Philippines Small Business Opportunities » business

Hobby Or Serious Income Producer?

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 06:18:36 +0000

Many expats want to start a business in the Philippines to give themselves something to do during retirement or to earn an income. For many it is a way to play at being a business tycoon. You have the thrill of entrepreneurship, lots of cheap staff to run around calling you “Sir” and so on.

For some though they are serious and they make a serious income from their businesses. Others just do it to provide the wife’s relatives with an income. You can do both. Have an income producing business and give employment to family.

If you want to be a serious operation it pays if you know what you are doing, have done it before and are very well financed and connected. For the rest of us, why not diversify? Too many people try and make a living from the one business. Far easier to make a little amount of money from a lot of little businesses selling to a lot of little (income wise) people.

It is easier to make P5 than 500. Then all you have to do is repeat that P5 ninety nine more times and you’re there! Luckily there are lots of people in the Philippines. You can also run several operations at once and enjoy the aggregate of their profits. Think about it, think outside the western square and within the local mindset and market.

Starting A Business?

Starting A Business?

perry — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:24:09 +0000

If you are thinking of starting a business in the Philippines you should read ‘Making A Living In The Philippines’ for all the details you need to do it safely, legally and to have the best chance to succeed.

First of all there is a great long list of professions and businesses prohibited to foreigners outright. Unless you are employed by a local firm or an international one with Philippines offices, you can’t be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, chemist, pharmacist, vet, nurse, dentist and so on.

Then there are the activities that are totally taboo such as anything to do with weapons and ammunition, nuclear fuels and so forth. They also prohibit licentious and lewd activities so think carefully before investing in that girlie bar in Angeles.

Once all of that is taken into consideration there is the list of business types that require varying percentages of local ownership. Without hundreds of thousands of dollars and in some cases millions of dollars of turnover you can’t even contemplate retail. Forget transportation, fishing, farming and tourism unless you meet strict criteria.

Of course there are exceptions and ways to abide by the rules and still achieve your business objectives but do be careful of using dummy owners and front people because there are separate ‘Anti-Dummy’ laws to add years to your sentence if convicted.

You also need clearances, permits, approvals and all sorts of paperwork because as a foreigner you will be noticed. Someone will resent your becoming competition and get a thrill out of throwing their weight around and showing the ‘Kano’ who is boss in their own country.

Get the book. At US$29.99 in eBook format and US$39.99 in hard copy paperback from Lulu.com it is a very sensible investment.

Some General Discussion About Business

iideas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:44:30 +0000

I really believe you can make a good living in the Philippines. Like anywhere you must not be under capitalized, you must be in it for the long haul until the business builds and you need a sound plan, a good location and the right product/service at the right time. I produced a 55 minute video called “Street Boxing” in the early ‘90’s. It was a boxing workout exactly as the real boxers do it and it was a well made video with a top notch boxer demonstrating the finer skills, good camera work, sound and lighting was professional and packaging pretty fair. I sold quite a few, even sold copies to the Australian Institute of Sport and the Defense Department as well as to almost every boxing gym in the country. The problem was it was a real boxing workout when the market either didn’t recognize the value of boxing for fitness as it does today or they wanted jazz-boxing-aerobics-wave your hands around rubbish.

In other words, a little ahead of my time and if I released it today it would be the right tape in a market ready for the product, but a saturated market. Apart from that my partner ran off with the master tape so another lesson was learned the hard way! Timing can be vital! Be careful who you trust!

A large number of businesses bloom and flourish then whither on the vine and die a natural death, like the ‘pearl shakes’ carts. These were a milk shake type product with some kind of candy floating around in them, the “pearl”. All the rage for six to nine months then the market was soaked with these carts and the original franchisers had made their money back an smartly exited the market. All the C and even a few B class “investors” who had soaked their OFW savings into the carts were left with a diminishing return as the next fad hit the country and the malls.

As this site develops we will examine a few of the more tried and tested small business ideas. I go into detail in my book, ‘Making A Living In The Philippines’ but we will still let a few secrets out of the bag on these pages, so keep checking back.

So You Want To Start A Small Business In The Philippines!

So You Want To Start A Small Business In The Philippines!

iideas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:43:47 +0000

This is the plan of many westerners that come to the Philippines and decide they want to live here. There are many that have been able to achieve this goal and, there are many more that have gone home after a few years having lost all of their life savings. Their dream of living in the Philippines and making a living is often shattered forever. So what are the mistakes those that do not succeed make? There are many but basically people come here with ideas on how they think a successful business should be run based on their experience at home.

They may have conducted what they believe to be the required research and developed a business plan with figures that are so conservative that there is no way it could fail. But what they often fail to do is understand the local environment and take into account cultural factors. Even when someone has been visiting the Philippines for a long time they won’t really understand doing business here until they actually start living here. There is a huge difference between being a tourist and living here day to day.

Anyone who is a successful businessperson knows the high cost and value of experience. The smart businessperson will try to gain the knowledge and experience of others so that they can avoid making bad decisions. If you are serious about starting a small business in the Philippines then you also need to learn from others and avoid many of the common mistakes. Perry Gamsby has lived in the Philippines for a number of years and operated a number of successful businesses, along with some that have failed. He has committed this knowledge and experience to a book entitled Making A Living In The Philippines.

The book explores the options for supporting oneself while living in the Philippines and a major part of the book is dedicated to how to go about starting and operating a small business. This is a must read for anyone planning to do business in the Philippines. Regardless of what scale of business you plan on building, the information contained in this book is going to be helpful. Find out more about Perry’s books by clicking the links on the right