Why Are You Even Here? The Surprising Attitudes of Some Expats in Thailand

[bobthedog]

Dear all

Can a falang start up a franchising business - say 7-Eleven in Thailand? As the business will stand on Thai land, and as falang is not allowed to own land, how to pursue this idea? Are there any other requirements for doing franchising? I don't need to stand behind the desk in the shop, but want to do the hiring, take care of the financial and logistic issues on a daily business and do supervision.

Thanks!

[davejones]

If you want to buy the shop then it can be bought buy the company you set up to run the business. But you can only own up to 49% of the shares. You could also rent a shop to run the business. I think you're free to run it as long as you employ a certain number of Thai citizens, which will be easy for a 7/11 shop.

I don't know how true it is, but other on here have mention that you can only expect to earn 20K or so per month. I find this hard to believe though, because all the 7/11s near me are super-busy all day, even at midnight. I just can't see how they'd only make 20K/month.

I know some people that have education franchises and they do pretty well.

[CharlieH]

The 7-11 works as franchise, yes, but the money you take is NOT all yours, the profit is shared also.(as I understand it).

Thats why they are open as long as they are and never stop, by the time everything is paid and everyone is paid, it is by no means "an easy buck".

This is also why others simply set up something very similar under the name of 7 Mart or 8-12.......then you dont share anything and all your hard work comes back 100%.

[davejones]

The 7-11 works as franchise, yes, but the money you take is NOT all yours, the profit is shared also.(as I understand it).

Thats why they are open as long as they are and never stop, by the time everything is paid and everyone is paid, it is by no means "an easy buck".

This is also why others simply set up something very similar under the name of 7 Mart or 8-12.......then you dont share anything and all your hard work comes back 100%.

That's how all franchises work - giving a share of the profit to the franchise owner.

Yes you can start your own shop, but the whole idea of a franchise if that everything is laid out for you. Franchise aren't for people who know how to set up and run the business themselves. Most people would have no idea where to buy stock, hire staff, etc, etc. Also 7-11 is a well known name and most people would use them over an individual store. You can also pay your water, electricity bills, etc, which draws in people who will buy other things. They also sell bus and park tickets. All that would be difficult or impossible with a single standalone store.

I'd never buy a franchise personally, because it's more like buying a job than buying a business, but it works for some people.

[54321]

7/11 franchise has come up a few times and it seems to be a great deal of hard work for little money, OR a fantastically profitable business in year one, but in year two another franchised 7/11 opens up and takes half of your trade. That's the impression I have been given by people who say they have looked into it.

[davejones]

7/11 franchise has come up a few times and it seems to be a great deal of hard work for little money, OR a fantastically profitable business in year one, but in year two another franchised 7/11 opens up and takes half of your trade. That's the impression I have been given by people who say they have looked into it.

But a lot of that is TV members repeating what they have read on here. They aren't people that have actually bought a franchise. It would be better to find out from some people that actually run a franchise. I wonder how 7/11 are so successful if the franchise is as bad as some on here make out. There is also the possibility that it is good money for a Thai person but not so good for a farang.

[dddave]

A friends GF entered the 7-11 training program with the intention of eventually getting her a franchise. Long story short, the start up costs are huge and 7-11 stacks the financial deck in such a way that the owner never really makes money commensurate with the labor put into it. Like a lot of franchise operations, the owner has little flexibility and a lot of management fees and operational costs. The more the location makes, the more 7-11 takes out of it.

FAMILY MART actually had a better deal for owners but the shops don't make as much according to the research this guy did. He was an experienced and successful business man himself so I believe his findings.

Edited September 18, 2012 by dddave

[lujanit]

From Wikipedia "The franchise in Thailand is the CP ALL Public Company Limited, which in turn grants franchises to operators. There were 6,300 stores 7-Elevens in Thailand in 2011, half of which are in Bangkok, making Thailand have the 3rd largest number of stores after Japan (13,000) and the United States (6,500).^[23] CP All plans to increase the number of stores to 6,800 in 2012 and more than 7,000 by 2013. Mr Piyawat said the company plans spending of 5 billion baht to expand business this year. Of the total, 2 billion will be used to open 500 new outlets, one billion to renovate existing stores and the rest to develop a new distribution centre in the East."

CP does not give any area exclusivity to any operator which can be seen in the area where we live. In the past year there have been 3 large 7/11 stores opened within one kilometre on the same small road. Within 2 kilometres of where we live there are now 7 7/11's and 2 Tesco's whereas a year ago there was only half that. The latest two stores that opened were a large 7/11 and a Tesco of similar size opposite each other and about 500 metres in both directions are competition. I'm not sure how the operators make any money with so many stores so close to each other.