02 January 2013

Running a Guesthouse in Cambodia

Happy 2013!

During the break, I've been thinking about my life. When I finished high school, I spent seven years in university. I did an administrative job for a bit before becoming a public servant. I have been a public servant (or a policy analyst) for about four years now, and I must admit I am tired of my job.  I just don't know if I can work in a job where I am at my desk all day. Pressure from management doesn't help either.

During the break over Christmas and New Year, I've been lying on my couch, looking out at the backyard, and thinking about what to do for the rest of my life.

With help from Google, I've found that there are many beautiful guesthouse businesses for sale in Siem Riep, Cambodia for about US$100,000. They can normally be leased on five-year contracts for about US$1000 per month. Some of these guesthouses look like luxury homes, with pools, deckchairs, and palm trees. Even if nobody came, I'd be happy living by myself in a place for only US$100,000.

I think what this highlights is that running your own business does not need to be expensive.  I have some savings, but I feel that I should be able to start my very own guesthouse in Cambodia after a few more years of thrift. I imagine it will be a beautiful job. I will get to run my own place. I will get to be a boss rather than be bossed around by bosses.

I currently live in the family home with my mother and grandmother. If I really wanted to start this business right now, I could probably convince my mother and grandmother to rent the family home out and with the rental income we could all move to Cambodia and run the business. I would love to run my own guesthouse. I think I'd be great at it as well. I would create a website for the business, put it on Facebook, TripAdvisor, and so forth. I would pay my staff a fixed salary plus bonuses based on customer satisfaction based on anonymous surveys. Given that I can speak English well, the guesthouse can target for English-speaking people.

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