Are foreigners allowed to establish a business in the Philippines

No doubt much is possible here if you are focused, but much easier if you are Filipino (and can raise some capital of course).

Yes, it's true (much like most capital cities) Manila, is too big, too noisy, mpre expensive & maybe not as friendly as one would like but I think many foreigners are too sqeemish about it, as they are in & out too quickly.

It is however much more sophisticated than anywhere else in the Phils, just being able to get what you need in the supermarket is nice and there is so much choice here, depending on what floats your boat.

Personally I think the best thing is to avoid the tourist areas. I lived in Makati first, but wasn't too keen as its either touristy or business there. Bonaficio Global City is another area ex-pats flock to and if you like a safe, clean environment full of westerners, then that would suit, but it's not for me - too expensive, sterile & you could be in any developed city in the world it's so generic. 

I'm now in Cubao, which is well located for transport links, has everything i need on my doorstep and is on the up. I'd recommend this area.

Gettting from A to B, will always be the biggest pain in the arse, just takes up so much time, but it's growing on me, i'm beginning to get the hang of it and there is a satisfying sense of achievement that comes with consistently being the only foreigner on the jeepney or MRT & living more like a Filipino than a tourist.

Don't get me wrong though, once i'm done here, i'll be off to explore other options...

I make you 100% right there. I don't like to come away and live like I did in UK, it's why I left there so why be with them. I don't mind if I bump into the ocassional one but I certainly don't go seeking them out. I am not one of these flock to the nearest Irish or English pub when I go somewhere.

I too like travelling on the Jeepneys and living as much like locals as is possible. Obviously our immune systems are not what theirs are so street food doesn't agree with me or living in non air conditioned rooms, apart from that I like to learn the language, respect their culture and mix with them more than expats.

I am putting concious effort now into finding a sopace for an investor I worked with during my 8 years in Estonia and I definitely see my future here, I really like it, love the people and hope to get to like the climate soon but am struggling on that one.

Just got another 2 months extension on my visa and an ID card on its way so we see what happens, I am in an apartment for 2 more months then hopefully I will have found something that can keep me here financially. What do you do with your time? Do you have a partner there?

I made some "monkey business" with a filipina in Mindanao, a girl that I met during a trip down there.

For some reason I trusted her... So, I invested 500 US, in buying pigs.

Her father would take care of them, feed them and after a year sell them.

He would keep 40%, me 50% and the girl 10%.

And no, she is not my gf.

Result: Total success... I got my 500 back + 330 profit.

It is not a great business, I know, but it helped that family, which were poor.

As you see... there are very good people around.

Albertet,

That's a very nice story for all concerned. I am trying to help some friends i have met in some similar small ways, not expecting to make any money myself, but if i can help them help themselves, then i'm open to it.

BTW if those numbers are correct, a return of 330 on a 500 investment over 12 months IS an AMAZING business return (about 65%? Wow!). Please tell us more, if this guy wants to buy some more pigs i could be interested!

Does the investment also pay for the feed? How many pigs?


If i had the time & money, i'd like to set up some kind of matchmaking endeavour, small micro loans that could really a big difference, but that is for someone who has already made their money, is financially secure and has the time to put into it i guess.


Mark, if heat is too much for you, i have heard Baguio (sorry if spelling is incorrect), manila's Summer capital is cooler due to higher altitude, but i'd imagine anywhere in the hills is probably cooler. Personally the heat is not as bad as i thought here, but i really don't want to stick around for the rainy season.

Filling time in Manila is not really a problem, just try & get from A to B & that will waste a couple of hours easily. .

To be honest, i have been a bit lazy here compared with at home, maybe it's the heat i don't know, but i am trying to use my time more productively now, hence the interest in business opportunities. Also i've just done a photography course, that is probably another advantage of Manila, many courses available here in English, much cheaper than at home.

No permanent partner, i'm keeping my options open (and that keeps me busy too).

Well... 25 piglets bought, and strategically sold before Christmas time, when Lechon time is at the peak, and in a year they grow a lot, and as they are sold by the weight, that is why.

Yes, including food from the father of that girl, however, there is plenty of leftovers in that area... fruits, veggies... actually not much expense in industrial food for pigs.

The place is in Mindanao, between Gensan and Digos City... quite far from the tourist trail... actually some kids had never seen a westerner man, unless on TV !

The other side of pig investment, looks like you got really lucky Albertet.

http://www.livingincebuforums.com/ipb/t … ilippines/

Also, this is must read for anyone considering an internet cafe business:

http://www.livingincebuforums.com/ipb/t … rnet-cafe/

Will you be continuing with the arrangement or did he have enough good sense to re-invest his profits?

I think I was lucky to meet that honest family... and there were no intermediaries or farms involved.

The pigs were in the semi wild, in a little fenced area, in the open, but near the house, where they were controlled, so nobody stole them.

As for continuing... I am not in contact anymore... I am not in the country anymore... But I think they bought few pigs more with the profit.

Albert.

Have you tried to located some interesting deals on sulit.com.ph ?
few farms are for rent, since you have agriculture background might boost and scale some business.

gud luck

Y don't u try sari sari store

Hahaha LOL

Hi Guys, i am filipino, but im working currently here in abudhabi, im planning to go into business once im done working here in AUH, i plan to build a building and having it rented, for about 20 unit apartments , less than 7 million pesos you can put up a 5 storey 20 door apartment there, you just have to get a trusted filipino, or business partners, nowadays thats hard, but alot of koreans have businesses in the philippines, they own internet gambling, its legal there . and the return is very high. you have to put up a company and your staff should all be filipino, you can always put a dummy person as a front once again  , he or she should be trusted.

Food business is the way to go in the Philippines..trust me on this one.

and also just my two cents on this matter, it really depends on where you plan to settle in the Phil, its very huge and lots of islands, you just have to find your niche, some expats ive met in the past they have surf shops nr the beach area, they even set up restos as well, its hard to put a business in the phil because the returns sometimes could be very low, the upside though the cost of living there is very low, as compared as where you guys came from,
but there's no other country in the world
that you can live a decent life without even working
thats where the philippines kicks in LOL

My husband who is an American wanted to start a Janitorial business in the Philippines but don't know the requirements. He has a Janitorial business here in the US and I don't know the necessary papers needed to established a Janitorial business. Could somebody give me any idea how we could do that?

Also, could we start that business while we are still here in the US because I know people whom I can trust in the Philippines.

Hey.

So im currently looking at establishing some kind of business in IloIlo Philippines.

Been there 2 times before and last time i tried to find some good locations to start a Internet cafe up at,just to start with. ( If it gets profitable and runs smoothly i will open up more of em and also expand with other things in direct connection to the cafeŽs)

There are a few interesting spots on different places/areas in IloIlo, and also right now i found alot of cheap equipment/computers to invest in.

This is probably becoming a reality when i go there next time September/October.


Are there anyone here on the forum that have experience of Internet cafeŽs and would like to help me out with some tips itŽs more than welcome, and also if someoneŽs located in Iloilo now and looking to start something off, it might be a good idea teaming up in someway. I have alot of ideas and im not planning to get rich fast, or even get rich i just want a steady income whiles im living there to start with. Then if it blooms, well oh happy days. Ofc thatŽs something i will be working towards im not just gonna sit and not give it the proper attention, money is king but im not that kind of guy thatŽs only in it for riches.

Kind regards / enjey

since the new anti piracy rules     i will warn u    u need to make sure u have all the correct subscriptions and paid for programs in your cafe..
pirated software is no longer legal in this country 
also  not sure  how much money  u intend to make   i looked at internet cafe's and then spoke to three guys i know selling them...

I asked why are u selling them...
reply   not making any money...
the electricity the internet cost and the fact that things do break down    thats what i was expecting to be the reason

would u like to know the real reason  alot are failing   or atleast why the guys i know getting rid of them are failing???

smart phones    u know  those little mini computers  that our phones have turned into...

pm me     ill  have a look around for u  what is available  and what  will give u a better  roi

Well t can be profitable f you manage it right,but dont expect to become rich,lol,i had a few caffes there,ok one mistake i made,make sure all your computers have original operating systems,otherwise thats a no no in Philippines,location is the most important thing,but some people are already getting thier own computers,i predict it wont be a good bussiness in the long run,but you can do for extra income,good luck anyway.

Halloha Expatriates
I thought that its a huge decision if you start building a business, feasibility study shall be in the table. I and my cousin thought of business, even we both grown up dealing Family business, we are a but scared to deal our own business, yet we thought about it. Food business will always work, however you need a good area to put it up.

Loan business is not gonna work in the latter part-we had enough of it.
Clothing business is too competitive, everywhere is clothing store.

The good business so far are..
1.Housing for students. Students because it doesn't need to be big, meaning you can make as much room as possible. You need to supervise every now and then though to make sure the building stays fresh. Doesn't need to be a condo/apartment image or luxurious type. Clean and comfortable will do. And the perfect area is close to colleges or uni.
2. I always thought of cafe free wifi, this is very good for the professionals to relax and be in different place. Cafe is my place when I'm bored at home working my computer, what I do is I bring my laptop with me to the cafe. I love the slow rock music and the quite area, so relaxing. But of course, make the place look relaxing and spacious too. Spacious means, don't put a lot of decorations that turns the place crowded.

3. Agriculture business is always good, especially sugarcane. If anyone can get a good business and trustworthy partner for this, lucky both of you. Sugarcane make you rich. This is my uncle's dream business. He had enough of letting people borrow his money and no one will show up to pay-sigh. Plus, no need to visit everyday. You can go for a holiday

4. The boasting modern world us unstoppable. If you have good amount in your savings, investing in food, oil and other on-going businesses is best. Starting from the scratch is complicated and stressful, but if you have that knowledge and power, then go for it

These are all I thought so far being imaginative. We in the Family planning a business later as well in the future. We tried to invest small amount to the people we know and thought trustworthy, but no. I lost my investment

Business is good, but be careful.
Cheers
KJ

Reading recent post here, I agree..
In the future, very few individuals will go to the internet cafe, because smart-phone is very handy and accessible. I know someone bought 3,000 worth smart-phones and there you go, viber and all sorts of apps working especially the favorite Facebook. Hurray!! everybody is happy and want to have smart-phones as well. So I don't think internet cafe will boom, but better than nothing really. However, in provinces, majority or people are into cafe's. It's heavy for them to pay a monthly internet connection for their smart phones. There's no malls as well to get access to free connection unless if they go to cafe/coffee place where wifi is free, but the cappuccino will be expensive for them. Haha..My point is, Ilo-ilo is a province and surely internet cafe will work.

Goodluckies

Karren wrote:

Reading recent post here, I agree..
In the future, very few individuals will go to the internet cafe, because smart-phone is very handy and accessible. I know someone bought 3,000 worth smart-phones and there you go, viber and all sorts of apps working especially the favorite Facebook. Hurray!! everybody is happy and want to have smart-phones as well. So I don't think internet cafe will boom, but better than nothing really. However, in provinces, majority or people are into cafe's. It's heavy for them to pay a monthly internet connection for their smart phones. There's no malls as well to get access to free connection unless if they go to cafe/coffee place where wifi is free, but the cappuccino will be expensive for them. Haha..My point is, Ilo-ilo is a province and surely internet cafe will work.

Goodluckies

My wife's auntie had a 15 station cafe in a small city with only a little competition..The rent, maintenance, power and theft broke her...She now moved all the equipment into her home and put them on the roof with a tent over them and runs games for the locals at 10 pesos an hour...LOL

wonderinggolfer wrote:

My husband who is an American wanted to start a Janitorial business in the Philippines but don't know the requirements. He has a Janitorial business here in the US and I don't know the necessary papers needed to established a Janitorial business. Could somebody give me any idea how we could do that?

Also, could we start that business while we are still here in the US because I know people whom I can trust in the Philippines.

Janitorial agency or business is a good business, its easy to set up, first go to the nearest DTI to register your business, for single proprietorship or partner, if you plan to go on big immediately you have to go thru SEC securities and exchange commision, but my advise is to start small, by the way before i advice you, are you filipina? if you are then its easier, if you are not then you have to get a dummy owner which is very hard bec the person should be trusted.

albertet wrote:

I made some "monkey business" with a filipina in Mindanao, a girl that I met during a trip down there.

For some reason I trusted her... So, I invested 500 US, in buying pigs.

Her father would take care of them, feed them and after a year sell them.

He would keep 40%, me 50% and the girl 10%.

And no, she is not my gf.

Result: Total success... I got my 500 back + 330 profit.

It is not a great business, I know, but it helped that family, which were poor.

As you see... there are very good people around.

Hog raising is a very good business in the Phil, but the place should be in outskirt areas , so mindanao is a good place, im planning into go into it as well once im done workng here in abu dhabi, but into large scale hog raising and chicken raising.3 months time you get to sell the hogs for 100 dollars upto 140 dollars each, depending on the weight of each hog

Can i just point out that this information about finding a dummy is highly illegal 
there are ways to go about owning your own business here   with out putting yourself  at risk by doing something illegal

Any one suggesting that this is a good idea should not be taken seriously and should reconsider giving people illegal advice.

Do your research   speak to professionals
And so many people want to come here and make money to live here?   funny  118 million phillipino's  want to do the same thing....   u want to live here  make money at home   come here and spend it.
THere is an old saying  in the RP.
want to make a million peso's
bring  2 million  lol

hi can you send me a private email would like to tell you of small bussiness?im looking for someone in Luzon,thanks

Hey Guys !

New to the forum, looks interesting at first sight.
I`m looking for business oriented forums/topics with expats and likeminded filipinos Writing. this forum came up. (thanx google)

IŽll give business in Phils a shot, and i already bought 2 condo`s there. (currently recide in Beijing, china)

the growth rates looks good, foreign investments booming, real estate Selling by the second. good climate for business i would say. let`s see what we can do here....

I`m in the stage looking to register/form a Company.
And it Seem like there might be some experienced guy`s here.

i`m thinking about starting a new clothing brand together with an old friend in Europé. i`m talking about buying finished but naked clothes, put our design and logos on it, export it. anyone having any knowledge on what kind of Company form i should look for ?

Of course im not going invest 2 mil usd.
but this isn`t domestic retail, so we should be in the clear of that requirement. or ??

for the people here thinking about Cafe`s with free wifi, i would say re-Think it. have plenty of friends here in china that did that, and they are now turning off their wifi. with luck and good management they migh surive.

they got plenty of customers, yes. but they bought a soda or a cup of coffe, sat there and worked, surfed, slept, and what not.for hours.... meaning turnover per table/seat sucked badly. what you want in a coffe shop/bar/restaurant is people coming and going as Quickly as possible. you need new customers constantly, not long Stayers. that will ruin your cafe.

it is getting more and more common that these cafe`owners are imposing a minimum purchase limit if the customers want to use the wifi, and also time limits. too erly to say if it`s working though. iŽll let you know later this summer.

regards,

if u are buying these naked clothes outside of the philippines   and importing them here

mate   the import tax on thing here is robbery

pm me  with what u are looking at  ive lived and done business here for 5 years and my partner and I have looked into a similar avenue

Thatawesomeguy wrote:

if u are buying these naked clothes outside of the philippines   and importing them here

mate   the import tax on thing here is robbery

pm me  with what u are looking at  ive lived and done business here for 5 years and my partner and I have looked into a similar avenue

Hi !

It`s tempting to import them from China, because it`s damn cheap here, And there`s plenty of factories with high quality around.

Thanx for your feedback on it. seem like this is the next area to investigate and look into. Import taxes and regulations.

i don`t doubt youre right on this, so it would make it vital for us to find factories in Phils then. Another area to explore.

I`ll PM you after Consulting my mate back home.

Thanx

well just so u are aware    there is not really a huge resource in the phils for clothing     wages here are much higher then thailand china vietnam and cambodia  and india 

infact a lot of companies are moving the work and staff to many of these countries( please do not read to much into the hype of a booming economy )  if that is the case  and its true    do u still think this is a booming economy?
do u think the 180 billion dollars that was invested in South east asia and is now starting to go back into u.s investments as the u.s economy is on the mend was even considered in all the latest news and hopes and stories of late about the phils.
The fact that so many companies are pulling out of here as the red tape and corruption and fleecing of foreigner owned companies lol  does that sound like a fun place to do business?
when u bought your condo's   did u maybe get a 5% discount for a sign on bonus?
Same thing was going on in the usa and australia just before their property crash...   in my neck of the woods  60% of condo's that are finished are unsold     whole floors vacant.

I am sorry  i am not trying to scare u 
Just being honest

my partner and I are a little ahead of u  on that   but if u are going to import them here
the cost of importing them  then exporting them again

I hope u guys computed that into your cost and then profit margin.

Thatawesomeguy wrote:

well just so u are aware    there is not really a huge resource in the phils for clothing     wages here are much higher then thailand china vietnam and cambodia  and india 

infact a lot of companies are moving the work and staff to many of these countries( please do not read to much into the hype of a booming economy )  if that is the case  and its true    do u still think this is a booming economy?
do u think the 180 billion dollars that was invested in South east asia and is now starting to go back into u.s investments as the u.s economy is on the mend was even considered in all the latest news and hopes and stories of late about the phils.
The fact that so many companies are pulling out of here as the red tape and corruption and fleecing of foreigner owned companies lol  does that sound like a fun place to do business?
when u bought your condo's   did u maybe get a 5% discount for a sign on bonus?
Same thing was going on in the usa and australia just before their property crash...   in my neck of the woods  60% of condo's that are finished are unsold     whole floors vacant.

I am sorry  i am not trying to scare u 
Just being honest

Hi !

Don`t worry about being honest on condo`s, or your Outlook on phils overall. i`m sharing some of your thoughts and also have some on my own.

Did spend almost 3 weeks investigating and tripping on condo`s Before buying. Did a thourough study on it Before i took off too, and when in Manila i put my gained knowledge in practice.

And i used all my trickyness and unfair business tacticts i learned in China (from living and doing business there the last 7years).

I lured some developers agents into promising too much, i acted naive and stupid, Acted like a bigshot investor, etc etc.
found out a lot About the real estate sector that way. which developers to choose, which agents, locations, prices, etc.

unfortunately some agents had to waste many hours, and even Days on me. driving me around the whole metro manila area for free, treating me lunches and drinks, and eventually i wasn`t buying anything from them. But Before you hate me, let me tell you i did that to the tricky and cunning ones. not the good guys. this was the easiest and cheapest way to learn my way around tricky agents and developers. and learn the area and the sector. they dont deserve any good anyway these a-holes.

I Wouldnt touch a compound with unsold floors or slow turnovers.
I wouldn`t buy from one of those cheap chinese developers either.

Another thing i learned these weeks was that a well planned compound in a promising hood, with convinient malls or supermarkets, and convinient infrastructure around, doesn`t have unsold floors or big discounts. the discounted units you will see on internet is the leftovers no one wants to buy, or that is too pricey even for the upper class. Almost All the good spots with good value for the buck, are sold already in the pre-Selling stage, with discounts. when ready to move in, theres no discounts on those units. if you even can find one.

this was one thing that pissed me off in the beginning though. agents luring me to go see a compound with discounted units. later when arriving, you ask to see the map over unsold units, there`s nothing but rubbish view or next to an elevator left. nothing of interest for any discounted prices. they will show you the few, most expensive sweetspots that is left though.

but overall theres not many good condos left for sale in NCR at the moment. The ones left for sale has poor view or potentially shitty locations. or just too expensive to make sense at this stage of development.

about economic Outlook on phils, i can already see and read signs of opportunity. growth numbers is good, and phils is in the so called bulk window, that Thailand, Taiwan, singapore, Korea and Malaysia has been in recently. This is statistics, but when an asian country enters the bulk window, things normally happens. so if filipine citizens and workforce and government aren`t worse than Thai`s, taiwanese, Koreans, Malays and singaporeans, things will start to happen there too. I`m quite convinced at least.

about your salary analyzis, it is partly wrong.
you can soon forget china and thailand when it comes to production. the inflation and domestic growth is just killing chinese manufacturing. Thailand looks better, but still getting too expensive to compete too. The japs and and chinese like to manufacture in Thai mainly because they get their asses kissed by thai, and doesnt have border disputes with them. not only because the prices is good there.

salaries in China is 3-4 times higher than the equivalent filipino, indian or indonesian. i employ chinese at this very moment, and i did field studies in Phils and other soa countries already.

i`m not saying its a red carpet situation in Phils for us foreigners, i`m not naive or a rookie on Asia, but theres not the worst Outlook and situation either. Theres still good numbers coming in, and foreign investment looks good. especially from japan and S. korea.

And honestly i prefer to have Other Foreign ventures than American around me. I`ve seen the true colours of American business in Asia, and it isnt often a pretty sight. not only are they using the local workforce and Labour to the fullest, they seem to forget they mess up the situation for businesses from other countries as well. we non-americans suffer constantly from that in China. we are all labeled greedy american assholes basically. it`s not Always nice to be european, or even caucasian-looking here anymore.

dont get me wrong or label me anti-american now pls, some of my best mates and collegues in China are Americans. i`m talking more about American Corporate thinking and methods when outsourcing to Asia.

Anyway, this is a really nice way to get started on this forum, discussing this topic. I`m totally open to criticism and argueing for/against it. itŽs the only honest way forward i Think. scrutinizing eachothers business ideas and theories on god-knows-what. and be straight up honest to eachother. i never take such argueing or criticizm personally anyway. hope you guys act the same. then we can all benefit actually.

and i Hope i can contribute to this forum, and at the same time gain something. will try my best at least.

regards,

all good mate  lol i am the same  i am australian   so I like u  am used to the view that we are all american business men...

manila has a much much brighter potential for condo investment then here in cebu   so i agree u made a good choice there.

Its just  interesting that you are looking at the same  and i mean the exact same business idea as I to am looking at.

I am about to run to the province for a week or two as I am looking to move out of the city...  If u need any help here  I am more then willing to introduce to a few people  but I am based here in the visaya's   so any said introductions I could offer you  would be a waste  of your time

I was just wondering...How could anybody who stays focused on this site on a daily basis ever find the time to actually put any kind of business into gear especially when they are using potential productivity time reading and answering so many different conversations on various expat pages of which many are only a waste of time for someone who is trying to jump start a business...

I myself am here because I am retired and entertain myself and at times see an opportunity to help others but if I were in my 30's again I would not be wasting my time here if it were a business or employment I was pursuing...

well lucky me i can multi task
I guess being 30 means i  dont sleep as much as u do?

I guess at some point I have hit some sort of raw nerve with u vetreat   
As i was saying to the op   i have looked into this and he should just consider the extra costing of shipping both two and from the philippines..

I too am retired vetreat    at 35?   bugger me mate  i must be able to something right huh?

and mate  i have been retired since i was 28
any business i do now  is  more of a hobby   but then again  i live a very simple life as I have done the high end business  working 24/7  sure it paid off  but  i am more of a smell the roses sort of guy these days 
For the last few years I have been doing a little bit of giving back work.. not because i want a pat on the back   but just because it was one of the things i wanted to do when i retired

I just recently finished a project for non profit here in cebu and i am kicking back until i move back to negros   and look at getting a hobby farm going ( i believe in living my dreams  and this was one of them and now i finally have a bit of time to relax and no longer doing missionary work for a bit  i will enjoy kicking back and relaxing)

If the op things i have given him a bum steer   then please let him say so on this forum
If what i have said to him is in anyway  false  then please  let him say so....

It could be done,all you have to do is think outside the box,i started a small bussiness and without being there,maintain a extra income,so instead of living on $750 it will be less,your personal lifestyle is very important for your adjustment to the level of good and or bad finiancial level,it will all depend on you.I personally dont give out hand outs,but i make that very clear from the beginning,thats very important to avoid misunderstand on the cultural side.I just use the k.I.S.S form of thinking,keep it simple stupid!!!Just enjoy yourself and be happy.Good luck.

Hey Guys !

Been off the grid for a moment. But seems like it`s been prety quiet here anyway.

Anyone in here that can tell me how to find/locate local expertise in the Philippines/ manila ? 

i`m talking about, for instance, graphic designer, web designer, textile manufacturers, mechanical experts, agents of all sorts, etc.

i checked sulit, Craigs list and Ayos dito , but came up pretty short i Think. I found some ads, but much less than i hoped for.

where do i find small firms or self emloyed locals with expertise in Phils ?

any "yellow pages", business locators or business direcory around ?

Regards,

I have a cebu phone directory at home ( makes a very good door stop)    so i imagine there must be one in manila also

information of any kind is a joke here     as there is none   ha

vetretreat wrote:

I was just wondering...How could anybody who stays focused on this site on a daily basis ever find the time to actually put any kind of business into gear especially when they are using potential productivity time reading and answering so many different conversations on various expat pages of which many are only a waste of time for someone who is trying to jump start a business...

I myself am here because I am retired and entertain myself and at times see an opportunity to help others but if I were in my 30's again I would not be wasting my time here if it were a business or employment I was pursuing...

hi !

personally i`m in it for the  ballplanking/brainstorming/research/networking.

Internet forums can be dreadfull, but aso a nice shortcut if you`re a newbie to something far away from your current domains.

Just my 50 pesos !

Regards,

yeah  forums  tend to be  mixed bunch of information and dis-information 

I am only on here to give a lil advice to newbies comming here to the phils  so they dont make the same mistakes that i see  so many guys do here.
I am more then willing to help out if i can   but  according to some on this site  i have no idea what i am talking about    but over 5 years living and working and helping others out in this country     I have learnt alot.
I am a part time consultant here  and I help out a few people that have interests here in the philippines when they are not here..( this is only because of my reputation)
don't get me wrong  I am not offering my services  to anyone   nor advertising     for work...   
Its more just to keep me busy  and also lets me get a little bit of knowledge on other people business  that i never would have had the chance to otherwise.

my favorite saying is   " how do u make a fortune in the philippines?   arrive with a large one then leave with a small one."   ha   its my fave

but it is possible to do and do well here    I know many that do    but i know many more that do not       
but alot of these guys  have never done business in their own countries, have little to no experience doing business in asia   and really dont understand the differences between here  and back home

you have had a bit to do with asia and business   so i am sure  u know the perils

borilove, congratulation on your successful venture in another country . Your message got me thinking and  just wondering if I could duplicate your success there from living and working here in USA .
What I have come accross by reading many forums like this that  Non-Filipino can't own any retail sector business unless  the invested $$ >= 2.5M. so, just wondering how one could legally run a  net cafe, small store, and  other retail businesses?  I may find a trustworthy friend to run the business but how I can earn the profit legally and pay the tax there on my profit when I am not the legitimate partner of the business. Then, there is other part of tax here at home with uncle Sam also .
Would you please help me in understanding the process? I may get a great opportunity  doing small buisness there soon but all these rules and laws are blocking me.

I know many like me really appreciate your contribution here .
Wish you lot of success wherever and whatever you do.