Good Small Business Book In Thai

[MattFS218]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good book written in Thai for a small business owner?

I have a friend who recently became the owner/boss of the small massage shop she works at and I would like to help her by giving her as much advice as possible. Does anyone know a good book in Thai I could give to her?

The shop is small, only 6 employees and from what I can tell, doesn't have any accounting or any form of marketing. My friend has only one year of education at a thai university and is smart, but I think she would benefit greatly with a small business how-to or guide book. Something that incorporates basic management, accounting, and marketing aimed at the small business would be ideal.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

[Heng]

The Art of War, Sun Tzu. (translated into Thai)

a close second... The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho), Miyamoto Musashi

[opothai]

The Art of War, Sun Tzu.  (translated into Thai)

excellent, passive technique only ?

a close second... The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho), Miyamoto Musashi 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Heng]

I don't find Art of War a "passive techniques only" philosophy at all.

True, relatively less "brute force" than say Von Clausewitz (whom as required reading, many argue indirectly lead to stalemate-like World War I trench warfare), but IMO more readily applicable to business. And as always, how passive or active you are is ultimately in your own hands.

I keep the above two titles, as well as On War, and The Prince on my desk (since around age 14 or 15). 2 from the east, 2 from the west.... there are hundreds of other worthy titles, but these 4 have served me well enough.

Oh, a lot of Thais recommend 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' for business and living life in general. Also required reading in my opinion, but a bit lengthy I think for desktop business reference though.

Edited December 10, 2005 by Heng

[solo siam]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...... stop showboating.

As if a girl who runs a 5-6 girl massage shop would/could read and comprehend those books and as if it would help them out.

You may think that 500 year old books are cutting edge in todays modern world, I think its just fashionable to say so.

The OP is looking for a "small business for dummys" (no offense) type book. Best to go into a local book store and ask around, however common sense is probably the best bet.

i) Keep the place clean and looking nice

ii) Get repeat business

iii) advertise as cheaply as possible (word of mouth)

iv) make sure the shop looks relaxing

v) Good signage

vi) Take/Give proper receipts

vii) Treat staff as employees and as friends, not one or the other.

Book keeping is best done by someone else, look to pay 2-4k baht per year for sole trader or similar.

[opothai]

Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

this is the what i call a passive technique

or it could be an offensive stategy

[solo siam]

yeah whatever, cant see how it applies to the marketing, management and accounting needs of a small 5 person massage place myself.

[Heng]

Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

this is the what i call a passive technique

or it could be an offensive stategy

He also said "treat your captives well," one certainly doesn't take prisoners without fighting.

"Without fighting" is hardly a black and white commandment, IMO. I think it was more of a comment against head to head engagements when other options were readily available (say, destroying your enemies logistics.... or in business, avoiding price wars and say focusing on controlling the supply of raw materials, etc.).

Edited December 11, 2005 by Heng

[MattFS218]

yeah whatever, cant see how it applies to the marketing, management and accounting needs of a small 5 person massage place myself.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ben, thank you sincerely for the advice.

Matt

[solo siam]

np

My Wife runs a spa supply shop (aromatherapy, massage oils etc..) herself so probably a lot of the same marketing etc... applies to your friend.

The most important part is to get people into the shop, people have to know about your shop, be able to find it easily and be able to get in easily, by this last statement I mean it should be inviting, look relaxing and professional.

A shop can be made to look very inviting for quite a reasonable price, we constructed shelving and furniture out of wood. A few wooden lanterns and relaxing lighting (low energy yellow or warm bulbs work wonders) and a wooden hand painted/carved sign would work well. A hidden stereo with chanting/buddhist music on at a lowish volume can help attract attention and relax customers.

Most importantly for me is that the place should look clean, A lick of paint for a shop probably wont cost more than 1,000 baht or so.

Also think about getting an aromatherapy burner and some essential oils, burn these throughout the day to make the place smell great, aids in relaxing as well (and of course customers wandering by may get an enticing whiff).

Perhaps get a few massage related products to sell, massage oils, burners, essential oils, wooden massage sticks (perhaps copies of the CD thats playing) maximise the revenue from customers.

Lastly and one of my pet peaves, dont let the staff eat on the premises, its not only the smell but it does put people coming in, they dont want to interrupt anyones, this goes for having girls just sitting their chatting to each other as well, keep them busy - it will help you and them enjoy their day more.

[LivinLOS]

Your advice is practical, real, and probably makes the most sense..

However...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...... stop showboating.

As if a girl who runs a 5-6 girl massage shop would/could read and comprehend those books and as if it would help them out.

You may think that 500 year old books are cutting edge in todays modern world, I think its just fashionable to say so.

While I agree its not exactly relevant for a small massage type place it is very very relevant in harder business dealings or management type situations.. I think The art of war is an incredibly relevant set of thoughts and The Prince superb human study.. The 5 rings however kind of missed my hotspot..

[solo siam]

Yeah I know those books have their place in the grand scheme of things, just seemed very out-of-place in context to the OP.

I think most of the business/strategy side of the books has already been integrated into current day knowledge - Also, a lot of what the reader gets out of things like the Art of War is more about their interpretation, which in-turn probably says more about the reader than the books themselves. Although perhaps that is the point.

The fact that posters thought their responses would help, suggests to me that they over-intellectualised the question, hindering rather than helping the OP. Im'm sure some of the books quoted would have something to say about that as well.

Simple question, Simple answers.

[LivinLOS]

I think we both agree in general, only wanted to say that I personally feel there is a lot more in The Art of War than simply the interpretation..

While the language may be centered around warlike statements they seem to come through remarkably clearly considering thier age and translation factors and do relate very very directly to negotiation, timing of actions, forcefully commiting to a plan with the highest likelyhood of success..

I have actually had a couple of version but one of my favorites was a pocket version with a more translated verbiage clarifying some of the harder to understand themes in simplified language.. I used to keep it in the crapper !!

Your point that its not very applicable to the running of a small massage biz is 100% agreed with..

Edited December 11, 2005 by LivinLOS

[Erwin1011]

When you have your set up done and are about ready for business, the first thing you want to know more about is your customer and his/her habits.

A good POS (point of sale) cash register can help you with that. The data collected that way allow you to see patterns in customer behavior. (peak times in the day, in the week, total amount spent, articles in the basket - whatever products you sell as additional revenue generators)

This will allow you to see when you want to have your full complement of personnel at the shop, what products are in demand etc...

If you link it up with an identification key for each masseuse, you can identify which ladies are in higher demand and you can analyze what they do differently from the others and maybe find aspects of customer relations behavior to train the other ladies in.

Keep track if possible of tipping, generally a good indicator of customer satisfaction.

Attach an ID to as many customers as possible. The easiest way is to give out bonus cards ( 10 visits give you a free one etc...)

depending on your location and what kind of customer you want to attract you can create a host of things to do, but in essence you need to keep track of the effects of your actions.