Así se inicia un negocio de exportación en Tailandia
This is a guest post by Seb Scala, a Bangkok expat who’s been exporting products from Thailand for several years.
There’s a little joke you hear quite a bit when living in Thailand:
How do I make a small fortune in Thailand?
Answer:
Start out with a big one!
Stories abound of people moving to Thailand with hopes and dreams of starting a new life. They have some money saved up, some idea of what they want to do and a whole suitcase full of enthusiasm.Time wears on, often a less than ideal relationship becomes involved, and things start to turn sour very quickly.
Invariably this ends up in a tale of tragedy that would make Sophocles proud.
Is this always the case?
No.
Something I’ve learned in my years in Thailand export is that those people who have great relationships, a good business and live a generally happy and fulfilling life keep it pretty much to themselves.
Their challenges, tough though they may be, are accepted as part of the journey and taken on the chin.
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Great stuff man, very inspirational post. Cool to see someone make it and passing the wisdom along.
Question for the concept of “face”. I had to do a project on doing business in China for one of my university business classes, and “face” is the first thing one must understand when interacting with the Chinese. The most surprising thing for me to learn is that a Chinese business person will almost never tell you “no”, even though that’s exactly what they are saying. Apparently, the closest to no you’ll ever really get is a “maybe” which is the same thing as “no”. I’m curious if you’ve come across this in Thailand as well?
Thanks for your feedback.
Yes it is pretty similar in Thailand. When a supplier doesn’t want to do something they will say “yes” or “maybe” but very rarely “no”, especially when you are already in some form of relationship with them. To say “no” would be to admit that they can’t do anything and everything. In Western Cultures we would generally accept this to be the norm, most of the time companies are very specific about what they do and don’t do. In Thailand however they both don’t want to be “rude” by telling you they can’t do it, and many times think they can make a buck passing it off to a contact (this very rarely works out well).
This usually results in that thing being “forgotten” for extended periods of time before you realize (usually after a couple of reminders) that they meant “no” in the first place and you need to ask them to give back your sample because “thanks for trying but I found someone who wants to try to do it”.
You can save yourself a lot of time once you tune into when people are really saying “no”, however this takes time.
You’ll become aware of when a company isn’t ever going to call you back and when they probably will, or when someone isn’t going to turn up to a meeting etc. It still isn’t a perfect science but at least you’ll have some time to make a Plan B when you’re pretty sure Plan A isn’t going to work out.
Great article Seb.
What do you think about sites like Shopify and creating a store there? Have you ever thought about creating your own product (branding it) and then reaching out to businesses aboard and pitching your products?
Can one make a good full-time living using the method you are if they managed to get everything working?
Rubeo
Hi Rubeo,
Everyone has different skills, visions, timing and so on, so I can’t say what will work for one and not for another.
The products that I make are bespoke and white label. I started out with my own brand but quickly realised that in addition to getting the production as close to ideal as possible (which took years) that I’d have to work on brand recognition, marketing, customer service, keep my website up to date and relevant…
It’s not impossible, I know a guy who does that with jewellery in Thailand and makes a great income.
Is it possible for someone to make a good full time living using the method I described?
Absolutely.
Don’t listen to the naysayers, people who fail love to talk about how it was everyone else’s fault but their own. Those that succeed look at the challenges, work around them and keep their mouths shut.
Same thing goes with a lot of things in Thailand. I know many good, hard working and successful men in Thailand who are married to intelligent, hard working and sensible Thai women. Won’t be hearing them talking shit about Thailand and it’s women in bars in Pattaya though…
@Seb; great stuff mate! Refreshing to hear a tale of a happy expat productively living abroad…
@Harvie thanks for posting!
cheers!!!
ron;)
Thanks Seb…Very helpful advise as I will be moving to Thailand very soon… This really opens my mind to great possibilities over there…Thanks again Bro
Good article, Thank you.
I am a retired Army officer in mid sixties from India.I have been to Thailand and I love this place. Because of shortage of funds, I can’t spend more time there. May I ask your view on some kind of business I can do, so that I can earn just enough to spend longer time at Thailand.
Saludos
Do you have a windows version ? I do not have a Kindle.
Hi Dave,
Of my book? You can buy it off Amazon and read it on your computer without a Kindle.
Very good read!
Seb, can you contact me through my email? I’m currently already importing jewelry from Thailand, but
a) I’m not too happy with my supplier and
b) I’m interested in other goods as well.
Gracias,
Eric
Hi Seb,
Very nice article. I am a Fashion Jewellery Manufacturer and Exporter from India. Recently I came across a event in which I am interested to participate. Its a retail show in Bangkok in December during Christmas. Since you have so much idea of Thai market, do you think that people over there are looking for Indian fashion jewellery to buy. I have to consider a huge cost I am going to pay for the fair to the organisers and logistics. If not jewellery what other Indian products can we sell in Thailand at a retail show. Your reply will really help me a lot.
Look forward to your reply.
Hi Seb,
Do you know anything about import taxes? Rates and admin of? In to the UK from Thailand.
Hi Seb,
I admire the way you changed your life. Sometimes living with a hard gained little penny is more better than an overpaid living-in-a-cubicle life.
Out of curiosity, do you keep on staying in thailand while doing your business?
We are planning this as well, however I will stay here only for 3 months and i am not sure if we really have to keep on staying here while doing the same kind of business you are doing.
Looking forward for your advice Seb.
I lived in south-east asia as well, 2 hours away from thai thru airplane trip.
Hello seb,
First of all thank you for the inspirational story.
I am already importing from thailand but I am not happy with my export agent. Could you please give me adresses of some good shipping agent who will charge me at a standard rate and I can open LC with.
Sincerely
Kamrul Hasan
Hi Seb. Great article thanks for sharing.
I live in Thailand and want to get into the exporting business from Asia to UK. I wanted to know if I could perhaps come and work for you for free for a few months to understand how it all works.
Then if I’m able to setup on my own, I could give you a % of my business in return for your consultancy.
Look forward to your reply.
Many thanks.
Nik
Hey Harvie! thanks a lot for sharing these informations, it’s really helpful. Cheers
Hi there, I am an Aussie living in Chiang Mai and I have been wanting sell on Amazon.
I first thought to import items from China [as many are doing], but I am worried that post offices/government would report me. How likely is this do you think? Because of this concern I am now looking into sourcing goods right here in the North if Thailand, but on Amazon I do not see many ‘Thai’ products selling? Looks like I need to research and start getting out of my comfort zone!!!
Seb,
When you say “they have been known to finger foreigners sending an unusually large number of parcels over time without a company”, in regards to registered Thai Post international shipping, can you define “finger”?
Gracias,
Stephen
Gracias,
Stephen