The Down Payment


After the incorporation, comes the hardest part of all businesses... To find the location for a shop front. It took us 15 viewings and 3 months to finally settle on a location. On top of that, rental is paid up front in advance of 12 months! Yes, 12 months, this is probably the only country with this practise. It will probably kill off half your cashflow right at the get go. That is also not forgetting the 1 month commission for the agent. This is my take away in order of rental cost, if you are still interested to venture further into the fatherland. 

1) Proximity to Downtown.
The closer you are to downtown, the more expensive the rent regardless of condition of place. By downtown, I would take the Strand Hotel as a benchmark of the epic centre. Because it's the most expensive hotel in Yangon, and surrounding it, all the highend burn a hole in your wallet kind of restaurants. 

2) Furnishing
The better furnished locations will of course cost more, ceteris paribus. However, most places would be like a haunted house as property owners seldom do any upkeep to vacant premises. So do take note that some locations already has nature entering the premises. Sort of like a scene in The last of us. 

3) Surrounding Amenities
Expect higher rental fees if the location is around amenities such as restaurants, coffee houses or KTVs. 

Of course if you are lucky like me, there are some exceptions whereby you can cut a good deal with the local landlord. Having a local to negotiate for you is also a big major plus, because, (refer to my first post on Foreigner Bias). And a last point to take off, if you are going to do thorough renovations, always aim to negotiate longer terms of rental in the contract to lock the rates. The locals ALWAYS like to hike rates every single year.

However, if you are really on your own, feel free to hit the comments and I see if I could pull some strings. 

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