Confident that the market will recover, Naim Khan-Turk, Asian Business Brokers’ Cambodia representative, urges a practical approach whether buying or selling a business during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Setting up a business abroad can be a daunting prospect even in normal circumstances, with language barriers and differing laws among particular concerns.

So finding local expertise to guide the way can result in peace of mind and the best deal.

Asian Business Brokers provides services for the buying, selling and renting of commercial property and land throughout Cambodia.

The company operates in 12 Asian countries, including Cambodia’s Asean neighbours as well as mainland China, Hong Kong and India.

What would you say to someone looking to buy a business in Cambodia right now?

For buyers, it is hard to advise right now given that the guidance from governments is not to travel and to stay at home.

Suffice to say there are already some very good deals available right now on our website, and we expect there will be many more in the coming months.

As soon as it is safe to travel and inspect, there is a high possibility that buyers will pick up some bargains.

What should sellers do in the current situation?

For sellers, particularly those operating from leased premises, they need to assess how long they can sustain expenses with little or no revenue.

Sellers need to understand that selling a business – even in normal times – typically takes months, sometimes years, not weeks or days. So they need to work out how long it will be before they have to literally hand the keys back to the landlord and walk away with nothing.

If they assess this as being in the near future, they really need to contact Asian Business Brokers and put their business on the market as soon as possible, and they need to price it to sell.

Even if we are successful in getting them “something”, it will be better than “nothing”.

The market will rebound at some stage and waiting for that to happen before they list their business for sale may be too late.

Sellers should also consider asking their landlord for a rental reduction until the situation improves.

We have already seen some business owner tenants doing this and achieving up to a 50 per cent rental reduction.

How does buying a business differ from buying property?

Buying and selling businesses and commercial property is significantly different to buying and selling residential real estate like houses and condos.

There are many more steps in the process and typically many more conditions applied to a sale that need to be carefully explained and monitored.

While many people understand the process of buying and selling a condo or house, not many understand the process of buying and selling a business, and this is where we come into it and are able to guide buyers and sellers to successful transfer.

We are specialist business brokers and our database consists only of people who have expressed interest in buying and selling businesses, not condos and houses.

For every 1,000-plus condo or house buyers, there may only be about one business buyer, so having around 20,000 people in our database and another 150,000 social media followers enables us to connect with those business buyers and sellers very quickly.

How has the coronavirus outbreak changed the business outlook?

Covid-19 hasn’t necessarily made it more or less important to use a business broker to buy or sell a business, other than to say that specialist business brokers with a proven track record like Asian Business Brokers are – and have always been – a seller’s best chance of selling, and buyers can rely upon them for accurate advice specific to purchasing businesses.

Asian Business Brokers has consistently for over three years been listing a new business at the rate of more than one a day. The numbers have reduced because of the Covid-19 outbreak, but we expect it to increase again and possibly surpass previous numbers when business confidence is improved.

Should Cambodia remain a hot destination for foreign investment?

The ability for foreigners to operate a business and reside in Cambodia is much easier than in most other Asian countries, including neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam.

This augers well for future foreign investment in the small business sector in Cambodia. Cambodia is a relatively easy place for foreigners to do business in, with the ability to own 100 per cent of a business.

There are many established businesses available to buy right now and at good prices, and this generally avoids the “ramp-up” time associated with starting your own business from scratch.

Although we at Asian Business Brokers are not responsible for the success or otherwise of your business, we do like to make sure you have every reasonable chance, so please let us know what you want, what your expectations are and we’ll see if we can point you in the right direction.