My wife thinks about opening a business here. As I am kind unwilling to invesst here at the moment (China / all on my wife’s name) those plans are rather unlikely now, but I was thinking:
Does anyone know how much to deal with the local mafia? I mean, will they come a breakfast store laoban and want half of each burger every morning?
Probably she opens a shop with her family now and I keep my moneda…
Guess this has been discussed before somewhere somewhen.
A breakfast place? Probably only the mafia in uniform will hit you up for some hongbao. If it were a KTV or barber shop that would be different.
The local lads will want something, especially if you do well.
My advice - make sure you befriend/know the top dog in the area. This will keep the small fry at bay. Also, if they insist in eating at your establishment, make sure they pay. Gangsters are business men, they will be reasonable. Explain that if his boys eat and dont pay your profits go down and you cant give your cut. Same principle in most countries.
Good luck with the breakfast joint.
This is one of the biggest myths about Taiwan. Open your business and don’t worry about the local mafia. You are not going to wake up one morning and find a horse’s head in your bed.
No you wont but you will have to deal with them at some stage. Its not just a Taiwan issue, but it happens everywhere. Speaking from personal experience I have had to deal with it in Australia (cafe, restaurant biz) and in Taiwan (again cafe).
Hopefully it isnt an expense to incur but you would be foolish to think it will never happen.
My advice is to trawl the posts in this forum and PM all those folk in the hospitality industry and ask their advice/experiences.
Okay, hmmmmm…
so … there is or there is no Mafia coming to a breakfast shop.
Haha, as she did not mention opening a business anymore I hope I do not have to find out.
[quote=“bob_honest”]Okay, hmmmmm…
so … there is or there is no Mafia coming to a breakfast shop.
Haha, as she did not mention opening a business anymore I hope I do not have to find out.[/quote]
are you kidding
They park their cars outside of the breakshop so that the customers have a difficult time getting in. The mafia makes it known that they’re the real boss.
They park their cars anywhere. And nobody tows them. It’s a matter of convenience.