ZARIS

Interesting thread. About 9 years ago I worked for 2 years as a business development consultant. We did many types of consultancies,, many in retail situations. One thing I can say is there is no "golden formula" Another dominant theme is the difference between being the owner of a biz and being a customer. You will hear from customers things like- I wish they would sell things cheaper, they should do this, that. If I owned this place I would do >>>>>>>>, they are so bzy here they must be making a fortune, I dont go there its too expensive, I dont go there I dont like the owner/staff/service. The recurring theme from owners goes something like this- I can't make any money if I do that, I'm not making any money, my costs are too high i need to cut costs, I have this to pay that to pay, my staff are crap.I cant find decent staff, the customers are tightarses they wont pay for quality,Im not making any money, I cant afford to do that, thats the way WE do it, we have been doing it that way for years, thats the way the boss wants it,and did I mentiom- we are not making any money? We would always ask this ? early on- who are your customers? Why are they your customers? What are you doing about getting new customers? Various answers ensued. If the business was not doing well { thats why they engaged us} we would then ask- do you think these customers are worth having? If you had a choice would you pursue this style of customer? At this point most clients would slump into the chair, some would start to cry as the realizeation that running the business was not about how much the costs of running the business are BUT about how much the customers are spending,at what margin and how many of them there are. Its incredible , yet understandable how many owners have forgotten about customers because they are obsessing about costs. One of our more successful methods was to classify customers.Estimate their ANNUAL spend, the margin and the number to give a result. I'll give a pattayaised example group A- expats group B- mongers group c- non sex tourists group d- 2 week millionaires group e-race based or interest based { ie brits/aussies/russions Or darts/soccer/ sports whatever. then estimate how much each would spend based on usage . estimate the margin get a result multiple that by a "success probability- that is 100% is virtually certain, 50% not that likely after you get a result take away your likely costs.Get an answer. This is not a concrete formula but merely a way to make an owner focus on what he is doing. This helps a business clarify which group of customers to pursue.You have to be realistic.If you are surrounded by russian occuped hotels, russian themed restaurants etc its not a good idea to pursue americans. Likewise you may chose Indians as your target customer because there are lots of them- however their spend would be far too low per seat. One other factor stood out- many many businesses concentrated on cutting prices but did not have the logistics to cope with increased business, Ie not enough seats/stock. checkouts. There is no doubt cutting prices makes the volume of customers rise but this often results in the business going out the back door as staff costs rise disprportionatly due to little economy of scale advantages. Bigger businesses gain more from this strategy generally. At the other end of the scale were business that charged high but delivered low.These businesses did not survive. Of course once you select your target customers you need to ask_ what does this customer like/want. eg- its fairly clear that expats are more price sensitive to drink prices, would suggest 2 week millionaires , less so. So if you want to ignore expats but want the big spenders ,I would suggest that cutting prices should not form part of your strategy. This method from MM is a brilliant stategy At FLB, for example (and Cherry Bar that I know of), we have multiple commission rates depending on the drink. The girls know which drinks have the highest commissions, and they tend to order those. Those drinks with the highest commission also are the lower priced drinks to the customer, or the easiest to prepare, so the customer can buy more drinks, the girl can make more money. They can order an expensive beer or cocktail, but their commission is lower on those drinks, since they cost more to the customer. Credit to Hammer for coming up with the idea. Its a great example of a business owner dissecting his business and structuring it accordingly.

nice to see its been done away with. Good call MM

nice post tom, and totally accurate. I punched your green button for this post.

I agree with Bazle and Gawd. I don't like it. It can be manipulated despite MM's assertion that it can't/won't be. I see it as attempt to post "more agreeably' I voted that "reputation rating " be pulled. ps this has nothing to do with m own shitful rating. Although I have lost sleep

ahhh I see it!! the green plus button and the red minus button. Never used them. I will now be banging them incessantly to improve my ratings. can green hits be bought and sold in the same way as say carbon credits?

Excuse my ignorance but wats the go with the "reputation" rating.? How long has it been in? What does it represent? I see MM has 313- im guessing the higher the better? Is it an attempt for greater poster compliance-ie posters seeking a more positive "rating" please advise. p.s.- will the over use of emoticons lead to a higher rating?

coming soon- the VIRTUAL barfine.

from aust my preferred airline is singapore airlines followed by malaysian. My least preferred is jetstar. I am mostly driven by price but will pay and extra 100$ to go on singapore. I would not fly jetstar unless it was under 300$ each way.

statistically it may look frightening.In reality I dont think it will have much impact. Many of the extra boys in china are one child policy kids. Most of them are big girls anyway. They are so emotionally weak they will just accept their lot. The statistics assumes that ALL males are suitable mates for available females. This is definitly not the case in china. Not sure about india. Given global travel I'm sure the extra males will gravitate to where the chicks are. The social bonus is that even the uguly girls will now be able to get a root. The social downside is that even the uguly chicks will think they are attractive and hence may be infected with "westewrnized bitch syndrome"

your comprehension skills need brushing up Tom. Actually the points being made about better service and feel in KK exactly reinforces my point. Service in patts is poor because service is poor.The service personnel, desperate to fit in with collegues fall in line to deliver the accepted level of service, which is blot. In KK it is better BECAUSE service is better- hence the service personnel fit into the better service/smiles in order to once again fit in and not stand out from their collegues.Thats the generation they are.

I will concur with many of the points made.However I offer a slightly different perspective. I have had quite a bit of interaction with genY, through employing them and renting out rooms to students. This generation is the most over indulged, over inter connect, most superficial, lazy generation in the history of mankind. Its not just in western countries, the chinese soccer team was beaten so many times it looks like not qualifying to play in the next world cup elim games.The national coach- a westerner, stated in a news conference that the results have something to do with the one child policy and the players being emotionally weak.National outcry and massive internal debate ensued. These kids are so connected via twitter/facebook etc that they are petrified of not being'cool".If not they are mercilessly exposed on some public website. So they are all the same, desperate not to stand out, fit in at all costs.Hence if the dominant personalities ridicule them for being "nice"Polite" or in any way accomodating they soon will comply with the the dominant persons "rules". People not bought up in the social media generation will say" who gives a shit what they write on facebook" but this generation DOES CARE, big time. So many of them cannot cope in the real world where non family members- read bosses/society, will simply not stand for their appauling attitudes and behaviours.They turn outwardly angry for not being allowed to do as they please, like they would at home.The slightest upset sees them collapse under any kind of pressure. Whilst the average BG may have grown up in a traditional thai family from the back blocks of Issan, once ensconsed for a few weeks in Patts they must comply to the status quo of their new found collegues or face massive public ridicule.Hence they convert quickly. I would add that "fast results/money" is the god of this generation.Waiting for a payoff is a foreign concept for them.

Can;t take the question seriously. No. Why would I bother? Its not like theres a shortage of shagables. Why be so desperate to " sneak " two hours in? Maybe you think your getting one up on the other guy? Whatever floats your boat, but again- why bother?

last time i used it was approx 3 months ago. the fee was either 12 or 14$ online. the amount was less tha 100$ AUD.Sent to phils. I think that the more you send the more you pay now? I could be wrong. Its well known that WU is the most expensive way to send $$$. Here in aust we can use electronic transfer overseas at banksfor 25$ for any amount.Not sure how the exchange rate mechanism works with it.

the exact %%%% GREG B doesn't really matter.What matters is the trend and the fact that more and more of we westerners are getting some kind of govt handout. Unemployment is USA is just shy of 10%.Thats say 30 million adults plus their dependants.If each one had say just 1 dependant thats 20% of the total population.Add in all the other kinds of benefits and you can easily arrive at towards the 50%. You can argue its 48%, 45% whatever, but thats not really the point. Here in aust we were up to 44% a few years ago but currently we are at 37% due to the mining boom.However that %%% has once again started to rise as the thirst for govt spending increases and they find new ways to make more ppl govt dependant. democrtatic economies are drowning under welfare, check out greece for example. Non democracies have no such welfare state.Their numbers and growing wealth will squeeze us out of p4p over time.

If 1% of the 5 mill visitors became a sponsor thats 50,000 "sponsorships" available each year, assuming no repeat offenders. If there are 35000 girls in patts thats, on average say 1.5 sponsors per girl. You could argue that of the 35,000 girls at least half would last less than a year so there is 17,500 ish " core " girls with floaters making up the total numbers. Hence the 17,500 core plus a few casuals , say 2500 makes 20,000 girls sharing 50,000 sponsorships.About 2.5 for each and every girl. In reality At least half those core numbers would be unable to attract even one sponsor.Leaving the remaining 10,000 with 5 sponsors each. If a girl had a sponsor for 2 years it is thoretically possible she could have 10 sponsors are two years. Hence a girl with 5 years under her belt could have 25 sponsors. God I love statistics!

get used to it guys.The time for whitey domination is coming to an end. most white societies are run under democracy- a system which has more and more flaws each day as being POPULAR in politics exceeds the need to be competant. democracies are failing and are getting poorer.Pehaps not in macro terms but in micro terms, individual by individual its happening.Exchange rates of traditional visitors to LOS have been going south for a while.with the exception of the mighty aussie dollar. democratic govt cannot stop spending on the welfare system.In the USA 50% !!! of the population s relaiant on the govt for the major part of its income.In australia its about 37% but rising. Taxes from the workers are need to fund welfare.Thats your working dollars guys. non democratic countries suffer not such dilemmas.Those countries have rising populations of people with rising incomes. Sheer weight of number means than in 10 years from now it will be a case of " spot the white guy " all over thailand. we will be replaced by arabs, indians and the real tsunami to yet arrive- the chinese. There are 24 million excess males of marrying age in china.Yes 24 million.You think once they get a whiff of freedom and pussy in thailand they are going to ignore it? A soon as they can afford the airfares they will invade the joint, and then its all over,it will NEVER be the same. So guys, enjoy it while you can, it will be all gone faster than you think.

totally agree. I read many of the hotel reviews, especially when getting close to trip time.Its a great resource. Updated to say the last 12 months would increase relevancy re pricing, quality , facilities etc.

Amazing that with all the info available thru the net these days , that people still seriously consider such a proposal. As humans we tend to emphazise the goods things and ignore the bad things when sub consciously we WANT to do something. " built to western standards" is an example- thats what you want to believe is'nt it? I make the following points 1.Why do you want to pay 100% to "own" 49%? 2. why is it below build cost of 8 years ago? What is wrong with it? How do you know what the build cost was 8 years ago? Why is build cost even relevant- has the market dropped that much? 3. If you are 3/4 years away from retirement why do you want to take such a risk? If it were all to go wrong what is the impact on you? 4. why do you want to make such a move in a country that is notorious for making it difficult for foreigners? If you were 35/40 yo then sure, because you have time to recover. 5. If you wanted or had to sell it in a crisis situation { you need the cash fast} what is the market like for such a property.Its already selling below cost, in 8 more years will it be even further below cost? 6. If you bought it and it turned out to be shoddy what would the repair cost be? Plenty of foreigners have bought property in thailand with few issues.Maybe you can be one of those.Maybe not.Be so very careful. What is wrong with renting? Invest in your own county and rent.That is the option with flexibility and low risk. All the best with your decision.

on the Gold Coast here in OZ we have an excellent system. every morning in the wee hours the beches are thourghly clean by specially designed beach cleaning trucks.Some kind of scooping system.The sand is levelled out in the process. Foreign tourists of different kinds and some aussies to I guess, leave rubbish on a regular basis in the sand, not the least of which is ciggie butts,Garbage tins are placed on the beach during the day and collected sometime after dark and stored higher up on the beach so the tides dont wash them away.In fact they are probably locked up so the fwits dont use them as weapons in fights overnight. The local council is incharge of it and bears all the cost. Long ago we reaalised that tourist areas benefit from tourists and the local council benefits from that so they must bear the cost in maintaining the areas. Councils have since admitted that apart from the moral responsibilty they have found the cleaner the beach is the more tourists it attacts and hence the greater the capacity to levy businesses etc to pay for the clean ups because the businesses benefit from extra tourists.Tourists tend to stay longer as well. The beaches in the eastern suburbs of sydney, including world famous bondi beach use the same system. Toursism thailand has yet to cotton on to the concept that you need to spend a few $$$ that dont have a direct revenue stram attatched to them.

This is totally correct.The first research has been completed into forum sites recently.I wish I could find the article so i could quote it.The main sites used were trip advisor and facebook and 2 other "localised" forum sites. Not named. Results showed a propensity to "gang up " on newbies and anyone disagreeing with the concensus. It also showed forums were often dominated by a "group " of main contributors who kept things going with others drifting in and out. Research concluded that "survival" in a forum was contingent on being aligned with the main "group". It noted that forums had grown immensly in popularity in the last 2 years or so but reserved judgement on the longevity of forums.

nice summation.Here in Australia I would add an unnatural tendency towards self obsession/absorption.

Interesting thread. Im an aussie who has travelled to both USA and Thailand in the last 12 months. Here in aust wages are quite high and tipping is pretty much reserved for restaurant, bars and cafes, maybe taxis.It is quite common not to tip also.Levels of service here can be quite poor and robotic.Its not unusual for waiters to forget items regularly. Often bars give you the change on a saucer to encourage you to leave a tip.This totally shits me and I never leave a tip in these circumstances.I always tip in resataurants between 5/10$ depending on service.A chinese gf I have here always chastises me for leaving so much. I knew of course that tipping was expected in US. So I tipped, one , two or three dollars mostly, the highest tip was 10$. Cab drivers, hotel staff, tour guides the typical kinds of people you come across as a tourist. I got used to it pretty quick and I did'nt see anything wrong with it. What I did notice is that the receivers for the large part were appreciative of getting a tip and often said " thanks, I appreciate it" It seemed genuine to me not a robotic response. The other thing I notice was I tipped less than americans for the same thing.Eg We were in sears restaurant , union square , sanfrancisco , where the seating was tight for lunch.Can't remember what we had but the couple next to us had the identical meals.I tipped 2 $ and they tipped 4$. I also notice when I gave the valet service say 1$, americans were giving 2$. In thailand I also tip anyone who gives me good service or does something nice. Hotel staff including housmaids, reception , security guys, restaurant staff.Actually im happy to tip them between 100 and 500 bt.I once tipped a security guard at the hotel 2000bt after i stayed there for 2 weeks and he was helpful and understanding a few times. I tip taxi drivers,tuk tuk drivers, massage girls, bar staff even the girl who runs the interenet cafe I frequented. Any one who made my stay more pleasant. One thing I will say in thailand- if you tip or are know as a tipper, when you have a problem with anything , staff are much keener to help you out.Even if its not the staff you have tipped b4.

I don't think your on your own there miami.Eventually the illusion falls over.

sorry to disagree but thats errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr total bullshit. Maybe you stayed in a 2 star dive ? Dont try telling me you stayed 5 star now

yeh rick the trick in bali is to stay in a hotel with its own beach, like in nusa dua.Vendors are controlled.Bali is terriffic if you avoid kuta beach.