What are the most successful businesses in the Philippines?

Franchises. You got Ministops, 7-11s, Jollibee and the other fastfood joints, restaurants like Max's and Pizza Hut, medical centers like St. Luke's, don't forget about the private schools, clothing brands like Bench, drug stores like Mercury, banks like BDO, and property development. There are many others that I can't name right now and others still that I don't even know exist. Some are national, others are regional. The main connection about these enterprises are value for money and the ability to adapt to change, they keep reinventing themselves.

There are no businesses in the Philippines that I would deam to be successful. There are several companies that are successful but the average Joe shouldn't even bother thinking too much about starting a company unless he has a net worth of at least 10's of millions of USD. There are many businesses in the Philippines but they really don't make a whole lot. I suppose there are some fields like in the USA that pay bettter in the Philippines than other fields such as having a private dental clinic or an STD testing clinic (LOL), etc, etc. Even if you were in those types of businesses you could never really reach your potential in that country due to descrimination. Filipinos tend to do business using networks of people that they know or like. I can tell you from experience that most filipinos don't like foreign people. They just like that foreign persons money that they spend in the Philippines. This is because all filipino newspapers and TV programs paint all foreigners as sex tourist who exploit the poverty in the Philippines. Filipinos actually hate foreigners. This is very evident in the Subic Rape Case where an obviously innocent American serviceman was convicted of rape by a prejudiced filipino society. There was absolutely no evidence that a rape occurred. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was later released only after paying that womans family $2,000 USD. After he paid the money the woman retracted all her testimony and stated that she didn't think that a rape had actually happened. She had the full support of the entire Philipine media which portrayed her as the victim. I have always wondered why foreigners would want to move to the Philippines given that Philippine society is so racist towards them. Maybe it is because they haven't realised it yet or maybe they are so weak when it comes to women that they just can't resist the temptation of cheap prostitutes. There are much better real estate deals in the USA right now and American society is not nearly as racist and prejudiced as Filipino society is.

Food, consumer products, retail, telecoms, call centers (outsourced customer service).

In other words, those who answer a need and target the right market, as long as the marketing mix is done right.

Food and Outsourcing

anything that has something to do with the ofw market. find a way to get their dollars to be spent here where it really matters.

Mall development, fast food chains, banks, cigarette and liquor companies, housing development, etc.