Almost all Nepalis who have lived in the US for couple of years have thought of owning their own business. After few drinks, one of the favorite topics is running one's own business be it a Fast food Momo, Nepali Restaurant and Bar, Nepali Night Club, IT Company, Recruiting Company, Import export company, Immigration Services, or any other business under the sun.

We see many Indian businessmen proliferating in the restaurant business hiring a large number of Nepalis, and we see many Indian recruitment companies hiring many Nepalis. So we know that it is not something that is impossible, but there is a very few Nepalese entry into the business world compared to others. Although, in recent years the numbers have increased.

The number of Nepalis residing in the US has increased dramatically following a large exodus of students and DV winners from Nepal, yet there seems to be some hesitation in starting a new business.

So what are the major barriers to entry into the business world for Nepalis? In my opinion it is mostly lack of correct information. Granted, few things like capital and /or good credit history are basic requirements, but I feel that it is the general lack of information about starting a new business that is stopping many able and aspiring Nepali businessmen from taking the initial step.

Even the hard core street smart business person coming from Nepal feels overwhelmed at the enormity of the US marketplace and the processes that make it so. Many people feel discouraged to even start looking for information since the whole process seems so overwhelming, you just don't know where to begin.

In my opinion what is lacking is an information exchange tool which is dedicated to answer such questions to make it easy for a business minded Nepali to navigate the complex maze of business startup in the US.. So, if we start this information exchange forum for sharing such ideas, then it would help out many prospective business men and women to work towards their dream business, and instead of talking about it in parties year in year out, the next time we can hear the good news that so and so has actually started their new business!

Please use this forum to share what you know so other Nepalis can also start their own businesses. If there is any professional who is knowledgeable about the legal aspects, please share what you know!

I want to start this forum with a link from the US Government website which is dedicated to helping people aspiring to start their own business http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business

 Insightful tips, TMS. 

How does one go about getting loans? 

 Vhootee,
Sub leasing 

Subleasing ( possiibility of, in lease contract): subleasing is popular in some places . But this type of provision must be allowed by lease contract. Suppose you leased one gas station from the owner. You have to sign a lease contract.( this will be prepared by the lawyer). If this lease contract says you are allowed to sublease then you can. If the lease says you can not then offcouurse you can not. If there is no mention of subleasing and you sublease , owner may creat trouble for you.
Sub leasing (possibility of, financially); In order to sub lease, the business must also be genrrating good /attractive revenue Because anyone who will sublease from you will also do  DD of his own. And during DD if he finds the business wont generate after subleasing he wont take it.
for example if you lease gas station from original owner for 10,000 dollars permonth, when you sublease you must be asking somewhere 12000-15000 dollars a month. So new guy who subleases the business from you must be able to make at lease 15000 to 18000 permonth if he finds he will be unable to make that much money he wont take it. 
Another situation of subleasing (this type is usually for old couple/new immigrants and house wife/house husband) : If the person is doing nothing  it is better to make 1000 per month rather than sitting ideal at home. If you can find such people they will be able to sublease from you because they are happy even if they are making 1000$ a month. which is better than working ass off in others restaurent.
But these type of people wont sign long term contract, they will be on month to month basis. How to handle them? it is up to you 

So, subleasing up to second client is common but after that everything is situation dependant. depends mainly on revenue generated by the business and persons available to work on nomonal profit.

Supplier:
If you have brand name business. everything is supplied by the franchise (although some franchise allow pesonal supplier in some case, but those are not so  famouse franchise). You are not allowed to stuff the store with your "goods" Franchise makes loads of money from this. But as this world is not ideal and people are always willing to make some more money there are ways to defy this. After running a brand for a while you will come to know their behavior regarding stuffing goods. you will know what type of merchandise  that gives better profit, when they sell more etc.
After knowing all this you can trick the franchise by stuffing your "goods" from time to time. By doing this you wont be able to make that much money say only arround 5000$ a year. Again, lots of these things depends upon how smart you are and location. Beware that franchise also have their way of verifying things. You must be aware of this before attpting any of those things. If the franchise finds it you are playing some game and if they find it out they will fine you, they may cancel the contract  etc.

But if you are independet, you will not have any problem choosing the supplier. 

Gas price: If you are a brand name gas station you have almost no freedom, If you have good logic you might do once a while but that is very rare. you need to cooperate with the gas station of your brand name in your area otherwise they will complain to the Brand name Franchise.
But if you are independent then you can set the gas price . Usually indepentd gas station or not so wel known gas Franchise  set gas price one cent lower than the big name franchise just to attarct the customer. if you volume is high that will  generate lots of money.

When you have independt gas station, your gas supplier will give you price for next day or next few days.Depending upon the international gas price. In independent gas station if you are creative you can make some extra money 

For example:


If you gas sattion have 50K gallon capacity and you know from you supplier that tomorrow price going to be high but if you buy today price is low. But you can not refill you underground tank because they already have enough gas. In that situation you do your math

What you can do is you lower the price, feed lower price  to the internet put it in google map) so their will be lots of traffic in you gas station. You may be able to empty your underground tank in 3-5 hrs. Then asked the supplier to fill you gas tank . Next day you  know that price will be high and your underground tank will be full. 
So, today you lost say one cent per gallon, but next day every gas station will have price hiked including yours, you may be making 5 extra  cents per gallon.

Second: When you are running your business you have to be creative and carefull. say in your area during valentines day, new year and christmus, You can put flowers . and during those three events you will be making loads of money.

Third: sample products, sometime you may contact with manufacturrer of some goods and handover free sample of new products. It will be free advertisemnt for the other guy and for you a way to attract the customer.
Any way, you need to be creative and work hard. 

Paying the employee: Again depends how much money you are making. If you are making not that much, then you dont need to cook book for the tax purpose. If you are not hiding your income why you want to hide your expenses? Unless you are making money by hiding expeses. for example you can hire  illigals and student who do not have work permits then you cant  show them in paper. and those people are willing to work for less.
So you can always hire those people to work duing the  time unfavourable to you.
What peopel usually do is use household and personal expenses in the name of the company ( but beware you can not show purchase of rice for your houshold as for the gas station if there is a check, they wont accept it. Whereas if you have grocery store , all your household grocery neeeds can be shwon as expenses of the company.
If you have a independent gas station selling milk then you can use houshold milk as on gasstation expenses.

Can you find a gas station for less than 200K? Yes you will be able to find. Decision making in business have long term effect ( unleass you are a rich guy) say you are comitted to gas station Return of your investment may take 5-10 years you are locked for that period. You may be able to sell that gas station after 5 years and make some money but that may not be the case. You may not like the location after a while. To avoid this either you have to buy the gas staion in city. If you buy gas station outside the city you have to make yourself sure that you are ready to spend few years in that area.
Profit :?? Very difficult to answer: mostly depends on how much home work you did before buying it. Some income also depends on your creativity while running the business and off course main thing is location. You have to answer few question that I asked in my first posting.For an average running gas sattion 20% profit is common.

Franchise vs independent: A franchise already has a established name, decoration is attractice, because they spent lots of money while establishing it. Most of the time branded gas station are in the corner ( easy access from two roads, high traffic)  Independent gas station are personal establishemnt so you can imagine they dont have lots of money to invest. People usually like to shop in nice place, that is for sure.
Independet gas station are usually not in the corner ( one side road access). But in Branded gas station you are handcuffed in profit, there will be not that much room for your creativity.
But these things does not matters that much if you are buying a small gas station. 
Yes because of the brand name franchise gas station are usually expensive than independent.

 Opts,

Banks make money from investments so yes they give loan to run a business in a cart inside a Mall.
To get any loan from bank you need following things

1. Are you legally allowed to do business in US. ( I know some ppl who are not allowed have taken loan from banks, but situation is diofferent now).
2. If you are allowed then what is your business plan. A busines plan consists of a valid registered company. you need to register a comapny as per local requirements (it may take up to 500$)
3. What type of business you want to run? You have to tell bank overall business in written form a news stand, with ciagareets, lotto, drinks, gift items, mobile acessories, jewlelery etc.How big will be the cart?

4. Cost you have to show the bank that you have estimated the cost. (cost of the cart, monthly rent plus maintenance fees, utilities etc.) and for the stock  say in your cart you will have goods worth 10K for sale. Then cost for manpower, how much you are planning to take as salary if you are planning to do so (this part may not be that important but you have to prepare yourself, incase they ask).
Personal info: Bank also wants to know to whom they are giving money: Here whom means identified in paper. Your personal assets, like your cash in bank or any other asset.

Revenue generation: You must be able to tell the bank, depending upon the human traffic in the mall and analysing the business done by current cart Business you will be able to generate this much revenue(approximate) in a year. And you must be able to say I will be able to pay the loan in 5 years time or 3 years time etc.

Before agreeing with your plan and oking your loan bank also would like to see that you have already done homework for renting the place in mall, you must have some documental proof for  a)  space is available for a cart in mall b) and they allow the type of business you are planning to run c) rent and other cost and they are willing to lease you the place.
Wth all this informatin in a folder, nicely dressed,  you should appraoch the small business section of the bank and talk with them. They will welcome you.(remember you have to approach small business section not the personal banking section many banks have different section established for it.). If you have a good credit record and have personal account with some bank it is good idea to approach the same bank with whom you were doing personal banking. If your branch do not have small business section you can ask your bank where do they have it.
If one bank rejects you dont worry, come back to your place, analyse what you think went wrong, imporve it and approach another bank.
Remeber no one is going to kill you just for asking few question. so, dont hesitate to ask quaetions. If some banks rejects you, you may ask 
 I have worked serioulsy on it, and i beleive this is a good plan, what are the reason for rejecting it? or similar question 
they might tell you what is the wekness in your plan. 
Then ask again, if I correct that will you loan me ? ( way of continuing conversation.) if they dont want, correct the weakness, approach another bank, but this time show them that you are flexible to change your plan .
Remember personal confidence is must. If you talk a way that you yourself are not confident thenthey they will reject
Also remembr over confodence also kills you: If your plan is weak and you are talking as if you are going to make million in that business, they wont trust you,
magic word is balance yourself, make a good plan

When a bank see a commited guy and vaibale paln, They will write  formal paln which is necessary for sanctioning the loan. Those format they have in their computer. They will take data from your plan and put in fromal paln. Once you sign the loan from  bank it may take a week or so depending upon the bank.


How much you can get from bank: Well, difficult to tell, if you are well prepared and if you can convienece the bank you ma be able to get 65% of the cost that means you have to invest  35%. For the begenner bank may ask up to 50% personal investment.

 Riddle 

please check my answe to Opts

Timi_Mero_Sathi Ji
Thank you very much for all your suggestion. It's great that you come forward and give help to other Nepali. I'll raise a toast for that. If only we have more experience Nepali like you who are willing to give some time for advises, we would be way better off, many Nepali would be in business. I'm seriously thinking about partnering with another Nepali and head towards a gas station business. If I need any more info, I'll directly email you using sajha's email.
Thank you again.

Vhotee,

Do not write an e-mail to TMS, put your question up front....I am liking this thread much....

&  Thanks TMS, keep on sharing...

Sujhab,
There is so much a person can find time, esp someone with a job and business. I'm sure TMS is not a student. TMS is not the only one who is in business, yet nobody bothers to post anything. We should be thankful of help and not take it for "granted", and I think TMS has posted enough. Rest should be your own homework.
How about suggestions from others beside TMS regarding ethnic Restaurant, IT Company?

One should not be starting a business just to make money. Only if you can provide a quality service/product to customers unmatched by another business already/almost serving your customers only then you can make it in every sense of the word - success.

Obviously providing good customer service and quality service to deserving customer is priority as for me I am planning to start grocery store I think bank will give me loan without any hesitation buck lack of adequate knowledge about it kinds a bitch

How about exporting some items to Nepal from USA? What is the process? Do I need to register company in USA? what about in Nepal? Please .....any information would be appriciated.Thanks.
Q..

Car computer iPad iPod motorcycle etc etc are treated as luxury goods in Nepal and Nepal is not affiliated with NAFTA however its affiliated with saarc countries luxury goods whoever imports in Nepal they have to pay 100-200 percent tax vat etc etc therefore prices of car bus iPad etc etc are so expensive in Nepal .

Thanks Intelligentguy. I am thinking of Govt (of Nepal) subsidies items. Any guru's information ??
Q..

It's tricky to do import export business in Nepal. The most important thing is who you know. Depending on that your whole tarrif and tax might be reduced to zero.

Subway kholda Huncha ni baru I have heard 50000 jati bhae pugcha

You'll need at least 100k (Cash) to open a Subway restaurant.

• Business plan

The main thing before running the business you must have a business plan. You must have to be strong in the plans you have made. You can also discuss the plan with your partner in order to correct the errors in your plans.

• Get business assistance and training

Take some training related to your small business. Do counseling about your business with some of the other established business persons, so that they will provide you the market status, securing financial ideas. 

• Choose a business location

The location is also the main factor that helps to lead the business. Starting your business in Antarctica is meaningless so look the appropriate location for your business.

• Finance your business

For every business, finance plays the most important role. So, apply the government loans to be secured and for back up. Find government-backed loans, venture capital, and research grants to help you get started.

• Register your business

It is smart enough to register your business with the governmental business matter related offices. Ask for the PAN or Vat identification number for your form.

• Business licenses and permits

For every business, you must take the permission to start to form the government agencies. They provide the Licenses and Permits which will make you more efficiency to run the business.

• Employer responsibilities

It’s impossible to handle the business alone so you must hire employees. Before hiring them to study the Employer Responsibilities towards the employees. Make the agreement salary, health policies, insurance and other matters related to them.

• Financial decisions

You must have to make right financial decisions at the right time so that it will be easy enough to run the business for the managers and staffs.

[ Importance of Insurance for Business ]

• Local assistance

You may face problems instantly, so to get rid of these type of problems stay connected with local authorities or with the senior persons of the locality.

• Continuous labor

If your business will be down, never give up. If you continuous labor finding its weakness surely you will be a good businessman.

Business is known to be the best way to earn some money, some business decisions, like the ones made by Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, have proven to be the best decisions of all time. On the other hand, there are some worst business decisions of all time, which manage to make a fool out of everyone involved. : https://www.organicposts.com/worst-business-decisions-of-all-time/

Doing business is a great way to solve your life's issues...Especially if what you do solves the problem of your customers..(whatever the problem may be).. Locksmith, I heard,, make on average, 100k a year...(owner operator) in big cities...and you can get trained for few months get certified and start selling...Locksmiths, 10 years from now, will charge even more money...so expect them to make above 100K 10 years from now..

The more years you put in a business that has 'LITTLE COMPETITION" ...the better your future will look like.. Make sure you try to hide from competitors....if you rent a space at the mall and you know that your product or service has high demand...it is good idea to put a rental clause of you being the only one allowed to do that business...So that in the future, you can raise the price due to monopoly...Raising prices is a privelege...just like driving is a privelege to competent driver...Raising prices is a privelege to cometent business owners. If you can raise prices in business, and you don't lose your customers to your comptitors...then you're in a wonderful business...

"Obviously providing good customer service and quality service to deserving customer is priority as for me I am planning to start grocery store I think bank will give me loan without any hesitation buck lack of adequate knowledge about it kinds a bitch "

If your RESEARCH strongly suggests you that you will have CUSTOMERS who will buy from you...then you should start your business...Knowledge will arrive as customers start to come in and tell you what they need and you go look for what they need....You must make sure that CUSTOMERS will come

Any insights/thoughts about starting recruiting business on various Visa types from Nepal to U.S.? Thanks.

@thelurker - can you please elaborate? What visa and who is going to come from Nepal for what? Do you have a legitimate company here that needs people from Nepal ( I think you'll have to do news paper ad etc to first find people locally) and can this company sponsor visa ? I think they will want to see your financial statements and tax filing info too.  I don't know much about it but would like to know as well..How do you think you'll make money from doing this...