Buying Small Business?

[Dave76]

Hi,

am hoping to buy an internet shop with my girlfriend (she's thai) and would be great if somebody out there could give me some advice on things such as :

what visa do i need for this?

are there any special law requirements for farang buying a busniess? (i think a thai national has to own 51% of business...is this right?)

and also where do i go to, to make it all legall?

plus anything else that could be usefull would be great

thanks dave

if it helps i am irish

[Nawtilus]

OK, just because you are Irish, I will do it slow and in big letters if you like !!

Just be carefull who you use to do the paperwork, even farng run companies here screw up severely. A friend of mine had his company and work permit screwed up by a so called expert in all these matters.

I have also had several emails never answered by the same company. Just goes to show some are not as proffessional as they claim to be.

Not sure if you can get a work permit for this, would be simpler just to leave it in her name and let her run it perhaps under your instruction. Then of course you run the risk of her running off alone with it, but I guess for an internet shop you are not talking mega bucks anyway.

Weigh up the pros and cons, the cost of a company, work permits and legal wrangles may just not be worth it for such a small purchase or setup.

[Ajarn_Jonesy]

Check out the folks at www.sunbeltasia.com.

They seem to have a pretty good team there.

[rishi]

It seems to me you're sort of taking things in the wrong sequence: Your question clearly tells you haven't done much of anything, that could possible resemble a research... nevertheless, you want to buy an internet shop...

I'd suggest you take one step at a time - preferably in the right sequence. Learn about the business "environment" in Thailand ... then start to consider, how things could be adhered to your preferences.

[terdsak_12]

Keep your money in your pocket for now mate, give it 6 months of looking into things.

[splitlid]

most small internet shops dont make any money,

only the ones with great location,high speed and modern computers seem to do ok.

but check the location,thats one important thing i feel.

better to give the gf the money and let her take care of it. 6 months later she will sell it on for a small loss.

oh dont believe a word i say ok.

[Sunbelt Asia]

what visa do i need for this?

You do not need a visa to own shares in a company. If you are working in the business then you will need a non immigrant visa with a work permit.

are there any special law requirements for farang buying a busniess? (i think a thai national has to own 51% of business...is this right?)

Depending on a person’s nationality or business interest they can own and control the business 100%. However, in this sector and as you are Irish, you can own only 49% of the shares. However you can and should have mechanisms in place to control the business by having more voting rights and restrictions to protect your interest. Control in reality is worth more than ownership.

and also where do i go to, to make it all legall?

Our firm can and would like to help you.

As for the odds of profitability, in my opinion, you must be in a tourist area. Under the current laws, Internet cafe operators can still open 24 hours a day, but young people are now allowed on the premises only from 2pm to 10pm. It once was best to be located in a University or school area and if you were ok with it morally, the kids would play all night to the next day. Some became addicted with the games. I personally felt this new law is the right direction.

One idea is to approach shops in high tourist areas. Tell them you will pay rent of 40% on the gross sales. You provide the computers, desks and computer maintenance. They provide the space, electricity and labor to sell the smart cards. Your investment would be small and you would have no monthly overhead except for the repair guy. I can see a ROI of 100% in a year. The hardest part will be finding the first store to give you a chance. Then use that as a prototype to convince other shop owners.

A regular internet café that you would buy or start up would be 40% ROI or much less.( bad location and it will be negative)

Another caveat, Internet cafes in the States charge $12.00 -$30.00 an hour. Here in Thailand it is 30 Baht to 150 Baht. (75 cents to $3.75 with most being 60 Baht or $1.50) The big money to be made is not with Internet Cafes in Thailand.

Most likely the reason you thought of an Internet Café is it is easy to run. You will need either a number of locations or another venture to support yourself if that is your goal. If it is only for your Gf, than it is not a bad idea at all. Even if she gets bored with the store, systems can be put in place for you to run it absentee.

www.lawyer.th.com

www.sunbeltasia.com

[RAZZELL]

what visa do i need for this?

You do not need a visa to own shares in a company. If you are working in the business then you will need a non immigrant visa with a work permit.

are there any special law requirements for farang buying a busniess? (i think a thai national has to own 51% of business...is this right?)

Depending on a person’s nationality or business interest they can own and control the business 100%. However, in this sector and as you are Irish, you can own only 49% of the shares. However you can and should have mechanisms in place to control the business by having more voting rights and restrictions to protect your interest. Control in reality is worth more than ownership.

and also where do i go to, to make it all legall?

Our firm can and would like to help you.

As for the odds of profitability, in my opinion, you must be in a tourist area. Under the current laws, Internet cafe operators can still open 24 hours a day, but young people are now allowed on the premises only from 2pm to 10pm. It once was best to be located in a University or school area and if you were ok with it morally, the kids would play all night to the next day. Some became addicted with the games. I personally felt this new law is the right direction.

One idea is to approach shops in high tourist areas. Tell them you will pay rent of 40% on the gross sales. You provide the computers, desks and computer maintenance. They provide the space, electricity and labor to sell the smart cards. Your investment would be small and you would have no monthly overhead except for the repair guy. I can see a ROI of 100% in a year. The hardest part will be finding the first store to give you a chance. Then use that as a prototype to convince other shop owners.

A regular internet café that you would buy or start up would be 40% ROI or much less.( bad location and it will be negative)

Another caveat, Internet cafes in the States charge $12.00 -$30.00 an hour. Here in Thailand it is 30 Baht to 150 Baht. (75 cents to $3.75 with most being 60 Baht or $1.50) The big money to be made is not with Internet Cafes in Thailand.

Most likely the reason you thought of an Internet Café is it is easy to run. You will need either a number of locations or another venture to support yourself if that is your goal. If it is only for your Gf, than it is not a bad idea at all. Even if she gets bored with the store, systems can be put in place for you to run it absentee.

www.lawyer.th.com

www.sunbeltasia.com

Sound advice...

[naka]

Internet cafe, Foot Massage, Beauty Salon !

This was her idea ... right

Do you remember what P T Barnham said ?

Naka.

[dutchflowers]

most small internet shops dont make any money,

only the ones with great location,high speed and modern computers seem to do ok.

but check the location,thats one important thing i feel.

better to give the gf the money and let her take care of it. 6 months later she will sell it on for a small loss.

oh dont believe a word i say ok.

6Months? thai ladies not wait that long java script:emoticon(':jap:', 'smid_12')

[Khun Jean]

I had one together with my wife. I work online so for me it was more of an 'office'. I was in a tourist area, charged 5 baht a minute or 50 baht an hour. Within 9 months 4!! other internetshops opened in a radius of 200 meter. First the money was ok as it paid for the rent, electricity etc. After all the costs where paid it was around 10-15.000 baht profit/month in high season. Not really worth it if it is your main source of income. Low season just barely enough to cover the costs.

My office space was for 'free' and we had a lot of interaction with tourists which can be good most of the time and really bad some of the times. My wife had some work she liked and used it to better herself in the english language and computer skills. After the invasion of the other shops we just left. The main reason to close shop/office was more that we not liked the area anymore. A bar opened right next door with the loudest music you will ever hear, practically making it impossible to work. After that it was too much invested with bar-girls and bar-men and their load behaviour. On top of that our most expensive equipment was stolen when we were away for a weekend.

The thing we did not expect was that you have to be open a long long time, customers can come in any time. Sometimes it was busy in the afternoon and nothing in the evening, other days the opposite. My online working hours were from 17:00 till 02:00. We were open from 13:00. It is just too many hours for too little money. We tried employees, well... tit.

If i look back on it, we had some good times, friendly people with which we still are in good contact. Made some friends which otherwise would be very difficult. Was it worth all our time, .... no.

edit. That 10-15.000 baht profit was made from internet usage but also a great deal from selling drinks and snacks. If i make a good guess i would say about 30% was from internet usage. Most profit we made was with homemade frozen fruit drinks. Sold them for 60 baht, costs maybe 5-10 baht depending on the kind of fruit. On top of that we did full a6-a3 colour prints, copies, faxes, oversea calls. If we would only do internet we would be able to pay the costs, but not much would be left as profit.

Edited May 27, 2006 by Khun Jean

[Backpack_thailand]

in the States charge $12.00 -$30.00 an hour. Here in Thailand it is 30 Baht to 150 Baht. (75 cents to $3.75 with most being 60 Baht or $1.50) The big money to be made is not with Internet Cafes in Thailand.

Wise words Greg...!!!

Don't expect to retire comfortably on internet cafe earnings!