The type of franchised retailing operation they envisage entails little initial investment capital and inventory costs for such entrepreneurs, while offering the potential to make a profit of more than 50 per cent, said one of Easy Salad’s co-owners, Charee Sripaisalmongkol.
She and her partner, Ratchadaporn Lueagsuriya, are seeking franchisees and retailers to whom they can supply their salad dressings and other food products, because such a move would enable the duo to save on their current operating costs and give them more time to be with their own family, as they would be working from home.
Charee, 33, said that after establishing Easy Salad in 2012 and running the business for more than three years, she and her partner had decided to downsize from having a shop near a sports club to opening a small store in Bangkok’s Prachachuen area, from which they could focus less on retailing and more on franchising or supplying to other businesses.
The rationale was that they would no longer have pay for rented space, would have lower operating costs, while she would have more time with her family now that they have a baby.
Although their business income has decreased since they made the downsizing move, this has been more than offset by a significant fall in operating costs, she said.
To be a full-on retailer requires a great deal of time and energy, whereas acting as a supplier to other businesses will save in both these respects, while the firm’s production costs are significantly lowered, she said, adding that she also wanted to be able to help others have their own business at a small investment cost.
“In seeking retailers and franchisees, we are looking for shop owners that have sufficient free time from their daily work, or housewives that can work from home and take care of their families. This type of business needs only a small investment budget and, if well-managed, the cost of waste is minimal,” she explained.
Moreover, for those becoming retailers of Easy Salad’s dressings and other products, the potential profit margin is about 50 per cent, the co-founder said.
Charee said that next year, the company would launch a serious search for retailers or franchisees in different areas.
The company has a clear business model not to compete with franchisees, as it wants to focus on supplying products, while each franchisee would concentrate on retailing in a limited area around their own shop, she stressed.
She would provide training if anyone meeting her criteria wished to open such an operation selling Easy Salad’s range, she said.
Easy Salad was established four years ago after Charee and Ratchadaporn decided to quit their salaried jobs to run their own small business.
Ratchadaporn was well-versed in being a chef, after graduating from Le Cordon Bleu culinary arts and hospitality management institute in France and gaining hands-on experience in many restaurants abroad.
Charee, meanwhile, graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Chulalongkorn University.
The couple decided to leverage their knowledge of cooking and restaurant business management to establish the business as a joint venture between them.
Easy Salad, which is located in Prachachuen’s Pracha Niwet village, offers 14 fresh salad dishes, 10 salad dressings, a range of eight healthy sandwiches, and various fresh fruit juices.
The company also takes bulk orders for seminar groups and meetings, with its healthy snack boxes costing Bt45 to Bt70 apiece.
Charee said Easy Salad’s main strength lay in its homemade salad dressings, offering a wide range of good tastes, such as white sesame, Shitake mushroom, wasabi, raspberry, tom yum and blue cheese.
Some 70 per cent of its income is from wholesale business and providing boxed food for seminars and meetings, with the remainder coming from retails sales at their shop.
The company hopes to double its income next year, not least because of increasing awareness of the benefits of healthy eating, she said.