Fried chicken a good business
Fried chicken a good business
Whether or not Lao people love to eat chicken, an entrepreneur makes a good business out of selling chicken legs. For only 8,000 kip per piece, one can have a tasty snack with some refreshments in Lao-style's KFC.
The Khouvieng Fried Chicken or KFC shop is one of the small businesses that has been successful and popular in Vientiane. Located on Khouvieng Road, it is owned by Mr Thanormsamphan Duangsava, who used to work in a restaurant in America for five years.
When he came back to Laos in 2001, he created a tiny shop in front of his house to sell fried chicken legs. He applied what he learned abroad into his business in Laos. Like all other entrepreneurs, Mr Thanormsamphan started small with the help of five members in the family.
In the beginning, he ordered about 50 kilogrammes of chicken legs per day. After two years of steady business, he increased his daily purchase of chicken legs to 150kg per day. Since 2010, he's been frying 200 kgs of chicken legs every day at a total cost of five million kip. This amount included all ingredients, cooking oil, fuel and electricity among other necessities.
He said 200 kgs of chicken costs 3,800,000 kip. Each of his crew receives 600,000 kip per month and gets free accommodation and food in his house. He pays 300,000 kip for government tax every month.
When business gets better, he turns over seven million kip per day. Considering the potential growth of his business, he has expanded the shop's space for eating although it is still located in front of his house. More and more customers tried his fried chicken legs every day.
Fried chicken is becoming popular in Vientiane as fast food chains, mostly owned by Chinese businessmen, are filling up not only vacant spaces in town but also the gastronomies of locals and foreigners alike.
Having seen such trends, Mr Thanormsamphan plans to employ five more crew to assign each for different duties such as cooking, cleaning and waiting.
vientiane times
