Competition for any business is always productive. In Cambodia setting up business or looking for business opportunities might sound like a cake walk at times, but everything requires hard work. The time when your move is most vulnerable is when you are ahead. Most people who come to Cambodia get appalled by the lifestyle and facilities. So much so that they start to think of ways that they could live here on a permanent or long-term basis. 

How to Make $1 million dollars in Cambodia

Cambodia formerly known as ‘Khmer Expire’ in many lists of “best places to retire” in the globe. To be considered for residency a person shall require an income of around $2,100, savings of approximately $25,800 in a Cambodian bank account, or both equaling to a total of $23,934.54 per year.

However, the thing is that as a tourist you are spending money in a different way than you would back in your country where you have responsibilities and a budget. Company formation in Cambodia or any other realistic ways one can stay here and start earning living can be analyzed from various angles.

Whether it’s through business development in Cambodia or working there as an expat there are various ways to make a million dollar and work progressively.

Start your own business

Setting up a company from a legal perspective and that’s why the law firms here are running successfully, because foreigners usually have no idea how to set up a business here, not only but also because all documents and certificates are in Cambodian language which only few of us can read.

Most types of businesses foreigners set up in Cambodia are completely monitored by the tourism industry. We know for a fact that living in Cambodia always has its pros and cons and after one terrible season many business owners can’t afford to pay the rent anymore and then lose their lease contract.

Many people have never been entrepreneurs in their entire life and then come to Cambodia and see all these “little businessmen” like street vendors and Facebook sellers and think they can do so too. There are people who climb up the success ladder with their fortune and keep earning and succeeding but again many small business owners cannot think of making 1 million dollars. So what matters is the correct move and luck. 20-30% of foreign business owners are successful in the long run and that’s because they know what they are doing, and they are good in what they are doing, they love what they are doing, and they have successfully been dealing with the obstacles and changing it into a triumph situation.

Foreigners mainly start this kind of business in Cambodia, if it clicks then the 1-million-dollar dream is not far-fetched.

• Restaurant
• Bar
• Hotel
• Entertainment Venues (Beer Bars, Go Go Bars, Massage Salons, G-Clubs)
• Export Business
• Consulting Business (Teaching, Coaching, Advising)
• Tour Company / Diving School
• Online Business
• Startup Consulting

Taking up jobs

Several international companies opening branch offices where one can apply as per their qualification and can get an office job, but these are obviously extremely difficult to get and usually they send over experienced workers from the headquarters rather than putting out a job advert in Cambodia. 80% are in Phnom Penh and one must be really flexible in terms of place of living. There are minimum salaries for foreigners working in Cambodia, but a lot of companies don’t go with them.

But, if one finds a job at one of the big companies it’s not uncommon that they provide you with a much better package with salaries well above $2,991.42 plus commissions, 13th salary, seminars, business trips abroad etc. But again, the demand for these jobs exceeds the supply by far. So again, it comes to how adequate one is professionally and can move ahead and worth his or her mettle in the long race. Various representatives of Asia get various job offers on basis of their diplomatic and country representative careers and gets settled earning themselves a huge fortune in short span of time.

Working online

In Cambodia a very common making a living out of online work known as “digital nomads” Though the word nomads do not justify what it portrays as nomads means people who are not stable in one place but in this context in Cambodia is mostly people who live here permanently or at least for most of the time of the year and make good amount of money

Till date the biggest community of foreigners working online is found in Phnom Penh. The reason being: Phnom Penh has the best climate in Cambodia, surrounded by beautiful rivers and everything one needs as it’s the biggest capital city in Cambodia with malls, international restaurants and quite a happening life. But in Phnom Penh things are little rule based and distractions are not easily visible.

It takes a lot of time, usually years of hard work without initial returns, before you figure out how to make money online, so you really need to be passionate and patient about it especially if you are trying to make money out of it. But with patience and perseverance and right influence successfully earning money will not be a tough call.

Common ways to make money online

• SEO agency (promoting websites)
• Blog (to affiliate commissions, promote product sales, facilitate placements of ads, paid guest posts etc.)
• Pure affiliate sites (creating/ designing a whole website around niche products, link them to shops like Amazon and get a commission for each sales referral)
• Selling products on eBay (a lot of trial and error to figure out what works)
• Playing (and winning) online games, e.g., poker
• Day Trading

Freelancing

Flexible, lucrative way of earning money specially in Phnom Penh are the so-called freelance jobs means you get paid by the day, night or simply by success. There’s now more foreign real estate agents and financial advisors than ever and most of them have no base salary as everything is commission based, means they get paid like 5-7% of every sale they make for a condo or investment plan.

Though these kinds of jobs are very attractive, but the competition has gotten pretty tough by now, for example it’s quite typical for the property market that developers don’t make exclusive listing agreements with one broker anymore but have several agents list them on their website and all fighting for the clients.

Common Freelance Jobs Foreigners do in Cambodia:

• Real Estate Agents
• Financial Advisors
• Modelling
• Freelance Work Online

Online Market Trading

Investing in stock markets can be lucrative if you learn to do it properly and safely. By the same token, you may suffer significant losses if you don’t take it seriously. Today there is no need to fund the yachts of Wolf of Wall Street style stockbrokers. You can do it all yourself with the help of online market trading platforms. Please be aware that all trading involves risk. And in Cambodia market research it shows multi-asset platform which offers real asset ownership and high risk leveraged One should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Professions/Businesses

Tourism and the hospitality industry in Cambodia opens gates to various professional and business avenues which if excelled in may enabling minting of money.

The baby products business has been booming in the last half a decade. Lifestyle changes and the outlook towards buying the best for one’s child has made this market nearly recession proof and independent of the pricing of the product.  It includes baby apparel, baby furniture, baby cosmetics, baby Medicare and baby food, crèche running, selling toys, and above all running baby Pre-schools. Along with the same, a coterminous profession is of running a business of proving babysitters. Market study estimates a lot of promise in this greenfield activity.

Small scale Manufacturing is a very impressive industry in Cambodia and is majorly responsibly for the economic robustness of Cambodia. If someone chooses his/her/its area of business intelligently profits are assured.

Smart Risks, Smarter moves

To make 1 million dollar the fastest way one can take the stable moves mentioned above or if already they have enough money to risk and will not be bothered to lose. In other words, don’t bring your life savings and attempt this. People who do it usually are considerably well off financially and can afford to take some risks and stay afloat during low season. People with lot of experience in business, and they know what they are doing its always better to think about everything thoroughly before attempting taking risk measures to earn. Analyse things in a worst-case scenario and in a best-case scenario and then make the best decision possible. Follow own guts it usually is right and take measured actions to earn in intermediary business roles where if it clicks gains are skyrocketing if not loses are beyond expression. Cambodian business acumen has its pros and cons, and the wise movers are always the great takers.