Post
by scobienz » Fri May 18, 2018 6:23 pm
This is an interesting piece, although I don't agree with everything .
I bought a business from a well-known and much-loved Phnom Penh expat back in 2014 or 2015. It was on online business, aimed firmly at the expat population and it had quickly gathered a reputation as a bit of a place to avoid, but entertaining nonetheless. It had a hardcore following, and an even wider audience of furtive lurkers who read it daily while tut-tutting about it to their friends in BKK1 coffee shops, St 104 bars, in the offices of the expat media outlets (RIP) and around the NGOs in town. I knew all that because I'd been involved as a member before, it seemed like a fun thing to do, and I shelled out a bit of cash for a 60% stake.
It was impossible to know what sort of money the business was making - the previous owner usually just pocketed the meagre advertising revenue for his regular jaunts to ladyboy bars or the dwindling number of bars around town he felt safe to be seen in. He gave me some half-arsed figures which didnt really stack up in practice, but it wasn't a huge investment so I went ahead anyway. His fellow shareholders at the time hadn't seen a penny of income from the site for years. He died shortly after selling the business in mysterious circumstances. The less said about that the better.
It turned out to be a good investment, and a lot of fun. I had to keep one of my minority shareholders under control because he was a loose cannon, but apart from that and the occasional threat of beatings from thick necked football hooligans and half a dozen threatened law suits from sundry fools and philandering law firm partners, it was quite a ride. I pulled in enough new advertising revenue to provide the shareholders with around 250% ROI in income in two and a half years, before selling my stake to some enthusiastic young pup newly arrived on the scene. Nice lad - a bit green around the gills - but I hope he's making a go of it.
Anyway, I tell my story to disprove Marvin Gak's central theory. You can make money from buying a business in Cambodia. Unless you're an idiot. Just make sure you have someone lined up to take it off your hands when the time to bail becomes apparent. And try not to die too early after making your get-away.