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naturegirl321
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Home sweet home
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 Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 5:24 am Post subject: Starting a business in Korea? |
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I'm looking for advice about starting a business in Korea. My husband and I have had the opportunity to start a restaurant in Seoul with a foreigner and his Korean wife. We've started looking into legalities, such as what visa to get and how to sign contracts. Immigrations isn't that much help. I'm on an E2, my husband is on a F3.
Anyone here have experience with starting a business and not being married to a Korean? It seems like to get the D8 we need to already have invested in a business, but how can we do that on our current visas?
If anyone has experience in this area, please let me know. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:08 am Post subject: Re: Starting a business in Korea? |
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| naturegirl321 wrote: |
I'm looking for advice about starting a business in Korea. My husband and I have had the opportunity to start a restaurant in Seoul with a foreigner and his Korean wife. We've started looking into legalities, such as what visa to get and how to sign contracts. Immigrations isn't that much help. I'm on an E2, my husband is on a F3.
Anyone here have experience with starting a business and not being married to a Korean? It seems like to get the D8 we need to already have invested in a business, but how can we do that on our current visas?
If anyone has experience in this area, please let me know. |
Talk to these people.
http://global.seoul.go.kr/
Foreign investors visa is D8 and there ARE hoops to jump through including investment minimums.
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ginsenglove
Joined: 17 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:32 pm Post subject: Re: Starting a business in Korea? |
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| naturegirl321 wrote: |
I'm looking for advice about starting a business in Korea. My husband and I have had the opportunity to start a restaurant in Seoul with a foreigner and his Korean wife. We've started looking into legalities, such as what visa to get and how to sign contracts. Immigrations isn't that much help. I'm on an E2, my husband is on a F3.
Anyone here have experience with starting a business and not being married to a Korean? It seems like to get the D8 we need to already have invested in a business, but how can we do that on our current visas?
If anyone has experience in this area, please let me know. |
My Korean wife and I have entertained thoughts of opening a business including restaurants in Korea, and the best advice I can give you is don't do it. Most start up businesses fail in Korea because Korean consumers go with the current trends which constantly change, the economic situation is pretty bad for business, and restaurants are a dime a dozen, business rules are different than North America, and the industry is ultra competitive. My wife tells me that many Korean salarymen who get laid off from work in their 50's will try to open restaurants and nearly all of them miserably fail. Also the fact that you're posting this question on Dave's indicates that you and you're partners have little experience which equates into a higher chance of failure.
So unless you have money to throw down the toilet, I strongly advise against it. But if you do try to go this route, make sure you have tons of cash because location is everything and you'll need the money to financially support your location. Best of luck but honestly the odds are against you. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Home sweet home
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Thatnks. I'll definitely have to look the info over. Though the Seoul Global centre looks like it's for those that want to open their own business, without a Korean's help. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Home sweet home
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:48 pm Post subject: Re: Starting a business in Korea? |
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| ginsenglove wrote: |
Also the fact that you're posting this question on Dave's indicates that you and you're partners have little experience which equates into a higher chance of failure.
So unless you have money to throw down the toilet, I strongly advise against it. But if you do try to go this route, make sure you have tons of cash because location is everything and you'll need the money to financially support your location. Best of luck but honestly the odds are against you. |
Hm, we've had our own business before, but not in Korea. I'm posting on Dave's since this forum moves quickly, has lots of answers, and helpful people.
BUt thanks for the honest remarks. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| naturegirl321 wrote: |
| Thatnks. I'll definitely have to look the info over. Though the Seoul Global centre looks like it's for those that want to open their own business, without a Korean's help. |
They are a world of information and you will (even with Korean partners) have to deal with various government agencies including immigration (unless you are going to just be passive investors).
They should be one of your early stops along the way as well as getting help with a "WELL PLANNED business plan done (by yourself or with professional help - if you don't have degrees in business/commerce).
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naturegirl321
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Home sweet home
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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| I've got business plans coming out of my ears. My BA was in Business Management. I'll have to look into the Seoul Global Centre, thanks again. |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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| This topic has come up several times. I heard you can do business in Korea if you deposit at least 50,000,000 Won, but much more cash is realistic. You need anywhere from 250m Won on up in my understanding of it, but do consult with the Seoul Global Center like Ttompatz recommends. Keep in mind, you not only need money to secure the visa requirements, the store, and equipment, you also need cash for cash flow needs until you break even and then profit after about 1 year. It's extremely difficult in my opinion unless you have a large amount of cash (US $500,000 or more) sitting around to apply to an idea that is a sure winner and to support you and your business until it's profitable. Many leverage and use an equity line of credit, but no amount of knowledge, skills, motivation, and abilities replaces the necessary large sums of cash and credit required to have your own means of production. |
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asutrack
Joined: 05 Jul 2007
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Having actually co-owned a successful bar in Busan I can say with certainty that there are MANY different routes you can take. If you wish to pm me I can provide some useful/helpful information. BTW: skill and connections are far more important than having a ton of money on hand. Korean businesses fail so stunningly not because of money but because of pure lack of business ability (5 coffee shops in the same building is NEVER a good idea). |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Home sweet home
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| Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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Kind of depressing that everyone is mentioning money. I have a hard time believing that all foreigners who open a business have half a million dollars laying around.
I was under the impression that you only need 50 mil if the foreigner owned a business without a Korean. You also need that much to co-own a business?
| asutrack wrote: |
| Having actually co-owned a successful bar in Busan I can say with certainty that there are MANY different routes you can take. If you wish to pm me I can provide some useful/helpful information. BTW: skill and connections are far more important than having a ton of money on hand. Korean businesses fail so stunningly not because of money but because of pure lack of business ability (5 coffee shops in the same building is NEVER a good idea). |
Thanks for the positive feedback. It's the first! I just PMed you |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:20 am Post subject: |
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| naturegirl321 wrote: |
Kind of depressing that everyone is mentioning money. I have a hard time believing that all foreigners who open a business have half a million dollars laying around.
I was under the impression that you only need 50 mil if the foreigner owned a business without a Korean. You also need that much to co-own a business?
| asutrack wrote: |
| Having actually co-owned a successful bar in Busan I can say with certainty that there are MANY different routes you can take. If you wish to pm me I can provide some useful/helpful information. BTW: skill and connections are far more important than having a ton of money on hand. Korean businesses fail so stunningly not because of money but because of pure lack of business ability (5 coffee shops in the same building is NEVER a good idea). |
Thanks for the positive feedback. It's the first! I just PMed you |
Actually the money limits are an immigration requirement for the D8 visa - not business licensing.
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naturegirl321
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Home sweet home
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| Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:24 am Post subject: |
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| I realise that $50K usd is required for the visa, but that's a far cry from the quarter to half million dollars that people say are needed to start a business. |
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air76
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:26 am Post subject: |
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| naturegirl321 wrote: |
| I was under the impression that you only need 50 mil if the foreigner owned a business without a Korean. You also need that much to co-own a business? |
You need 50 million as a minimum to qualify for the investor visa...keep in mind that this visa needs to be renewed and does not grant residency (you need $500,000US to qualify for this long-term visa)...also keep in mind that this 50 million won needs to come from outside of Korea. You cannot save up your Won here for a couple years and then get an investor visa with that money, you have to be able to prove that the funds come from overseas.
Clearly it is an exaggeration that one needs 1/2 million dollars to start a business, but what people are saying is that 50 million won is not really all that much money and would be gone before you know it when trying to set up a restaurant. You could be out 25 million just in a deposit on your locale. Another 25 in remodeling and now you can't even turn on the lights and fire up the ovens.
While there are certainly plenty of successful restaurants across the world, it is one of the most difficult new businesses to get up and running and profitable...then add into the mix that you're in a foreign country with a completely different set of rules.
What you need to do is write up a proper business plan and do a proper feasibility study. See what your overhead and expenses would truly be and what kind of pricing structure and sales you'd need to turn a reasonable profit. There is a big difference between having a lot of business plans floating around in your head and having a portfolio of real business plans where you've spent months and months doing research and forecasting financial statements, marketing plans, and so on.
If you haven't spent at least 2-3 months doing intense research and writing up a proper business plan, then how can you possibly know if this is a good investment or if the restaurant has any real chance of being a success?
Don't take people's comments as being negative, but more so just realistic. Obviously there are opportunities in starting your own business, without business the economy would cease to exist....but being successful in business takes a lot of realism and not just a passion for something and a whimsical business plan that is mostly based on the idea of "wanting to do X" and not necessarily based on a niche or gap in the market.
You can start your own business....but if you're asking for business advice here on Dave's ESL, then you clearly haven't done the countless hours of research and planning necessary to see if your business opportunity is in fact an opportunity or simply something that sounds good.
My girlfriend and I are currently saving to start our own business (not in Korea) and the truth is that once you are honest about the real start-up costs, it is scary how quickly the price goes up. We're going to need $250,000 in start-up capital....we originally thought that $130,000 would be enough, but once we really looked at every facet of the business we quickly realized that we weren't being honest about the real costs of starting a new business. |
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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 1:53 am Post subject: |
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| Good luck |
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asutrack
Joined: 05 Jul 2007
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 2:06 am Post subject: |
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| answered your pm |
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