Expat & Thai Expat: Running A Business Abroad

• Do you need an income in order to live as an expat?

• How do you intend to survive?

One of the things to do business in Thailand which seems to be the ideal answer to many people is to buy a beer bar Thailand business-cum-restaurant, especially if you live in a popular tourist resort.

We eventually realised that at the time (ten years ago) the tourist trade was by far the best option. So we became involved and made a healthy living for more than seven years before moving on to other things.

That having been said, there was an extremely sharp learning curve running an expat business, even having the experience of being self employed in my home country.

Attitude to work in Thailand is vastly different compared to what we were used in to in the UK. The staff for example can best be described as having a "more relaxed" attitude to most things - apart from expecting a regular salary, of course!

The way in which any official departments work differ greatly, sometimes to the point of wanting to tear your own hair out!
Being told by a local council that an obstacle can be overcome sounds encouraging, but often the thing omitted to inform you is the (unofficial) cost to overcome it.

There are other avenues to explore in order to generate an income. Maybe a real estate service to assist other expats, or some other service industry offering a "friendly foreign face" away from home.
Some sort of specialist knowledge or expertise can well assist you in obtaining a work permit.

Are there opportunities to be made by importing or exporting?
On a smaller scale there are now a lot of people selling goods on internet auction sites etc, mailing the goods personally. What you want to avoid however in the beginning is to over-extend yourself purchasing a large amount of stock which (initially anyway) you won't know how well it will sell. Start small and build up the business gradually, unless of course you're either so affluent or convinced that everything you buy has a market out there just waiting for you to exploit!

Do you need a limited company to run your business? This is often the case, especially if you need a work permit and all the seemingly endless amount of paperwork in order to obtain it.