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Hi L&C,

Till members provide you their feedback, i suggest you read the following article : Setting up a business in Vietnam.

You will find some useful links at the bottom of the article.

All the best,
Bhavna

Just curious ... but how did you decide on or secure a location if/as you are out of the country ? What about your business licensing ? Is it a sole proprietorship or JV with a 'local' ? Is it a self-made concept or brand, or a franchised business ?

Hi! We came home from Vietnam last week. We found the restaurant when we were there. It's our own brand and we are just beginning with our plans so we haven't any licences yet.

Don't forget the local police and government officials monthly payment.

Thanks Colinoscapee!  What´s that payment for? Do you know how much?

L&C

Thats something you will need to ask other expat owners, its usually done every month and it can become costly.

colinoscapee wrote:

Thats something you will need to ask other expat owners, its usually done every month and it can become costly.

huuuu, that list can be quite long and even endless!

To the OP, be very careful what you plan to do. Regardless what business, VN is a special case and place. We get all kinds of visitors beside the boys in green, just as an example, last week one of our outlets had the hygiene inspection. Their main target was our ice which is supplied by a licensed vendor. We have 3 types of ice, 2 of drinking grade (cubes and crushed ice) plus cooling ice for eskies.

Anyway, they first insisted that the ice bags lack the logo of the distributor (5mio). Then they said the contract/agreement document we have with that vendor and showed the inspectors is just a copy and it must either be the original or a notarized copy (5mio). So they wanted to fine us 10mio for failing on the "ice law", regardless if the original document was in HQ office and could have been organized within an hour...

Finally we had them down to 4 mio cash on the spot.

Fire inspection, labor inspection, etc etc etc... the list is endless and really not much you can do. Be prepared to have budget for many things (light too low or bright, music too loud, no permit to have live bands, they come up with all kinds of stuff and you must pay up or else...)

The underworld is another issue. They might ask you to buy from specific vendors or pay "protection fees" for your parking lot. Fail to work with them can be really awkward and the police won't help unless you are a big shot.

btw, I don't own a business here. I'm operation manager for an F&B group with several outelts in different cities in the south. I also know dozens of other people and have seen and heard endless accounts over the years.

However, that does not mean you can't get something going and I don't want to discourage you, many others have been successful.

Therefore, I recommend you do your homework and I hope you'll achieve your goals!

Good luck!

That reminds me of a friend who owned the only nightclub in one of the main Mekong Delta cities. The local police chief decided he wanted to start up in opposition, all of a sudden my friend was being raided, scrutinized and harassed by officials. One day the grubs who run the liquor licensing turned up, they asked for his license, which he had, as he did everything legally through his wife. The license said he could sell all types of whiskey, the mafia(official) said that some labels of whiskey said  product of Scotland, therefore he would need a license to sell whiskey from Scotland. In the end my friend was forced to close and to this day the grub of a police chief operates his nightclub without any checks and balances. Be very wary of anything in Viet Nam, it can be done as Snake said, but you need local help to walk the minefield.

Yeh, Mui ne especially has a reputation for stealing from foreigners

even here, some german guy paid 50k$ for a kitchen re-fir then the landlord chained and bolted the property he was renting hah.

only an idiot would invest in vietscam.

Thaiger wrote:

Yeh, Mui ne especially has a reputation for stealing from foreigners

even here, some german guy paid 50k$ for a kitchen re-fir then the landlord chained and bolted the property he was renting hah.

only an idiot would invest in vietscam.

Mate, there are many successful foreigners here. It's a huge market and growing. However, the problems and issues you can face here are very different from the Western world. So if you come with no means, money or connections, it is nearly guaranteed that you'll fail or give up at some point.

I like the comment I saw the other day about a company doing assessments of VN for investors, it said "the least corrupt country in Indochina"

Me....I want to run my business from inside Vietnam but I would never open a Vietnamese business.

I like reading stories about ways they trap you. People need to share them more on here. Useful info.

colinoscapee wrote:

That reminds me of a friend who owned the only nightclub in one of the main Mekong Delta cities. The local police chief decided he wanted to start up in opposition, all of a sudden my friend was being raided, scrutinized and harassed by officials. One day the grubs who run the liquor licensing turned up, they asked for his license, which he had, as he did everything legally through his wife. The license said he could sell all types of whiskey, the mafia(official) said that some labels of whiskey said  product of Scotland, therefore he would need a license to sell whiskey from Scotland. In the end my friend was forced to close and to this day the grub of a police chief operates his nightclub without any checks and balances. Be very wary of anything in Viet Nam, it can be done as Snake said, but you need local help to walk the minefield.

What city? What's the name of the club?

It was in My Tho, name of the club I don't know as it was several years ago.

snake77 wrote:

...I like the comment I saw the other day about a company doing assessments of VN for investors, it said "the least corrupt country in Indochina"

That could actually be true.  It's all relative.