Phuket Business
As we all know, Phuket is a dream residential location for many foreigners. Many tourists who have enjoyed a vacation on Phuket do actually dream about living on Phuket one day. Obviously many of these people do not have the financial means to sit at home all day and do nothing so they have two options. They can either find a job in Phuket (Please visit our Phuket jobs section for more information) or they need to create some type of income through starting a Phuket business or perhaps purchasing an existing Phuket business. As it can be extremely difficult for most people to find a well paying job on Phuket due to their qualifications and experience, many people do tend to choose for the second option.
The Phuket business section of our Phuket guide is sub divided into various important topics which you may find below.
Business for Sale in Phuket
If you are looking for a business for sale in Phuket then you won’t have much trouble to find one. There are literally hundreds of businesses in Phuket for sale at any given time. The majority of these types of Phuket business for sale tend to be in the following business sectors:
If anyone is interested in finding a business for sale in Phuket then you can simply purchase a copy of the Phuket Gazette or the Phuket Post newspaper and you will find plenty of Phuket businesses for sale. You can also visit their respective websites as they also have online classifieds.
The question however remains is why so many people are trying to sell a business in Phuket. Surely if they were making decent money with their Phuket business then they would never dream about selling their business in Phuket and giving up their dream of living on the tropical and exotic Phuket Island. Many of the advertisements in which Phuket business owners are trying to sell their business in Phuket claim that there are legitimate reasons for why they put up their Phuket business for sale. I somehow doubt this as it can’t be a coincidence that hundreds of Phuket businesses are for sale at any given moment in time. Please find below a list of “real” reasons why so many businesses in Phuket are for sale.
As you can see in the list above, there are plenty of reasons why buying a Phuket business could be a poor idea. What would you do different than the current owner of the Phuket business in question. Would you be able to earn enough money to live off and to recuperate your investment?
You should also take note that if you run a Phuket bar, guesthouse or a massage shop for example that you will normally be renting the premises in which the Phuket business is located. The lease contracts are normally valid anywhere between 2 to 4 years. Once the lease is finished you will have to renew the lease and you will have to pay key money. The amount depends on the size and location of the Phuket business premises however it could be anywhere from 100,000 Thai Baht to several million Thai Baht.
You will therefore need to ensure that you are able to save up enough money with your Phuket business during the current lease period so that you can renew the lease and pay the key money once the lease period is up. Many foreign Phuket business owners seem to forget that and once they get to the end of their lease period they do not have enough money saved up so they will lose their business in Phuket. You will often find these types of Phuket business owners trying to sell their business in Phuket at the last moment so as to get some of their initial investment out at least.
It is also very important to realize that it is very easy to lose all your investment in Phuket if you do not focus and give it your best when running a Phuket business. I have seen many Phuket business owners fail miserable as they were drinking every night in the Phuket beer bars and partying at the Phuket discos. First of all they were drinking away all their profits and secondly these Phuket business owners had no way of properly working the next day in their Phuket business.
What I often also do not fully understand is why people for be looking for a business for sale in Phuket if they have no relevant experience. If you have never worked in a restaurant for example then why would you buy a restaurant in Phuket? It is not easy running and operating a restaurant and you need plenty of relevant experience. It therefore comes as no surprise to me that many new Phuket business owners fail.
Another thing which you should keep in mind is that it is not very easy to deal with Thai staff. Changes are that you will have Thai people employed in your Phuket business and if you have no experience with dealing with Thai staff then you will be in for a surprise. Many Phuket business owners have a high employee turnover as Thai staff will switch job if they can earn a hundred Thai Baht more at the next place. Thai staff can also become really annoying as you will have to supervise them and keep explaining everything a hundred times to them. If you raise your voice to them then chances are that they will just walk out on you and leaving you stranded with your business in Phuket. You also need to be very careful in your Phuket business with employee theft. I have worked around the world and everywhere you will find employee theft however it seems to be even more with Thai employees. Be sure that you are always present in your business in Phuket so as to ensure that theft does not occur.
Finally you should just think logically. If someone is putting up a Phuket business for sale then changes are that there is a very good reason for this. Do you really want to spend your money on a business in Phuket with a poor track record? You should also keep in mind that many of these Phuket businesses keep accounts and book keeping records which you should not be able to rely on. Just because a Phuket business owner is showing a large profit in his books does not mean that these records reflect what is actually happening in their business in Phuket.
Starting a Business in Phuket
Perhaps the best way to have a business in Phuket is to start your own Phuket business. What I would like to suggest to you is to try to think of out of the box. Don’t just open another new Phuket guesthouse, Phuket bar or Phuket massage shops. There are plenty of those around already and many of these Phuket businesses are struggling. The only exception to this could be if you found an excellent location where there is no competitor in the area.
If you want to start your own business in Phuket you should try to look for a type of business or service which is not yet available in Phuket. Also try to make use of all your qualifications and experience so that you can properly set up and manage your new business in Phuket. It would also be a very good idea to open a Phuket business which does not rely solely on tourists and travelers. There are plenty of local Phuket residents and expats with money to spend so if you are able to open a Phuket business that is able to target them as well then you will have a much larger change to succeed.
Phuket Business Ownership
If you have a Thai girlfriend or partner then it is very easy to just but the Phuket business into their name. We strongly recommend for you not to do this. I have seen too often that good guys have lost their Phuket business and all their money as their Thai partner would just break up with them and kick them out of their business in Phuket. Just spend a little bit extra money when setting up a Phuket business and go visit a good Phuket lawyer who can advice you on how you can protect your Phuket business ownership....
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