anyway, I don't understand what does the profit issue had to do with anything (since when does a company needs to be profitable??! most companies started by foreigners here are not )

Anyway, I agree it is better to seek professional advice, such as from Indo-Siam, before starting anything.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't leave me hanging... what else did I get wrong? I am sorry about my first mistake above about foreign ownership and work permits! I guess the professional service I got did not properly dissect the issues to tell me where each requirement came from; I think our business area (computer software consulting) must be among those restricted to Thai majority companies too.

As for capital, I was under the impression that companies are given at least a sniff test at registration to see if the capital makes sense for the purpose of business, independent of work permits. You suggest they are not? I was trying to describe the relatively low barrier to registering if you do not need to sponsor work permits...

But yes, I cannot emphasize enough that professional guidance is important and hard to come by here. We used a supposedly reputable, international accounting and legal firm here at startup and were very dissatisfied with the quality of service and their apparent knowledge of laws relating to foreigners doing business in Thailand. (Thaivisa.com knows better, if you read enough and filter the inconsistencies!) We bolted as soon as the initial services (already partially paid for) were completed.

[~G~]

As for capital, I was under the impression that companies are given at least a sniff test at registration to see if the capital makes sense for the purpose of business, independent of work permits.  You suggest they are not?  I was trying to describe the relatively low barrier to registering if you do not need to sponsor work permits...

Well, you don't need to pay-in the whole amount upfront, in fact, you can start with practically nothing and are required to pay 25% of the capital within 90 days.

But, and this is a big but, when you register the company you declare how much was already pay in. These documents are being checked when applying for a WP. Some start-up companies make the job easy on themselves and write "100% capital paid" in these forms, to show the Labour Department they are dealing here with a serious company, fully financed. Just something to make the approval of the WP a bit smoother.

This, however, can cause problems to the owner or director on a later date, who will need to show in the yearly audit where is the capital.