I have to agree with Richard. High season = $1K a month, low season = break even... that's $500 a month for two people working full-time to share between them. The whole kit and caboodle may be worth $12K but that means working for $0 a month for 2 years before being allowed to earn for 2 years (landlord will allow a max 4 year lease) so in essence it's actually $250 a month split between two people. Paying $12,000 to earn $125 a month for a few years whilst working full-time is insane.

The thing about growing business is this Richard, once you reach a break even point your profits start to accelerate considerably. Increasing your daily sales by just $10 which is roughly 2 customers you will net yourself $10 x .62 as our costs run at 38%, this tiny $10 a day increase gets you an extra $186 a month. Now we've operated our business 8:00 am to 5:00 pm 6 days a week closing Monday's. There is potential for an extra day a week and expanding hours. All the hard work is done and the business is turning a profit, if someone can keep it running and have the sense to expand the profit potential is large. Imagine driving just 10 extra customers a day on average, $5 per customer is another $50 x .62 = an extra $31 a day in profits. Lets take that number and X it by 30, you get another $930 a month in profit increasing your customer intake by just 10 a day. It's extremely difficult starting a business and much easier running a business. Profits accelerate after a break even point, this is why I say the potential is really huge. You won't find a better deal in Siem Reap, considering people try and sell bars that they've never made a cent on with $6k in assets for $35000. It doesn't take a whole lot of extra customers to start bringing in those nice numbers once you've reached break even. For those with some sense small restaurants and cafes definitely can work.

Like I stated before my wife is Khmer and she has set the business up where she isn't paying 3x the amount one should on food cost, we didn't hire a Khmer to go shopping for us where she would write out false receipts, increase the costs 3 fold and hand them back to us. With this business comes our connections and we will show you what you SHOULD be paying for product. We use only high quality product and get it at a good price.

How long since you opened the Black Sands Cafe?

We have been opened since last May, so this was our first high season. Considering we started high season low on TripAdvisor and have now established pretty good reviews and climbing up the ladder, next high season should be much better for tourism. The steady stream of expats is what's key as it keeps you going through low season.

You have to put those types of hours into a business or you will fail, if you owned a business before then you should appreciate that. You should also appreciate numbers and what it means to reach a break even point. I'll comment on this one last time for you Richard, at $12000 you're basically buying the set up and ignoring a brand name that's built a customer base and turned itself profitable within the first year, refer to my math above to see the potential 10 extra customers a day will bring you. It's not like we've been in business for 5 years and we are turning a profit of over $1000 a month, we opened in May and high season hit us 5 months later, considering it's our the first high season for the business it's a miracle we turned a profit at all, as you know countless businesses don't. I don't want this to escalate into a meaningless argument with someone who has no interest in buying so I will leave it at that.

Would it be safe to say you are disappointed with the venture so far and therefore are trying to get out before the low season? It's only been 11 months, so it seems like it hasn't gone as you expected. Was it harder work and less profitable than you figured going in? Less enjoyable? Honest questions.

It's a nice looking little place, by the way. Sounds like a reasonable deal to me.

there are lots of different types of business, i would say this would fall into the mom n pop category, so it may be suitable for a retiree with his 20 yr old khmer chick to have a go it. so cut them some slack guys

i will be going to siam reap soon, can i have a discount?

We'd love to keep it going but honestly we've been here for 5 years and it took some major time to get my wife her visa to Canada, going for 6 months it would be incredibly difficult to keep the business running. While there is potential for next high season to see the profits grow significantly, obviously we can earn a better wage in Canada. With my child nearly 2 years old we must also consider the free education and health care Canada brings for my family. While it's fun operating a business in a foreign country, having lived here for so long you realize things will always be better in a country like Canada for some time to come.

It's a solid deal for someone who doesn't want to go through headache and growing pains of establishing a business. Someone who is just starting their adventure in Cambodia, or someone who is fixed on this place. We are more than happy with the business and what we've accomplished has exceeded our expectations, which makes it that more difficult to let it go. The business itself is great and doing well, but for us, our personal feelings are there is a better life for our family in Canada, I'm sure the majority of people living here would understand that.