Is there any step by step guide to start a small business in Thailand?

[hiigara]

I would like to operate a restaurant or hostel, but i don't know where to start

 

Thanks

[Antonymous]

The best step by step guide would come from taking a business degree.

 

Assuming you don't have that qualification the next best (maybe equally as good actually) would be a few years experience in the hospitality industry at least at management level in different 'departments'.

 

Then again, you could just take advice from a gazillion other unqualified restaurant and hostel business owners who jumped in feet first and 'made a fortune'. Curiously most will be willing to sell their businesses to you.

 

You said nothing about your knowledge of thailand and doing business here. There's another learning curve there too that is quite separate.

 

Seriously, my advice is to do whatever you are qualified by education and experience to do. much less chance of losing your shirt that way.

[lucjoker]

there are only 2 important steps:

step 1 : dont do it

step 2 :dont do it

I can explain you 10 more steps if you are stubborn ..........

[InMyShadow]

"I would like to operate a restaurant or hostel, but i don't know where to start"

 

Yes Thailand needs more of these.

[smotherb]

Well, hiigara it appears you have had the best advice soonest. I have known many foreigners who started hotels and restaurants in Thailand; there are successes, many more just hanging-on, but the majority lost their shirts. The advice of Antonymous notwithstanding, many of the losers had previous management experience in the industry and/or business degrees.  However, that array of outcomes is pretty much the same with hotel and restaurant start-ups anywhere; being in a foreign country simply complicates it. If it is your dream and you are prepared to invest everything and work 24/7 only to potentially lose it all; go for it.

[ttl]

Just don;t do it!!!

[F4UCorsair]

You don't know where to start...............so don't start.

 

If you don't have practical experience in what you're looking at doing, you're writing (another) recipe for financial disaster. 

 

Search this forum and learn from others' experiences.  There are plenty to choose from.

[hellstens]

Yes, Start with a Big one................ it will go small quite quick.lol

[robertson468]

Very sad how many "nay sayers" there are on this forum.  I bought some land, built 6 Villas 12 years ago and I am now turning over 1.3M baht per year.  The first three things to consider are location, location, location.  Secondly look at yourself for a few characteristics:  are you a self starter or better working for a corporation?  Are you able to do simple accounts?  Are you always innovative and looking to see how you can improve your business in a practical way.  Are you actually service minded; many people are not, by nature and is one of the causes of failure.

 

If you would like advice on the steps you need take to start a business, please pm me for more info.  Good luck and take your time.  Your first step is right by asking for advice from those in the business.

[smccolley]

Step 1: Gather your seed money.

Step 2: Flush it down the toilet

Step 3: Have a good cry, blame it on your gf/wife/bad luck

 

End result is the same...

[jenifer d]

32 minutes ago, F4UCorsair said:

You don't know where to start...............so don't start.

 

If you don't have practical experience in what you're looking at doing, you're writing (another) recipe for financial disaster. 

 

Search this forum and learn from others' experiences.  There are plenty to choose from.

exactly!!! even those who KNOW these businesses don't often have an easy go at it in LoS

i started a restaurant nearly 8 yrs ago when i moved here; even with nearly 40 years on/off experience w/every facet of hospitality industry, particularly management or ownership- and especially restaurants/ice cream, i lost my a**- tried for 3 years, kept throwing money into it. finally cut my losses and moved on after expenditures of 1 million baht give or take...

[jenifer d]

8 minutes ago, robertson468 said:

Very sad how many "nay sayers" there are on this forum.  I bought some land, built 6 Villas 12 years ago and I am now turning over 1.3M baht per year.  The first three things to consider are location, location, location.  Secondly look at yourself for a few characteristics:  are you a self starter or better working for a corporation?  Are you able to do simple accounts?  Are you always innovative and looking to see how you can improve your business in a practical way.  Are you actually service minded; many people are not, by nature and is one of the causes of failure.

 

If you would like advice on the steps you need take to start a business, please pm me for more info.  Good luck and take your time.  Your first step is right by asking for advice from those in the business.

yes, but YOU didn't buy the land- not legally, anyways, not more than 49%...

OP asked about hostels and restaurants, wholly different than villas, and 2 businesses that are COMPLETELY oversaturated in any area in which there is sufficient traffic/demand/type of clientele to spur success...

and if he doesn't KNOW anything about the businesses (which he seems not to), that is a prescription for disaster...

[KIWIBATCH]

2 hours ago, lucjoker said:

there are only 2 important steps:

step 1 : dont do it

step 2 :dont do it

I can explain you 10 more steps if you are stubborn ..........

Here's 3 more steps

Step 3. Be prepared to handover/assign (from Day 1) 51% of your business to a Thai person you don't even know. (a requirement of operating a business in Thailand)

Step 4. Be prepared for the weekly "tea money" handover to the local police. (Because they like you)

Step 5. Be prepared to employ Thai nationals that you might not even need (another requirement)

Repeat Step 1.

Repeat Step 2........

[jenifer d]

OP- do you notice that NONE of us have asked WHERE you are thinking of- because it virtually doesn't matter; as i said in my answer before, even those of us w/EXPERIENCE in the hospitality business find it difficult at best to make a go of it... i have a Nepali friend in Banglamphu section of Bkk (Khao San, Rambhutri, ThanonPhraAtit, etc), he has had several businesses, but each hostel or food business he has tried have not succeeded beyond a few months (i know because he is always asking me and others to invest, and has showed me ALL his books)- and he is a pretty sharp businessman w/longstanding connections, having lived in the Kingdom for 12 years+ already 

[F4UCorsair]

Just now, KIWIBATCH said:

Here's 3 more steps

Step 3. Be prepared to handover/assign (from Day 1) 51% of your business to a Thai person you don't even know. (a requirement of operating a business in Thailand)

Step 4. Be prepared for the weekly "tea money" handover to the local police. (Because they like you)

Step 5. Be prepared to employ Thai nationals that you might not even need (another requirement)

Repeat Step 1.

Repeat Step 2........

 

 

I really hope he's listening kiwi.....really hope!!

[bontang]

Re investment here in Thailand yeah it's a rough ride however I would stay clear of the Bar, Food entertainment  type of business, 

However depending on the amount of funds you wish to invest with  & how long you want to wait returns,

 

People coming here to Thailand tend to think ahh I can make a lot of money operating from the City no way,

 

My advise if you would like to live here & relax set up a  Thai Company purchase 10/ 20 Rai (Land) &  be patient for a few years you will make money,

 

You can build a House on the Property & live like a King as low cost to live here as the Cost of Living in Australia is going beyond reach,

 

I have done as per above & after 17 Yrs I can get a good return however I will leave all of my Property's to my Daughter to give her a good start in life,

 

Good Luck Mate

[12DrinkMore]

45 minutes ago, KIWIBATCH said:

Here's 3 more steps

Step 3. Be prepared to handover/assign (from Day 1) 51% of your business to a Thai person you don't even know. (a requirement of operating a business in Thailand)

Step 4. Be prepared for the weekly "tea money" handover to the local police. (Because they like you)

Step 5. Be prepared to employ Thai nationals that you might not even need (another requirement)

Repeat Step 1.

Repeat Step 2........

 

Here's the one that has always killed the deal for me.

 

Rather than buying I would prefer to rent a building. The problem is that in a lot of places the landlord will

 

1. Only give you a three year contract as it does not get officially registered. This leaves you at the risk of after three years hard work the landlord puts up the rent to an excrutiating amount. I have seen many businesses close due to this.

 

2. They will not give a receipt for the full amount of the rent, so you cannot set the full rent against the business expenses.

 

And if you have a successful business be prepared for four copycats opening up to compete with you.

 

 

[eeyang wah]

3 hours ago, lucjoker said:

there are only 2 important steps:

step 1 : dont do it

step 2 :dont do it

I can explain you 10 more steps if you are stubborn ..........

Beat me to it.

Invest your money in a country where they actually want your business, where they don't have absurdly xenophobic and archaic regulations, where you can actuallly own the bloody business yourself, where there's a reliable justice system, where you don't need to employ 4 monkeys to scratch their asses so you can get a work permit, where the people are educated, the list goes on and on. 

Thing is, these countries DO exist and many of them are not so far away.

Good luck and I hope you heed these warnings. You are not the exception!

[Lucky mike]

Recipe for making a small fortune in Thai, start with a big one !

[eeyang wah]

29 minutes ago, eeyang wah said:

Beat me to it.

Invest your money in a country where they actually want your business, where they don't have absurdly xenophobic and archaic regulations, where you can actuallly own the bloody business yourself, where there's a reliable justice system, where you don't need to employ 4 monkeys to scratch their asses so you can get a work permit, where the people are educated, the list goes on and on. 

Thing is, these countries DO exist and many of them are not so far away.

Good luck and I hope you heed these warnings. You are not the exception!

Oh and don't even get me started on the banks or we'll be here all day!

[Get Real]

I guess we take it slowly.

1. Get education and experience from the business you want to start with before you invest and get called The Lone Ranger without a Clue. That´s a rule you just can´t bend for business to be successful.

2. Starting a business in Thailand is probably not same as starting one in your home country. There you can own the business. Here you can only legally own 49 %.
3. It´s also expensive to start a business in Thailand. If you want to have any part or activity in the work in anyway, you have to employ 4 Thai´s for every foreigner including yourself. You juat can´t lift a paperclip withhout.
5. You are going to need a work permit.

6. The area of business you are clinging too, is already to established in Thailand. There is no room for you as another person running a hotel or restaurant.

7. The investment you have to do is going to cost more than you ever make.

8. A really bad idea!

 

Now! If you know all that I pointed out above it would be stupid to do this, right?
If you don´t know the above mentioned, it would be even more stupid. Ain´t that a fact?

[khunPer]

»Is there any step by step guide to start a small business in Thailand?«

 

If OP mean starting a business in general, I believe an education is the answer – there might be online options available – however, if OP mean how to establish a limited company in Thailand, there are many treads recently about this subject, with numerous good advises (I posted myself in some of them).

 

Consulting an experienced Thai business lawyer will often result in a step-by-step plan to establish a "small" 2 million baht Thai company limited with one foreign Work Permit as option. First informative meeting with a law firm is often free-of-charge; so that may bee an excellent place to begin, after reading some of the advises in previous Thai Visa Forum-threads.

 

Just searched the threads I've been posting in recently:

"Setup Thai company for property purchase, and ongoing annul costs"

"starting a new business in thailand" (My post here, about opening a restaurant)

–there are many more, if you use the Thai Visa search-function....

 

Wish OP good luck with the project...

[tancred]

Big steps away from any Thai involvement concerning money.

[tryasimight]

5 hours ago, eeyang wah said:

Beat me to it.

Invest your money in a country where they actually want your business, where they don't have absurdly xenophobic and archaic regulations, where you can actuallly own the bloody business yourself, where there's a reliable justice system, where you don't need to employ 4 monkeys to scratch their asses so you can get a work permit, where the people are educated, the list goes on and on. 

Thing is, these countries DO exist and many of them are not so far away.

Good luck and I hope you heed these warnings. You are not the exception!

Oh dear... the hatred continues.

[jenifer d]

5 hours ago, eeyang wah said:

Beat me to it.

Invest your money in a country where they actually want your business, where they don't have absurdly xenophobic and archaic regulations, where you can actuallly own the bloody business yourself, where there's a reliable justice system, where you don't need to employ 4 monkeys to scratch their asses so you can get a work permit, where the people are educated, the list goes on and on. 

Thing is, these countries DO exist and many of them are not so far away.

Good luck and I hope you heed these warnings. You are not the exception!

i agree, with the exception of the borderline racist and wholly unnecessary "monkeys to scratch their asses" comment

[connda]

https://www.thethailandlife.com/starting-a-business-in-thailand

https://www.amazon.com/How-Establish-Successful-Business-Thailand/dp/1887521755

 

[quandow]

How to become a millionaire in Thailand. Save up 4 million baht, start a business and lose 3 million baht.

[jenifer d]

Just now, quandow said:

How to become a millionaire in Thailand. Save up 4 million baht, start a business and lose 3 million baht.

fortunately, i got out before i lost THAT much... 

[tryasimight]

1 hour ago, jenifer d said:

i agree, with the exception of the borderline racist and wholly unnecessary "monkeys to scratch their asses" comment

Hardly borderline.It's a full on abusive racist comment and totally unnecessary. I hope the mods see it.

[eeyang wah]

14 hours ago, tryasimight said:

Hardly borderline.It's a full on abusive racist comment and totally unnecessary. I hope the mods see it.

I'm claiming borderline.

I meant that you have to employ 4 locals whether you need them or not, so half the time they are about as useful as monkeys scratching their asses.