Philippines Business Question-Is it really impossible?

I think most of the businesses you hear about are the Filipino wives wanting either a Sari Sari (little store that has maybe a total stock of $400), piggery, jeepney or a food stand. All these retail places work on a very small markup. Many buy for $1 & sell for $1.15. You cannot live on that low of a markup.

If you try to make a large business you run into a lot of other problems with politicians & regulations.

Check more of these things & the visas needed at "Bureau of Immigration.gov.ph"

All the answers are correct. And why are there so many conflicting reports? Well, because like the three blind men and the elephant,, each have their own personal perspective.

Now Anne C, gave a sensible reply and to which I concur.

I am not an expat, but I used to be a ex-Filipino citizen and was in business (as a Filipino in the Philippines for decades). And yes we had dealings with foreign businessmen there. And yes we were quite successful. I also worked for a business owned by foreigners in the 80s.

Also I agree that it is more who you know than what you know but again without any business sense or business background or a business education, or least being highly skilled and experienced in what business you want to open up much less doing your homework with all your market research and business plans, still it will be closer to you closing shop within 7 years and no year in the black.

Lastly regarding some of the negatives, even with the bad rap on the media being muzzled there, the fact remains that the Philippines is still among the few countries in that region with press freedom and that is why you can see all the negative criticisms. In many other areas you cannot even cry for anything against the government and live the next day...

i would actually dare you to look up and search for other polls/news/forums/websites that has actual successful businessmen saying they have made it big in philippines, even just one would suffice.

someone provided the answer of chinese businessmen, lets give the credit to henry sy, he was that migrant chinese who sold shoes as his humble beginnings, even his father lost interest, gave up and returned to china. only henry stayed and plowed like what carabao's would do everyday in the rice field. so let me get straight to the point, henry sy owes not a single dime to the filipino people, not even for this country. he did everything on his own, he was a lone soldier who went as far as carrying the shoes to and from the store and worked 12 hrs a day all by himself. so to say that philippines brought him luck was a total BS, he nearly died during the WWII when he was hit by a shrapnel on the head and almost bled to death.

so to summarize things up, its true there are business opportunities here, but the opportunity is too small to be worth the time and investment, so in business terms, this is called "not worth it". its true, if there is big potential here, why do thousands of filipinos line up POEA everyday to go work abroad? if you really want to invest here, you will need a lot of time and patience in dealing with unnecessary things, and the way this country works, the system is too corrupt to do any good for you. so unless you can do what henry sy has done, i suggest you look elsewhere where the country actually encourage businesses rather than milk you dry before you can even start.

If there was money to be made in the Philippines then expat Filipinos would be home doing it instead of working in Singapore.

You can "network" with Jesus in the Philippines and it won't help you. The system is setup to bleed guys like you dry.

Sure you can buy stocks, if you are looking long term invest in blue chips. You can start with day trading so you can get the feel of the Philippine market first. If you are going through financial institutions, secure time deposits and bonds. Savings will only amount to squat.

Have you ever noticed that the people who deny the truth and says that it is possible to GET RICH in the Philippines as an Expat are:

1: Not an Expat

2. Knows Expats who are Filthy rich from doing business here.

3. Says it is the Network of people that you know...

4. Yet these people say they have a Network of FILTHY RICH EXPAT FRIENDS yet they don't claim to be filthy rich or even regular rich......How come? CAUSE THEY ARE FULL OF IT.

And as for Chinese, they got rich cause Philippines is "afraid" of them this is no lie.....they are the only expats that can own land and business here in the Philippines just like a citizen. None of us can, American, Canadians, UK, Japanese, ONLY CHINESE.....Don't believe me? Look it up.......

Let me ask you (use common sense) if it were possible to get rich here as a foreigner expat don't you think that at least 4 or 5 of us out of the over 200,000 that LIVE HERE would have been able to do it by now?

I am not saying that under the right time, place and conditions an expat can not make a go of some kind of little restaurant or bar, from what I hear there are quite a few in Papanga and Angels that do just that....make a living and even have some money in the bank for when they kick the bucket. But I venture to say that none of them are rich....

You ask about expat forums and blogs......you have visited some and you just ask about them on your other question...Take a look at them....Books for sale, Videos for sale, How to get rich living in the Philippines, How to marry the right girl, How to speak Filipino, How to speak Cebuano, How to get your Filipina a visa in 3 months, How to prepare for the Interview for the visa, What you need to know to marry a Filipina..

I have seen all of these out there at one time or another written by or for the expat....and why? CAUSE THEY sell those books to other NEW COMERS before they realize that is the way THEY are making their EXTRA MONEY cause they ain't rich yet......WHAT HAPPENED if it is so easy?

PARA OUVIRNA RADIO: Nah man, I lost my ego a long time ago....want to know why? Because THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY HAHAHEHE, THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Besides that bugga, I feel like the perfact arrrse......

Y!A Philippines Travel section isnt exactly a watering hole for Filipino business experts. You may wanna try searching for other forums that is frequented by Filipinos who are TRULY knowledgeable on the subject. You may also wanna visit the Department of Trade and Industry's website for legit links that you may actually find useful as well as some general business infos andinvestment opportunities in our country. Pardon the negative aura, it is YAP's troll season.

It is all about connections, i know expats who are filthy rich who partly got that way due to very good connections in high places. I also have a friend who is modelling there for periods at a time and he knows plenty of people (including expats) who could help him invest and start his own business.. his network among the rich, powerful and famous keeps growing and growing.

Also remember that the richest Filipinos are immigrants from China. They came to the country dirt poor, not knowing the language but still managed to become the richest people in the Philippines.

So my advice is, get yourself a good network there and don't listen to people who says its impossible because its not. There actually are very good opportunities there.

@WORF: Does it hurt your ego to know know that it actually is possible? you sound like extremely butthurt over other people's success... excuses, excuses and fingerpointing hahaha... petty mind ;)

The only things that flourish in the Philippines are prostitution, false Christianity, and poverty. Oh yeah, and monkey business! :P