deanios46

Hello to all here,im dean..
Ive been reading through many of your disucussion tips and ive found some very useful..
Question is....as im sure alot of you brits are feeling the same as me...PIG SICK OF BRITAIN?! im 37 and ive been to the the philippines 3 time and loved it! the first time i went for a month and the 2nd 8months and the 3rd 9months and the 3rd time is when i met my girlfriend whom i adore and trust 100% im close to her family also.
but,the the last time i was there i simply just ran out of money! we both had an apartment fairly cheap and a simple life but,money still runs out no matter where you are with no income! no matter where you live unless your really well off! im due to go back in january 2013 as we (my gf and i,she is 27)and we desperately want to to be together again as we have not seen eachother for 18months because of financial reasons...i will have £20000.and i really wanna make it work this time and stay there for good and try to get some kind of GOOD business going (I dont mean a sari sari store lol)..so we can eventually settle down and have a family some day...dose anybody have and ideas on this subject? any reply whould be much appreciated thanks

Catchafire

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Starting a business can be tricky thing in the Philippines. Do you have any idea what you could do? Do you have any skills that could help you, ie IT? Can you speak any other languages? German would be a good one!

Some people earn a living working remotely (Google "Digital Nomads"), some I know offer accommodation, either running a resort or as a homestay, through websites like Airbnb. I am a Filipino citizen, so do not have any visa hassles. I am sure someone will be along to let you know what the story is regarding that.

The other important question is, does your girlfriend work? Have you "helped" any of the extended family?

mikemike

you have 1.4m pesos which is no where near enough for a business stake unless it is is at the sari sari end.

The Philippines is a very expensive place to conduct business

PeteinHongKong

Hi Dean, I think you need to be totally realistic and hard-headed about your plans. The Philippines can be a great place to live and the majority of the people there, like anywhere else, can be great too. I spend about 50% of my time there and for the rest I work part-time in HK which is just a short hop away. Right from the start I told my wife (who is from Cebu) that I wasn't interested in getting involved in any businesses. It can be very difficult to come up with a successful formula and if you do then the chances are that others will quickly move into your chosen area and your advantage will disappear very quickly. You do need capital and I doubt that 20,000 is enough when you take living expenses off. Are you planning to get married and if yes when? Where are you planning to live?

If married you can get a permanent resident visa and work legally. If not then the business would need to be in your g/f's name and you cannot work. Yes, there are some successful foreign operated businesses but not that many.

Unfortunately, the Philippines has yet to adjust to the impact of economic globalization - much of the economy is very protected indeed which partly explains why although it is not too expensive to live there it is not cheap either and service quality, though improving, still has some way to go.

deanios46

hi all and thankyou to the replies...yes i know its a tricky place to get started `Catchafire`asked if i can do anything in IT? well yes im in the process of learning webdesign at the moment and ive published my own freelance website in the manila google search engines,still waiting for it to be indexed tho.
i know i cant rely on that though.we really wanted to moved to baguio initially but,i rekon i would less chance of anykind of income as apposed to manila,so we will find a cheap place to stay there to start with.
my girlfriend is working at the moment doing ridiculously long hours sometimes 15hrs a day,she gets 20k permonth but,shes shattered!! so she cant keep that up and i wouldnt want her to either but,shes only trying to help us.if i get a work visa could i work for somebody in IT? in response to peter your very lucky that you can have that life style and good luck to you! about getting married err...lol! id really like to but,i need an income or the prospect of one...and yes i kinda understand what you are saying about being taken advantage of..

Catchafire

Hi Dean

Have a look under the "Digital Nomads" search, it might give you some ideas. Better to earn your money offshore if you can.

I have met diving instructors, who are married to local girls, but their lives tend to be very simple (fun, by I would not want to do it when I am 50).

I know another expat that bought a rice mill, mounted it on the back of a truck and offered a mobile rice mill service, which I thought was very smart. Don't know what happened to him though.

piero

Hi Dean first of all i looked your age and thought he is so young....then i remembered when i first came here just a bit younger than you.
so i also tried with my friend to do something here just to stay here which was way beyond 20 years ago. first of all we had a cassette tape of Andrew e true but a joke as you wont know the song.
tyres 2nd hand from UK to PH Consulate then was Holland Park down that long private road,[ remember ] no problem they said . customs in Makati no problem they said local council in UK get a permit for a yard and then no problem . so ship 2nd hand tyres to PH no problem....went to a portocabin in the port area Manila customs opened a draw pulled out a photo copy from Marcos no more 2nd hand imported tyres to protect the local market. look thats just 1 idea we had . how much time do you think that took to get a knock back...........thats all true and we had other ideas,,,,another day

deanios46

hi. dont you mean holland park avenue?? yah i know its really hard trying to think of something to do out there and have enough cash to fly back home to the u.k. occasionally!! and so easy to fall victim to corruption! nightmare... do you still go there very often??

Stokkevn

I have a friend in Manila with a web design company, he has been in the Philippines for about 10 years, he will not deal with local companies, purely Chinese or Korean owned companies. Initially he lost money hand over fist and nearly left the Philippines until he realised he had the wrong clients, now he makes a reasonable living.

With relatively small capital I would go for a "wholly owned by yourself" business that deals only in cash up front and no credit.