Building A Small Village Shop - Cost

[TommoPhysicist]

Do you think you could get an actual soft drink machine that used the bottled syrups and carbinator so you could make soft drinks really cheap? Would the Coke distributor sell you the bottled syrups, and exchange the containers?

You can buy large Coke and associated fizzys (Fanta, Sprite, etc.) in traditional glass bottles (1.5l), about 12bht a bottle. You have to keep the bottles though, a shop near me sells them at 16bht a bottle, drink at shop only.

Edited October 1, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[jamescollister]

I've never lived in such a village, just passed through so I know little, but I'd appreciate a chance to learn. I'm loving this thread. Random thoughts:

In the US busineeses love to bunch together to draw to their type of business. Thus food courts, shopping centers with several major jewelers in them... Lots of major chain restaurants in the same area... The idea is that if people are thinking of going to eat or to shop for jewelry, they go to that spot and sometimes only then decide where to eat or shop around different jewelers or shoe stores in that mall, etc. Just a thought...

Someone made a comment about kids liking farang food. Is that true? In the US food from other cultures is incredibly popular ie Chinese, Thai, Mexican, E. Indian, etc. Seems like half of the successful restaurants fall into that category. Ramble continues....

I used to be an investor in a restaurant - ordinary American restaurant. By far the most profitable meal was breakfast based on food cost as a percentage of gross. McDonald's most profitable meals are breakfast considering gross profit. How many egg McMuffins have they sold? How many of those lousy deep fried "hash brown" potatoes have they sold? You make a killing on pancakes and even more on waffles.

What if a person had an electric skillet, a small electic pancake grill, a waffle maker, some bread makers... If he cranked out egg McMuffins, skillet fried hash brown, pancakes and waffles, would they sell? Would they sell at a profit?

Does anyone sell the kids chocolate milk and hot cocoa, or is that too expensive? Do the kids have that anyway?

I have no clue. Just curious.

Burgers go down really well and you will have kids coming on bikes from other villages and we now do two sizes 2 days a week and temple days and big holidays 10 baht and 20 baht then they buy a drink or as you say the ice cream,kids have more money now than say 2/3 years ago and spend there pocket money on things like this.

Have also tried the waffles and pancakes but they are not as popular and the shop is busy enough to let others do these items.

Banana shakes are very profitable when you have a garden full of them mixed with ice and a little milk,as is nam keng si and the various fruit cordials.

I make somtam burgars which the older kids seem to enjoy as well as the ordinary ones which they smother in sweet sickly mayo always good at the weekends.

Thanks.

Isn't a hamburger expensive to make with the meat? Is it a high profit item, or does it just draw people so they'll buy a high profit item?

Do you think you could get an actual soft drink machine that used the bottled syrups and carbinator so you could make soft drinks really cheap? Would the Coke distributor sell you the bottled syrups, and exchange the containers?

Do you think you could get a soft ice cream/milkshake machine?

Those two things are incredibly profitable items as the ingredients are very, very cheap even in the US.

NS what actually is a soft ice cream maker. Seen them, but no idea how they work, do they need real milk etc and what sort of cost are we talking about for the machine. Think that would go down a treat when the wife decides to open the milk shake shop again. Jim

[NeverSure]

Do you think you could get an actual soft drink machine that used the bottled syrups and carbinator so you could make soft drinks really cheap? Would the Coke distributor sell you the bottled syrups, and exchange the containers?

You can buy large Coke and associated fizzys (Fanta, Sprite, etc.) in traditional glass bottles (1.5l), about 12bht a bottle. You have to keep the bottles though, a shop near me sells them at 16bht a bottle, drink at shop only.

I'd have to look into it. In the US, a 1 liter bottle of Coke costs maybe $1 in a store, but the ingredients from the Coke distributor to make it with the soft drink machine are more like 10 cents, or a savings of 90%. That's no joke.

[TommoPhysicist]

NS what actually is a soft ice cream maker. Seen them, but no idea how they work, do they need real milk etc and what sort of cost are we talking about for the machine. Think that would go down a treat when the wife decides to open the milk shake shop again. Jim

http://www.taylor-co...ream_cones.html

Starting price $950

Edited October 1, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[jamescollister]

NS what actually is a soft ice cream maker. Seen them, but no idea how they work, do they need real milk etc and what sort of cost are we talking about for the machine. Think that would go down a treat when the wife decides to open the milk shake shop again. Jim

http://www.taylor-co...ream_cones.html

Thanks for that Tom, may keep the wife and kids occupied, school hols. That way they leave me alone to drink beer. Jim

[NeverSure]

NS what actually is a soft ice cream maker. Seen them, but no idea how they work, do they need real milk etc and what sort of cost are we talking about for the machine. Think that would go down a treat when the wife decides to open the milk shake shop again. Jim

The machine has a refrigerated tank in it which holds the liquid mix. It cools the mix to just above freezing. Then when you pull the handle to dispense, the actual final freezing and aeration occurs as the nearly frozen liquid passes through very cold tubes and is then whipped just as it comes out to be served.

The machine is perhaps the most profitable item in a fast food restaurant except for the soft drink machine.

I can buy a very good used machine in the US for about US$1,000. A much better machine which would dispense two flavors, and make milkshakes too would be more like $5,000. The good thing is that if it didn't make a lot of money you'd still have a very valuable machine to sell. If the machine won't dispense milk shakes, then you make them with a mixer, milk and the ice cream. It sure is nice to just flip a switch, pull the lever and get the milk shake though.

Coke will sell or lease me the soft drink machine. In a big restaurant they provide it free of course. Then I'd just buy the syrups in the large aluminum containers, and the containers would be on loan. I'd pay when I had them refilled. I don't know how that would work in LOS.

I always bought restaurant equipment like that when a restaurant went out of business. I would think that BKK would have restaurant supply dealers who buy equipment like that and resell it. They get it from defunct restaurants and from leasing companies who have taken the machines back. They also get the machines from restaurants which are upgrading to bigger machines.

There is a very nice machine which has been around for some time. It has three levers. One dispenses vanilla, another chocolate, and the third one is a ribboned mixture of chocolate and vanilla which is quite striking and fun. At the flip of a switch it will dispense a milk shake consistency or ice cream - whichever you want.

The liquid which makes the product is about the consistency of milk and comes in one gallon containers. The machine freezes and puffs that up into several gallons of dispensed product. At all times the products must be refrigerated, and the machine must be emptied and sterilized by running bleach water through it regularly. In the US that's every night by code, but it takes only about 15 minutes.

Again, most quality ice cream and yogurt shops in the US make their own cones. They make a thin, high sugar batter, use something very similar to a waffle iron, and when it's browned simply wrap it around a cone shape and when cool the sugar makes it hard and crispy. It could be done on a small portable griddle if you didn't care about that cross-hatch design on the outside. They would be very cheap to make.

Edited October 1, 2012 by NeverSure

[NeverSure]

NS what actually is a soft ice cream maker. Seen them, but no idea how they work, do they need real milk etc and what sort of cost are we talking about for the machine. Think that would go down a treat when the wife decides to open the milk shake shop again. Jim

http://www.taylor-co...ream_cones.html

Thanks for that Tom, may keep the wife and kids occupied, school hols. That way they leave me alone to drink beer. Jim

You still need to find a supplier for the refrigerated mix, or find a formula to make it from skim milk and other ingredients. It has to always be refrigerated and it has a spoilage date.

Cruisinart makes a small machine and just as important includes the recipes for the mix. The problem with it is that it's just a 1.5 quart machine, and it takes time for the machine to cool the mix to near freezing before you dispense. You can't just keep adding mix because that warms it and you have to wait. You need to let it run out, refill it, and wait for it to cool. With a commercial machine, it takes about 30 minutes to cool a new batch, but it will hold up to a couple of gallons of liquid and dispense many gallons of product.

http://www.amazon.co...m/dp/B000F94GPQ

Edited October 1, 2012 by NeverSure

[NeverSure]

I suppose a person could buy about 4 of the Cuisinart machines. One each for vanilla, strawberry and chocolate, and other ready to fill and cool when one gets low.

I'd want something that could mix that ice cream with milk to make milkshakes. You could have syrups and things like bananas to mix into the vanilla to have a variety of milk shake flavors.

[jamescollister]

I suppose a person could buy about 4 of the Cuisinart machines. One each for vanilla, strawberry and chocolate, and other ready to fill and cool when one gets low.

I'd want something that could mix that ice cream with milk to make milkshakes. You could have syrups and things like bananas to mix into the vanilla to have a variety of milk shake flavors.

Guess that puts me out of the ice cream business, wife will just have to stick to powered cream and milk. Could have made a million, easy come easy go. Jim

[billd766]

NS what actually is a soft ice cream maker. Seen them, but no idea how they work, do they need real milk etc and what sort of cost are we talking about for the machine. Think that would go down a treat when the wife decides to open the milk shake shop again. Jim

http://www.taylor-co...ream_cones.html

Thanks for that Tom, may keep the wife and kids occupied, school hols. That way they leave me alone to drink beer. Jim

You still need to find a supplier for the refrigerated mix, or find a formula to make it from skim milk and other ingredients. It has to always be refrigerated and it has a spoilage date.

Cruisinart makes a small machine and just as important includes the recipes for the mix. The problem with it is that it's just a 1.5 quart machine, and it takes time for the machine to cool the mix to near freezing before you dispense. You can't just keep adding mix because that warms it and you have to wait. You need to let it run out, refill it, and wait for it to cool. With a commercial machine, it takes about 30 minutes to cool a new batch, but it will hold up to a couple of gallons of liquid and dispense many gallons of product.

http://www.amazon.co...m/dp/B000F94GPQ

I have just looked on that link and that model is made for the US market which is 115 volts / 60 Hz and to use it in Thailand you need a voltage converter.

[Gjk7777]

I hope to answer all your questions in my reply, check out my new shop I just opened near Phana. Here is the YouTube video above.
The shop built with labour charge was 120,000 baht, including electric and water from the house supply. Built with steel roof supports, don't use wood the termites will eat through it.
The shutter was 10,000 baht, comes in 2 colours. The labour charge included the fitting of the shutter.
The shelves and fridge was 30,000 baht The shelves come as a set, the shop is next door to Ubon Watsadu in Ubon Ratchathani, it sells fridges, kitchen supplies will deliver for a charge,( About 500 baht for 70 km) they delivered the fridge and shelves and set it all up for 500 baht, bit of a no-brainer for me. Bought a few cheap shelves for around 500 baht each, from http://www.ubonwatsadu.co.th/default best shop in Ubon for building supplies etc. The wooden ones you see are around 250 baht, available on roadside shops which sell furniture etc.. but even with treatment the termites had eaten the wood. The desk and chair was 3500 baht . TV 2600 baht 21" all from Ubon Watsadu. The small chest freezer was 7800 baht from the same shop as the fridge.
So we are at around 176,000 baht at the moment without stock. The items which will take up all your money is beer and whiskey(Lao Kao) and cigs. These items will make you the most money. We started the shop with 40,000 baht, buying all the things you see in the video. In my shop Lao Kao is the best seller, God knows why it's like drinking petrol.
We have had a mixed bag of days from taking 1800 baht to 300 baht, several factors include if the schools are open, people are planting or picking rice, parties in the village, how many drunks you have in the village, even funerals, we had a guy come and buy 3 boxes of beer, I asked him if he was going to a party, he said "no to a funeral"
If you want some thing like my shop you will be needing around £4000+, I did it in stages over a year to spread the cost.
You can do it alot cheaper I know, but I wanted something a bit special and it will last....I hope.
Giving credit will be a problem, I give everyone one chance, after that it's cash or nothing.
Good luck any more questions let me know!

[MrRed]

Nice video mate and lovely baby

It reminds me of the first shop i had in Sa Kaeo clean and new!

advice ........a shop with that small a range will not make money alone so you will have to add many more services to it!

You have the room out front to do many things for passing traffic and inside behind the desk get 2 or 3 pc's get a local specialist to load em up with games and charge 15 baht an hour to everyone .....you will make 10 to 15.000 a month just from this and you do not need to be online for this at first.later you can do this.When word gets round that the kids can play games ...even the adults will be coming.get online later.

Plenty of space there to expand to open a restaurant also,that is another avenue to explore with being on the roadside.

How far away from the school are you and the temple?

Can give you more ideas if you want! good luck with the business and your family.

Edited October 24, 2012 by MrRed

[Gjk7777]

Nice video mate and lovely baby

It reminds me of the first shop i had in Sa Kaeo clean and new!

advice ........a shop with that small a range will not make money alone so you will have to add many more services to it!

You have the room out front to do many things for passing traffic and inside behind the desk get 2 or 3 pc's get a local specialist to load em up with games and charge 15 baht an hour to everyone .....you will make 10 to 15.000 a month just from this and you do not need to be online for this at first.later you can do this.When word gets round that the kids can play games ...even the adults will be coming.get online later.

Plenty of space there to expand to open a restaurant also,that is another avenue to explore with being on the roadside.

How far away from the school are you and the temple?

Can give you more ideas if you want! good luck with the business and your family.

Thanks for the ideas, I had plans for computers, but I thought you needed the internet to play these games, the internet in my village I don't think is possible, everyone uses mobiles, no land line here.Any more ideas would be great, thanks for your help.

[jay-uk]

Do you need a license for selling alcohol if its a small shop or mini mart on the front road side?

[Gjk7777]

Do you need a license for selling alcohol if its a small shop or mini mart on the front road side?

Yes you do, mine is about 300 baht.

[DILLIGAD]

You may tarnish me as a grumby 'ol git' but I would just like to say that you should ensure the people running/maintaining your shop should be clever enough for the new responsibilit[es. I opened a small village shop with the 'now' ex-wife and it went well for a couple of years. Slowly but surely the stock deminished,money was lent out and not returned, others opened identicle shops and wife sat there bored so the Isaan national passtime started up..... gambling. First with the family for 20b a pop 'No problem'. After 4/5 years the shop and family home is deserted and she will soon be in prison.

I am sure you would not expect a rice farmer to understake a job as a heart surgeon. Sorry just thought Id mention it. Please dont think it cannot happen to you. It can.

D

Edited October 24, 2012 by DILLIGAD

[NeverSure]

Very nice video. Thanks.

How do you define "village?" How many people? I've seen people call what I'd call a town of 15,000 people a village in LOS. Do you have a general feel for that?

[Gjk7777]

You may tarnish me as a grumby 'ol git' but I would just like to say that you should ensure the people running/maintaining your shop should be clever enough for the new responsibilit[es. I opened a small village shop with the 'now' ex-wife and it went well for a couple of years. Slowly but surely the stock deminished,money was lent out and not returned, others opened identicle shops and wife sat there bored so the Isaan national passtime started up..... gambling. First with the family for 20b a pop 'No problem'. After 4/5 years the shop and family home is deserted and she will soon be in prison.

I am sure you would not expect a rice farmer to understake a job as a heart surgeon. Sorry just thought Id mention it. Please dont think it cannot happen to you. It can.

D

My girlfriends ex husband did indeed love to gamble.He lost everything,all his savings,motorbike, fridge,he was asked to leave by my girlfriend(it was messy) because they had a newborn,all they had to eat was rice and fish sauce for days on end.My girlfriend hates gambling.Twice I have got drunk and visited the local high low cowshed just to see what goes on,when I returned home my girlfriend didn't talk to me for days. I get the impression she hates gambling.Over the last 12 years of knowing her she has given me no cause for concern about having any bad habits, she don't drink,smoke, gamble, or have any relationships with others to my knowledge.It took me 10 years and 23 trips to Thailand to finally trust my girlfriend,I heard all the stories about guys building houses and girl decides to finish the relationship,I know 2 guys in my area who have had big houses built and both relationships have finshed, one was with the girl playing cards.Believe me I didn't meet my girlfield in the Nana Plaza car park last year, its taken me along time to get this far. I know the risks,I built the house and shop for my babys future, as coming to the UK is not a option for her.I got back from Thailand 2 days ago, I saw the shop up and running and I was very impressed with the results, a few things I pointed out needed doing, paper work is being done everyday, I was very shocked about that.Everything is great at the moment, I love living in the village, I don't get bored as with most falungs, I have plenty to do around the house.For the future, I might meet a multi- millionair blond today and fall in love with her,who knows!!!!!

Edited October 25, 2012 by Gjk7777

[Gjk7777]

Very nice video. Thanks.

How do you define "village?" How many people? I've seen people call what I'd call a town of 15,000 people a village in LOS. Do you have a general feel for that?

I guess I have 40-50 homes in my village,roughly 200 people...that's a guess though.

[DILLIGAD]

Very nice video. Thanks.

How do you define "village?" How many people? I've seen people call what I'd call a town of 15,000 people a village in LOS. Do you have a general feel for that?

I guess I have 40-50 homes in my village,roughly 200 people...that's a guess though.

Best of luck to you! : )

[Lickey]

5.5 years ago, Mrs opened her [our] new salon/shop, she employed 2 staff and a house maid, i kept the books and and after all deductions was making about 22k a month, Very Good!!

At that time there were 3 salons in the 500mtr road, now there are 9, Mrs works alone now, house maid once a week, and lucky to break even in the month,

Like other posters have said, if a thai sees a good thing and will do the same, Monkey see, Monkey do,,

In conclusion OP, getting the place walled up,plastered, lights,fanTV ect, something like 450k would/should do it, then there is shelving,fridge and stock to buy, perhaps another 70k+? What i have seen in some local shops is shelf framework made from the blue 19mm water pipe, now that has got to be cheap and sturdy, plywood cut to size, and takes a lot of weight.

Another good suggestion was selling plants, being farmers, they could make there own compost, bag it ect, and sell pots and flowering plants ect, this would keep them in touch with the background they know, rather than being bored to tears watching TV all day,

[DILLIGAD]

5.5 years ago, Mrs opened her [our] new salon/shop, she employed 2 staff and a house maid, i kept the books and and after all deductions was making about 22k a month, Very Good!!

At that time there were 3 salons in the 500mtr road, now there are 9, Mrs works alone now, house maid once a week, and lucky to break even in the month,

Like other posters have said, if a thai sees a good thing and will do the same, Monkey see, Monkey do,,

In conclusion OP, getting the place walled up,plastered, lights,fanTV ect, something like 450k would/should do it, then there is shelving,fridge and stock to buy, perhaps another 70k+? What i have seen in some local shops is shelf framework made from the blue 19mm water pipe, now that has got to be cheap and sturdy, plywood cut to size, and takes a lot of weight.

Another good suggestion was selling plants, being farmers, they could make there own compost, bag it ect, and sell pots and flowering plants ect, this would keep them in touch with the background they know, rather than being bored to tears watching TV all day,

I remember you talking about your start up at the time but I had another personallity then (Shhh!). It is very hard to make a go of a Business Startup over here and very few (myself included) are not willing to put in the long manhours and effort.

I take my hat off to those who succeed.

[krisb]

Answer to your question OP is 100,000baht would be plenty.

[maprao]

Having had this idea before. How do you manage to keep your "hands off" so that they can't point the finger for working without a permit. I have to get involved in everything.

This my biggest fear.

Interested in Mr Reds ideas...

Edited November 1, 2012 by maprao

[MobileContent]

Next to our village, a mother requested from her daughter to talk to her farang that she wants to have a noodle shop and buy the land. I told him not to get involved. All in all he invested 400,000 Baht last year. Nobody in the village really buys from that shop because the food isn't that delicious and only people's passing through the village will stop by. The restaurant makes a loss every month so mother asked her daughter for more money but farang told her form France he isn't paying any more money. Within a few days she broke off with him and found a new farang that is renovating Mum's house now.

In another village about 20 km's away, her mum asked her daughter to ask her farang boyfriend to finance a noodle shop and sell beer etc. He invested 200,000 Baht so far but the mum is drunk every day in her own shop. She requested another 75,000 Baht for chairs etc but when he came back from Europe, the money was burned on her hobbies, playing cards and getting drunk. The shop closed after 3 months.

I know of one farang who financed a shop and it actually worked out but he has been married for over 10 years already.

The two guys above found their darling in Pattaya and they lost the money within months.

[Gjk7777]

Next to our village, a mother requested from her daughter to talk to her farang that she wants to have a noodle shop and buy the land. I told him not to get involved. All in all he invested 400,000 Baht last year. Nobody in the village really buys from that shop because the food isn't that delicious and only people's passing through the village will stop by. The restaurant makes a loss every month so mother asked her daughter for more money but farang told her form France he isn't paying any more money. Within a few days she broke off with him and found a new farang that is renovating Mum's house now.

In another village about 20 km's away, her mum asked her daughter to ask her farang boyfriend to finance a noodle shop and sell beer etc. He invested 200,000 Baht so far but the mum is drunk every day in her own shop. She requested another 75,000 Baht for chairs etc but when he came back from Europe, the money was burned on her hobbies, playing cards and getting drunk. The shop closed after 3 months.

I know of one farang who financed a shop and it actually worked out but he has been married for over 10 years already.

The two guys above found their darling in Pattaya and they lost the money within months.

Noodle shop in a village is a waste of time, I did a lot of research into my shop before I even started building the shop.The two other shops are closed when they are picking rice.Mine is always open.The guys above are just idiots with money to burn.I was scared too of my girlfriend gambling all the money away but she hates gambling so shouldn't be a problem. My shop is up and running and is doing well.

[krisb]

Nice video mate and lovely baby

It reminds me of the first shop i had in Sa Kaeo clean and new!

advice ........a shop with that small a range will not make money alone so you will have to add many more services to it!

You have the room out front to do many things for passing traffic and inside behind the desk get 2 or 3 pc's get a local specialist to load em up with games and charge 15 baht an hour to everyone .....you will make 10 to 15.000 a month just from this and you do not need to be online for this at first.later you can do this.When word gets round that the kids can play games ...even the adults will be coming.get online later.

Plenty of space there to expand to open a restaurant also,that is another avenue to explore with being on the roadside.

How far away from the school are you and the temple?

Can give you more ideas if you want! good luck with the business and your family.

Really like the internet idea! good 1.

[NeverSure]

Did anyone ever clarify that there are tons of free games that don't need the internet? They could be downloaded with a net connected computer, burned to CD or DVD, then installed one at a time on computers. There are car and air racing, and bad guy stuff...

This is a tiny taste...

http://compactiongames.about.com/od/freegames/a/freegamesatoz.htm

[krisb]

OP don't waste your time or money, if your in laws had wanted a shop they would have opened one.

You will pay to make and stock, they will sell and spend. When all the stock is gone there will be no money to re stock, it's the Thai way and that's why little shops, noddle bars etc pop up and disappear.

Better to just send them money to live if they can't work, all these schemes are just away of justifying helping out the in laws. Jim

doesnt take to long....

what hes saying is your inlaws see you as a walking atm who just want to use you. Hes also saying your wife was probably a ex bargirl who also wants your money so you should get out as quickly as possible and wake up to yourself. Remember ALL Issan folk are bad, hopeless people who break everything. Even though all you asked was how much to setup a shop.

Sorry Jim, but it is what your saying.

Edited November 4, 2012 by krisb

[krisb]

Did anyone ever clarify that there are tons of free games that don't need the internet? They could be downloaded with a net connected computer, burned to CD or DVD, then installed one at a time on computers. There are car and air racing, and bad guy stuff...

This is a tiny taste...

http://compactiongam...eegamesatoz.htm

great for installing viruses.