A Thai woman finds the recipe for success in Japan
FORESEEING great business opportunities in Japan, a Thai woman didn't worry about tough competition or high costs, but decided to forge her family's future by opening a Thai restaurant there. It now has six branches and one catering service.
Sopit Nomiyama, president of Chaothai Thai Restaurant Co, said that after starting up with a small initial capital investment from her family’s earnings and support from her Japanese husband’s family, now her business employs 40 Thais and earns revenue of about 200 million yen (Bt54 million) a year.
Starting with a small budget 24 years ago after marrying a Japanese man, Sopit decided to use her knowledge about northern Thai cuisine to cook preserved sausages in northern-Thai style at home and sell them to Thais working in Tokyo.
After about a year of good response, Sopit added more varieties of Thai food to her menu and opened a small food shop with initial capital of about 1.5 million yen.
She was able to see a return on her investment within one year, thanks to the success of the business.
Then as demand for Thai food rose among Japanese people who had travelled to Thailand, Sopit saw an opportunity to expand her business. She opened her first Chaothai (“Thai people”) restaurant in Kawasaki, a city in the Greater Tokyo area.
“About eight years ago, I decided to tell my husband that I had to expand my restaurant at that time or never, for which I needed his support. So he had to make a big decision by resigning from being an engineer to help me. And he did,” she said.
After that, Sopit opened the second Chaothai Restaurant branch. Other branches followed in the next few years with additional investment capital of about 30 million yen. Now, there are six branches in Tokyo and nearby cities.
More than 80 Thai dishes are on the restaurants’ menu. Chaothai Restaurants have been getting high recognition and acceptance among Japanese, Thai, and foreign customers, since they serve authentic Thai foods at moderate prices.
The restaurant charges about 700-2,000 yen per dish. Sopit said that since her targeted customers are general Japanese salaried men, the prices on her menu are the same as for Japanese foods.
“We have to work hard to develop Thai recipes to ensure authentic tastes and a wide menu and to cope with the high expenses and slowing purchasing power now,” she said.
The company’s revenue has been lower in the past few years. Margins have also been getting lower, but the company has responded by reducing some costs and also establishing a catering service. For instance, Sopit has taken orders from the Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo to serve Thai and foreign delegations.
About 90 per cent of the restaurants’ customers are Japanese and about 5-10 per cent are Thais and foreigners.
With the high expenses and living costs, the company has faced many problems doing business in Japan. However, Sopit and her husband have never given up, as she always tells herself that every problem must have a solution and she has to take care of up to 40 lives.
Sopit tries to run her business with patience and sincerity to serve the demands of Japanese, foreign and even Thai customers.
Asked about the future, Sopit said she would suspend expansion plans for a while. She will wait for the right time after the Japanese economy recovers and spending power is revitalised.
She advised new investors who are interested in starting a business in Japan to study market opportunities carefully and learn about government regulations and local culture.
