I admire the Thai entrepreneurial culture. I have seen it
happen to a lot of my Thai friends.Opting for early retirement to venture on
their own business.
Thais are natural entrepreneurs
I recently read an old article by Dr. Somjai
Phagaphasvivat for APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). This article
summarizes how the impressive entrepreneurial culture that was developed among the
Thai people helped stabilize the Thai economy despite the consistent political turmoil.
It also pointed out the constant government support and promotion of entrepreneurship.
This encouraged small and medium business owners to venture on their own. The
article is not extensive, but for a summarized piece, it is really helpful to
get an insight on SME and local business.
“Foreign competition has had a devastating effect on small
and medium-sized business enterprises, particularly in retail business.”
The need for global competitiveness for every business rings
true in this statement. Taking the financial risk of being an employee to being
an employer is an easy step to a lot of Thai SME owner in comparison to expanding
their business online.
Expanding the local business online should not be treated as
differently as risking to start own business. Before anyone starts any local business
(not online), 2 important things are already considered: target market and location. Starting to expand online, these 2
things should be considered as well. If you think your product or service is
good, a business owner should expand their business online to survive foreign
competition. Most foreign competition has online information accessible, in
comparison with local businesses that only a few has jumped on the tech wagon.
Locals using Google search
A local business can grow through online discovery. Looking
at the recent statistics on mobile internet usage, 60%of Thai internet users
use mobile devices to access the web, and growth in smart mobile sales is
exponential. There is no exemptions, any business can go online. High supply of
online service has made it easier and most of the these services have free
options for small businesses.
Look below for a quick overview of an example on how going
online can work for your business.
Let us say a street pad Thai shop wants to have new
customers more than the usual patrons that visit the shop.
Check out this small research on people who are looking for Thai restaurant (ร้านอาหารไทย)
and pad thai (ผัดไทย) in Chiang Mai.
And check out when English language is added.
Imagine increasing your reach to an average of 6000 people
monthly informing them about the awesome pad thai sold in front of 711 at the
corner. Imagine the possibility of increase of the local business just by
adding information online.
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