Céline Tcheng – Revision

Week 3 exercise catch-up: unusual/humiliating job. Conversational tone. Use of exposition.

Use of overstatement / overly formal language.

Entering the cold drink market in Siem Reap is easy: no CVs, no useless cover letters, no pre-

screening tests, no interview needed, zero paperwork. No wonder so many 10-year-old dummies

like myself went for it! At the time, when I had just finished primary school and nothing to do, I

thought to myself, selling drinks to sweaty tourists in Angkor Wat = easy money!! However, while

entering the market is a piece of cake, staying in the game requires a full set of highly

underestimated skills. The real test is simply sales; a ruthless but fair method, unlike most of the

job positions today for which you need to know some VIP to get promoted.

How do you maximise your sales? After several years of experience, let me share with you some

of the secrets of the trade. First, you need cheap drinks. I get mine in the small village next door

and bring them by bike, which is the most convenient transportation method (a car would

obviously be great, but a car opens up other more interesting opportunities like being a 5-star

chauffeur for tourists). This method requires (1) a bike obviously (but they are super expensive…

Some American NGO was distributing bikes in Siem Reap one day and I got lucky), (2) great DIY

skills to maximise the number of soda cans you can carry on the bike and to keep them cold as

long as possible (iced drinks always sell better). What kind of drinks should you get? Canned

drinks are the most convenient for transportation, but I also always have bottles of water with

me since they also sell well. Typical American sodas (Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta) are bestsellers, but

I’ve been trying to diversify with coconut water drinks for instance to get more niche customers.

Second, knowing key sentences, like “Sir, you want a cold drink?”, in several languages gives you

a real competitive edge. Some tourists are simply astonished by my masterful skills, especially
when I tell them that I can make them a special price in their own language with a wink. All of

them fall for it! All except for the Chinese, these cold-hearted people always want to haggle the

life out of me!

Third, finding a great sales strategy is of utmost importance. Is it better to sell high volume at

cheap prices or low volume at high prices? This is for you to decide. I started selling my drinks at

the Tourist Gorge, i.e. West entrance of Angkor Wat. While almost all tourists pass through there,

however usually at this stage of their journey they are not too thirsty yet and there are too many

competitors given the location to the extent that we need to get on each other’s throats to sell

our stuff! Through trial and error, I have found that my favourite spot is on the sandy path

between the terrace of the elephants in Angkor Thom —famous for the Tomb Raider movie—

and Takeo temple. Although not all tourists visit Takeo, those who do often pass through it in the

middle of the afternoon, and by that time they’re exhausted and thirsty, so I often manage to sell

my drinks at higher prices. It is a longer bike ride for me, but totally worth it!

Finally, selling drinks also requires being good at math, because you need to make sure that your

fixed costs are covered and maximise your returns! After a bit of experience, you could try to

form a cartel with established competitors, in order to secure basic prices. I did that after 1 year

into the business, when I was able to identify mostly reliable competitors. But I never share any

sort of returns with them, I’ve tried it once in the past and the guy simply left with my money.

I’m done with being cheated! This is also the reason why I am an entrepreneur who does not hire

anybody. Being a cold drink salesman in Siem Reap is not for everyone, it is a lone wolf’s journey.