Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Mr. Yuck · Post by **Mr. Yuck** » Wed Nov 14, 2018 9:38 pm

Any of you run your own business there or have in the past? How is / was it? Have read mostly sad tales of expats starting or taking over businesses there. Any successful ventures you've been a part of or seen?

james1234 · Post by **james1234** » Thu Nov 15, 2018 2:37 am

I am starting now. Registering my company since October. Have work permit and start operations 28 November when the first Siem Reap magazines and a Streetfood guide come from the printer. I had e years of preparation and tried to get everything organized.
The things I learned from this and other forums:

Expect almost anything
Nothing is like in Europe
Only invest what you are prepared to loose
Have sufficient financial reserves

I had a lot of delay and uncertain things. You cannot prepare! Still I am hopefull my publishing house will be a success.

Good luck

Kayve · Post by **Kayve** » Thu Nov 15, 2018 2:48 pm

Taxation and paperwork are heavy.

Everytime you need more cash in the company, you have to make a capital increase to MOC which cost around 500$ easy.

That's one exemple.

tarariverboat · Post by **tarariverboat** » Thu Nov 15, 2018 3:58 pm

there are many successful businesses I have seen over the years, most where here before me and are running very well,i have also seen many fail,for varies reasons, but it was never meant to be easy,i find the key for me is having great loyal staff and keeping them, when you start a business this is one area(staff) that will or may drag you down but just find good staff and help train them, i am a big believer in multi skilling, so as the staff will have many bows in there string,for me its just a lifestyle,the staff are the real heros,and the companies greatest asset, I am very proud that we now have a few staff over 15 years service (the time we started) and many more with 10 years plus ,all the staff have increase there education over this time in both in house training and also trainers from outside the company.

Mr. Yuck · Post by **Mr. Yuck** » Thu Nov 15, 2018 4:18 pm

tarariverboat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 15, 2018 3:58 pm there are many successful businesses I have seen over the years, most where here before me and are running very well,i have also seen many fail,for varies reasons, but it was never meant to be easy,i find the key for me is having great loyal staff and keeping them, when you start a business this is one area(staff) that will or may drag you down but just find good staff and help train them, i am a big believer in multi skilling, so as the staff will have many bows in there string,for me its just a lifestyle,the staff are the real heros,and the companies greatest asset, I am very proud that we now have a few staff over 15 years service (the time we started) and many more with 10 years plus ,all the staff have increase there education over this time in both in house training and also trainers from outside the company.

Thanks for your post. What types of businesses have you seen suceed here? I see lots of restaurants, bars n cafes for sale. It seems those are fairly common with expat businesses in country. With the high volume of sales it leads me to believe they are the most common to fail. True?

tarariverboat · Post by **tarariverboat** » Thu Nov 15, 2018 4:53 pm

the ones that stand out in my mind are restaurants and hotels/guesthouses,there are owned/operated by some very smart hard working expats, sure lots do fail,and few succeed,most of the expats i know with great businesses also had success before they come to live in Cambodia,nothing beats hard work,and for the first few years its all work and little play:) but its a lifestyle for me,not work as such,but still you need to be street smart at the very least.one thing that helped me here was other expat business people,who showed me a lot of encouragement and sound advise,

scanjet6000c · Post by **scanjet6000c** » Sat Jan 19, 2019 4:56 pm

Im looking into investing in Phnom Penh as well. As what Mr. Yuck has mentioned, I also noticed a number of restaurants and guesthouse for sale, which makes me wonder whether running a F&B business here is getting tougher and tougher specailly with the rent on a rise. Any thoughts or experience sharing from business owners here?

davegorman · Post by **davegorman** » Sat Jan 19, 2019 5:23 pm

I’ve never owned a F&B or that type of business but it seems to me most of the expats who run these types of establishments are not people persons, which to me seems odd.

“People buy off people not the product” is what my old sales manager said.

Unless you can put a good people person manager in it’s unlikely to succeed no matter how good it is.

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Sat Jan 19, 2019 5:29 pm

davegorman wrote: ↑Sat Jan 19, 2019 5:23 pm I’ve never owned a F&B or that type of business but it seems to me most of the expats who run these types of establishments are not people persons, which to me seems odd.

“People buy off people not the product” is what my old sales manager said.

Unless you can put a good people person manager in it’s unlikely to succeed no matter how good it is.

I guess your old sales manager never had shares in Coca Cola

davegorman · Post by **davegorman** » Sat Jan 19, 2019 5:40 pm

Duncan wrote: ↑Sat Jan 19, 2019 5:29 pm
davegorman wrote: ↑Sat Jan 19, 2019 5:23 pm I’ve never owned a F&B or that type of business but it seems to me most of the expats who run these types of establishments are not people persons, which to me seems odd.

“People buy off people not the product” is what my old sales manager said.

Unless you can put a good people person manager in it’s unlikely to succeed no matter how good it is.

I guess your old sales manager never had shares in Coca Cola

No idea. But he works for a large investment vehicle in the USA now so I guess he may have advised his customers to.

Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Re: Who here runs a business in Cambodia?

Who is online

Register/Login to CEO with your Social Media Account: