buying a business

[simon_cook 22]

Thinking of buying a business in Pattaya.Want to make enough money just to live confortably.Already own a house.Anyone got any suggestions on what to buy,do not want a bar but would consider anything else.

[soi unwise 6]

There is a board member franchising rabbit hutches if your interested ?

[aqua4 2]

Look on Thai Visa to get some ideas as to what interests you. I don't know what you like only you would. The other option is to look at sunbeltasia.com. Get an idea of what suits you. Lots of the businesses they list are dodgy in my view for starters.

[Gary 4,119]

It's pretty simple. You have to have a LOT better mouse trap. After the Thais find out you have a better mouse trap you will see shops with the same better mouse trap on both sides of you. Since it is NOT a level playing field they will undersell you and Sunbelt will have another listing. If you want a business here, look over Sunbelt very closely and and go into that business.

[BillWilson 10]

It's pretty simple. You have to have a LOT better mouse trap. After the Thais find out you have a better mouse trap you will see shops with the same better mouse trap on both sides of you. Since it is NOT a level playing field they will undersell you and Sunbelt will have another listing. If you want a business here, look over Sunbelt very closely and and go into that business.

 

Well said, EXCEPT, the shops will be on either side AND accross street

[Obsession 571]

Motorbike hire seems a cheap business to get off the ground and relatively hassle free and I dont think the BIB hit them for tea money. I dont think you need to bother with pesky things like insurance that you would need in the west

[captcraig2 120]

I tried to find out information about a business which was listed on sunbeltasia's website and after about 10 emails I finally got an answer, they gave me VERY little info and when I requested more they emailed me the owners phone number in Australia. The number they gave was not correct and when I asked for a correct number all they said was.....That's all we have....good luck! needless to say I dropped the whole thing and was not very impressed with their service!

 

 

If they were handling the sale of my business I'd be pretty pissed off!

[Obsession 571]

I tried to find out information about a business which was listed on sunbeltasia's website and after about 10 emails I finally got an answer, they gave me VERY little info and when I requested more they emailed me the owners phone number in Australia. The number they gave was not correct and when I asked for a correct number all they said was.....That's all we have....good luck! needless to say I dropped the whole thing and was not very impressed with their service!

If they were handling the sale of my business I'd be pretty pissed off!

Evans Marketing took weeks to reply to an enquiry I made and didnt answer any queries. Now they send me a newsletter, but the businesses all seem overpriced.

[torrenova 644]

I have yet to find a professional business to business agency which actually does what it says on the tin !

 

Seems Sunbelt are too busy with their personal franchise operations and they don't give a fuck that the information they give out is rubblies, lies or deceitful. ythey just say it is your business to do your homework. For 10% plus VAT they are a joke. The others are just as bad and I have tried to do business with all of them over the years.

[papillon 695]

There is a board member franchising rabbit hutches if your interested ?

 

I'd be interested.

[galt67 2]

Wasn't PT Barnum who said: 'A sucker born every minute'...

[jackcorbett 2]

Far from being a level playing field, let me suggest that any foreigner thinking of opening a business in Pattaya will encounter a playing field that is approximately a 45 degree slope against him. Example in point, a man from Nepal opened a tailor's business in a shop below my condo. He needs to provide insurance for employees he doesn't even have simply because he is not Thai. I recall two bar owners both English who had Thai wives. None of them are together anymore. Another Englishman who now is really down and out lost most of his money in the U.K. took what was left with him in Thailand. To own and operate a bar he would have had to employee a certain number of Thai employees (Thai owners don't), pay them salaries, benefits, etc, so wanting to avoid such an un-level playing field he bought a bar and put it in his wife's name...also a small house. Ultimately she went on a gambling binge and wound up selling both the house and bar leaving him with nothing. Another Westerner decided to buy a small guest house. Got a three year lease with an option to renew and paid key money plus the monthly rent but when he got the business he had only about 1.5 years of the lease left. Several months prior to the lease's expiration, the "Thai owner of the property" from Bangkok stopped communicating with him. Turns out the Thai owner didn't own the property after all. He had merely leased the property himself and never had more than a year and a half left on the lease. Another Western friend of mine owned an Internet cafe. I went in there one night only to find out all the computers were gone. The police had come in and confiscated all the computers because someone had supposedly been downloading music on one or more computers. That night the owner friend of mine had to pay the police off 60,000 baht in order to get his computers back.

 

I have a lot more stories like this. I WOULD NOT DREAM OF OWNING ANY BUSINESS HERE.

[BigDUSA 71]

Sky-Top guest house is for sale. Located on 2nd Road couple of doors down from Gregg's Kitchen.

[Gary 4,119]

I recommended that if you want to have a business in Thailand to start something like Sunbelt. After thinking about that, I retract my advice. With all the dreamers, schemers and deadbeats I don't want ANY business here.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Sky-Top guest house is for sale. Located on 2nd Road couple of doors down from Gregg's Kitchen.

 

That should tie in nicely with the guy selling the rabbit hutches.

[SOLOTREKKER 0]

If you Invest, buy or start a business ANYWHERE, you must be prepared to run the first year at a loss (and have a plan/finances to cover this loss) and plan just to break even in the second year, you will need this margin of 'safety' if you are serious, aside from the 'legal' and cultural aspects of doing this in LOS.

Foreigners in the more traditional holiday spots like Spain, Italy and the Med, still fall foul of the 'Local' laws and culture, and inevitably end up going out of business or being ripped off, even if it was/has been arranged by a 'reputable' local lawyer!.

 

My advice, if you havn't got a $/£ winning idea, with alot of backing, dont bother, unless you are prepared to lose what you have worked for.

 

Starting a new, or buying an existing business in another country, or your own country, is a gamble, and you only gamble with what you are prepared to lose!!, right!!!.

Edited October 4, 2007 by SOLOTREKKER

[Dungheap 243]

Far from being a level playing field, let me suggest that any foreigner thinking of opening a business in Pattaya will encounter a playing field that is approximately a 45 degree slope against him. Example in point, a man from Nepal opened a tailor's business in a shop below my condo. He needs to provide insurance for employees he doesn't even have simply because he is not Thai. I recall two bar owners both English who had Thai wives. None of them are together anymore. Another Englishman who now is really down and out lost most of his money in the U.K. took what was left with him in Thailand. To own and operate a bar he would have had to employee a certain number of Thai employees (Thai owners don't), pay them salaries, benefits, etc, so wanting to avoid such an un-level playing field he bought a bar and put it in his wife's name...also a small house. Ultimately she went on a gambling binge and wound up selling both the house and bar leaving him with nothing. Another Westerner decided to buy a small guest house. Got a three year lease with an option to renew and paid key money plus the monthly rent but when he got the business he had only about 1.5 years of the lease left. Several months prior to the lease's expiration, the "Thai owner of the property" from Bangkok stopped communicating with him. Turns out the Thai owner didn't own the property after all. He had merely leased the property himself and never had more than a year and a half left on the lease. Another Western friend of mine owned an Internet cafe. I went in there one night only to find out all the computers were gone. The police had come in and confiscated all the computers because someone had supposedly been downloading music on one or more computers. That night the owner friend of mine had to pay the police off 60,000 baht in order to get his computers back.

 

I have a lot more stories like this. I WOULD NOT DREAM OF OWNING ANY BUSINESS HERE.

 

For all the reasons mentioned above your first move should be to find a good lawyer. Cost you a few bob but in the long run, priceless. No shortage of foreigners with successful businesses in LOS. Just need to work with the right people.

Edited October 4, 2007 by Dungheap

[Obsession 571]

Although Thai businesses have extra rules for foreigners, its probably still less than than the laws and workers rights involved in running a uk business. Holiday pay, maternity leave , paternity leave , health and safety, tax credits and it can be almost impossible to sack them if they manipulate their rights. Even a small business is best to keep an employment/health and safety expert on a mothly retainer to keep abreast of all the shit coming out of europe. I sold my business because of it. I felt that I was working for the emloyees, rather than they were working for me. Rant over.

[BigDUSA 71]

That should tie in nicely with the guy selling the rabbit hutches.

 

 

What are you talking about or are you just being silly again. BTW LMAOAY.

[jackcorbett 2]

Although Thai businesses have extra rules for foreigners, its probably still less than than the laws and workers rights involved in running a uk business. Holiday pay, maternity leave , paternity leave , health and safety, tax credits and it can be almost impossible to sack them if they manipulate their rights. Even a small business is best to keep an employment/health and safety expert on a mothly retainer to keep abreast of all the shit coming out of europe. I sold my business because of it. I felt that I was working for the emloyees, rather than they were working for me. Rant over.

 

 

Being an American, all I can say is that Americans seem to be headed down the same path you mention. Red tape, government interference, etc. Hell, here I am living here in Thailand and I have a farm in the U.S. Went to the government office to give power of attorney to the young man farming my ground so he can sign for me so we can deal with any government programs affecting this farm. Now I get something in the mail asking for a new signature from me and the form states that any previous powers of attorney will not be honored. This is just an excuse to expand the bureaucracy at the expense of Americans being asked to pay the increased tax bills to support the dead beats who only serve to cut down our productivity.

 

But this is not the same. Although all businesses and businessmen in the U.S. and the U.K. are constantly being more oppressed by increasingly intrusive governments, they are at least being intruded upon equally. Things are not equal in Thailand. Just check and see how little Thais pay to get into certain places compared to foreigners. And it's worse when it comes to doing business here. It is an unlevel playing field that discriminates VERY heavily against foreigners to the extent that buying a business here is almost tantamount to committing financial suicide.