What's a viable small business for expats to stay busy?

Hello....been here 10+ years.......lived in city and province.....province definitely preferred. Small farming, learning about plants, trees...what new thigs grow here...........also started making soap, detergent, candles...........so many simple things you can learn to do here.......also have small foods/feeds/water filtering stores......just a little at a time to see what works. province people like the cheapest products....keep that in mind.............but i also try to introduce some "better" products. Breads are another good hobby to learn.

Some things to think of:
(Short version 

Ownership.     
"Export business" (without land) can foreigner own whole.
Most types can foreigner own max 40 % of a company.
Some are other percentage, some none.

Foreigner doing any work with work permit.
NOT:
2. PRACTICE of PROFESSIONS    *1
A: Engineering
    • Aeronautical
    • Agricultural
    • Chemical
    • Civil
    • Electrical
    • Electronics and Communication
    • Geodetic 
    • Mechanical
    • Metallurgical
    • Mining
    • Naval Architecture and Marine
    • Sanitary.
B. Medicine and Allied Professions
    • Medicine
    • Medical Technology
    • Dentistry
    • Midwifery
    • Nursing
    • Nutrition and Dietetics
    •  Optometry
    • Pharmacy
    • Physical and Occupational Therapy
    • Radiology and X-Ray Technology
    • Veterinary Medicine
C. Accountancy
D. Architecture
E. Criminology
F. Chemistry
G. Customs Brokerage
H. Environmental Planning
I. Forestry
J. Geology
K. Interior Design
L. Landscape Architecture
M. Law
N. Librarianship
O. Marine Deck Officers
P. Marine Engine Officers
Q. Master Plumbing
R. Sugar Technology
S. Social Work
T. Teaching
U. Agriculture
V. Fisheries

There are some exceptions though if the Philippines have shortage of Fiipinos as e g some teaching.

It's common  the foreigner is NOT allowed to have the highest positions as well as the lowest, but ok to have a position in between.

Jackson4 wrote:

For a near future retiree, it might be good to have something to stay busy with and to have some purpose. I plan to be in the country side. Raising chickens or pigs? Vegetable farming? Mom & Pop Restaurant? What the current expats do and how do you feel about it?

Cross out raising chickens or pigs or farm animals. Very smelly.

Around 7 years ago, my parents, who were in their late 60's at that time, started a pig farm, to keep themselves preoccupied. But eventually they stopped because it was too much work. The farm is in Batangas. There's a caretaker, but still they had to drive there from Metro Manila twice a month or when the pigs are ready for selling or when there are certain problems or issues.

They built a small house there (also one of their projects) where they could stay during their trips to the farm. We slept there for a night at one time, and the area was so stinky. We were not used to the smell. We closed the windows, and it still smelled horrible. Even with a good septic system and drainage, it still smells.

Maybe if one spends a long time there, they he / she can get used to the smell. But I don't think I could.

We have 11 egg-laying chickens, 4 pigs......located FAR, FAR from the house because of the smell. chickens give us eggs for us and for our store.....2-3 months of stinky pigs before they get butchered.......for our freezer and for our store. We have a caretaker that feeds and cleans animals...but I still walk down there sometimes, YUCK. You will NEVER get used to that smell.

Jackson4 wrote:

For a near future retiree, it might be good to have something to stay busy with and to have some purpose. I plan to be in the country side. Raising chickens or pigs? Vegetable farming? Mom & Pop Restaurant? What the current expats do and how do you feel about it?

Does it have to be a business to stay busy? maybe a Hobby?

Many hobbies can give you the same pleasure and can keep you busy. My new hobby is growing tomatoes & onions, mostly indoors in grow tents under powerful L.E.D. lights.

Tomatoes:  Hybrid Avatar TY F1,  Hybrid Sweet Princess, Beefsteak, Brandywine Pink, Red Robbin, Kinalabasa, Tiny Tim & Mica Red.

Onions; Vidalia, Texas Yellow Granix, Walla Walla and for fun giant: Ailsa Craig Exhibition.

Gregorio2020 wrote:

We have 11 egg-laying chickens, 4 pigs......located FAR, FAR from the house because of the smell. chickens give us eggs for us and for our store.....2-3 months of stinky pigs before they get butchered.......for our freezer and for our store. We have a caretaker that feeds and cleans animals...but I still walk down there sometimes, YUCK. You will NEVER get used to that smell.

I have seen very few rural houses far from neighbours for sale. I mean except huts.  One hacienda was for sale cheap though -  they had built a big pigery THEMSELVES just beside

I've been a "Country Boy" my whole life. Raising a vegetable garden, or taking care of animals will definitely keep you busy.

If you enjoy writing, even if you've never been paid to write. I would suggest looking at content writing for businesses. Every business with a website NEEDS content that is fresh, relevant to their target audience, and current. You can go to AWAI (American Writers and Artist Inc) at www.awai.com Search for their catalog of course material and you'll likely find a type of writing you can get paid to do. The great thing is, If you enjoy writing it doesn't really feel like work, but it still gives you something to do to stay busy and it can pay well.

I'm going to sign up for a course to learn how to set up a blog writing service, tonight or tomorrow morning.

My interpretion of the sum of the laws I have read is when the business own land then a foreigner can
/own max 40 % of a company, which own land needed by the business. (Sure not fuzzy
/ Sure NOT allowed to any SPECIAL of the board positions but can have foreiners at two of five board positions.
Sure NOT allowed to be as a CEO position even in a small business =Not highest.
Sure NOT allowed to do simple farm work self.
/Then it become fuzzy about what foreigner ARE allowed to DO        My interpretion is - parts supported of an article written by a Filipino - foreiners CAN do (with work permit) be a "middle boss" e g do some INSTRUCTONS to workers, BUT NOT add so much knowledge to the business so the foreigner's knowledge become dominating. CAN be dominating knowledge compared to WORKERS, but NOT compared to the SUM of related business knowledge Filipinos in the business have!!!   
This last subsentence is very bad and the Philippines LOSE much at that    :'(  by in some business type the Philippines is realy short of knowledge even among owners of such businesses. It took me years to find any Filipino with knowledge enough in the business type we are starting now. (I found a FEW years earlier but they were to occupied in their own busineses.)
((But a GOOD thing with that - after I found one with knowledge enough to make it legal-  for me personaly is this lack of knowledge among owners make there are many such wrong treated businesses I can buy cheap       and transform to well treated businesses which will benifit workers there too because the wrong handled busineses there have so bad results now so they can't  provide more than very few jobs there. Within 10 years I expect we have 10x  how many employees in such businesses in that region., but that's not hard because so many such business owners have screwed up    so there are very few working in such businesses there now. 10x  IF we get the needed permits smoothly    not geting to much time wasted.
My business partner had a skilled team allready before I found him. I happened to find him by LUCK    by a conversation about from start other things with an American, who was very satisfied with the jobs this team had done for him. The team knew most allready, except an important thing, which I know and now try to instruct them at distance which isn't easy    by I can't show them in place and can't see with my own eyes the different situations to solve. But my business partner is clever so I aim at him and then he can instruct the others in place.))

I've become a pretty good handyman....I have picked up many many new skills (thanks to YT)...skills which I  never thought I would need.
I got myself lots of new tools/equipments that help me with my work.
In fact I just finished sanding/plastering/painting my 8yr old fence/pillars/gates that had seen better days...(Perimeter of approx 88m)
Laser lights/spot lights all around the area ready for my drinking/dancing/singing with like minded fellow expats & partners.
I've got to love this simple self reliant lifestyle.

coach53 wrote:

Gregorio2020 wrote:

We have 11 egg-laying chickens, 4 pigs......located FAR, FAR from the house because of the smell. chickens give us eggs for us and for our store.....2-3 months of stinky pigs before they get butchered.......for our freezer and for our store. We have a caretaker that feeds and cleans animals...but I still walk down there sometimes, YUCK. You will NEVER get used to that smell.

I have seen very few rural houses far from neighbours for sale. I mean except huts.  One hacienda was for sale cheap though -  they had built a big pigery THEMSELVES just beside

Which way does the wind go?
Well water or city water?

So, a small pig farm is out because of the smell and the work. Although farm help will be hired the smell maybe an issue.
The hobby I know I'm going to be doing will be my vegetable garden. I am doing that now. More than half of my seedlings just died on me 😂 but hey, it will not go against my performance review. The wife is more on the track to have a business once we pull the trigger. She's a couple of years younger and has the energy and motivation to run a small business. On our retirement, she may fall short on Social Security contributions. Are coffee shops all the rage in the Philippines right now?

Ping pong club

In the road badminton is pretty popular in our Barangay too. Just have to move when the tricycles go by.

Hobbies are a lot more fun and interesting to me...than trying to find a business to stay busy. Thats what mine are.....small farming, water filtering, soaps, candles, bakeshop.......all learning experiences...and kinda fun to see the results......and a little profitable while making neighbors happy too at the cheap prices.

Small coffee shops seem like a good idea anywhere you put them.....then you can add other products too...like breads, milk and soft drinks, and whatever you grow in your garden. Depending on who you want to attract.....tables could be set up for students doing homework, chess checkers, cards playing......maybe even a hotspot for internet wifi........start small...you have lots of options.....even just a meeting place for friends.

Wow...sounds like fun. Things are so cheap here, its easy and really helpful to learn and pickup new skills....try new things. I've heard some try home beer or wine brewing,  auto repairs, wood working, painting....

Jackson4 wrote:

coach53 wrote:

Gregorio2020 wrote:

We have 11 egg-laying chickens, 4 pigs......located FAR, FAR from the house because of the smell. chickens give us eggs for us and for our store.....2-3 months of stinky pigs before they get butchered.......for our freezer and for our store. We have a caretaker that feeds and cleans animals...but I still walk down there sometimes, YUCK. You will NEVER get used to that smell.

I have seen very few rural houses far from neighbours for sale. I mean except huts.  One hacienda was for sale cheap though -  they had built a big pigery THEMSELVES just beside

Which way does the wind go?
Well water or city water?

Because of the low asked price, I suppouse to close for any wind   
Don't know about water, I didn't want the plaace because of the to close pigery.
(It was  a few years ago)

Jackson4 wrote:

The hobby I know I'm going to be doing will be my vegetable garden. I am doing that now. More than half of my seedlings just died on me

Maybe I can give some help on your seedlings.

I'm into tomatoes & onions, all from seedlings. Most of my seeds are from the States and I had to jump through many hoops with regulations from several bureaus, applications, pictures, licenses, letters from the local government.

Then the importing passing through customs, then on to the narc people for clearance.

Ok, back to start seedlings:

Tomatoes are started in one inch cubes of Rockwool. Rockwool has a small hole to place your seeds. I put two seed in each hole. The results two plants, one plant or no plant. Recently out of 20 cubes I had germination in 18 of them, many with two plants. Germination is in several days.

Next I transplant them into 16 oz clear plastic cups, with holes on the bottom of the cups for drainage. I like the clear cups so I can see the root development. I transplant them with the Rockwool intact. The plastic cups is 2/3 Loam soil & 1/3  Vermicast.

When the plants get 10/12 inches I transplant them into 3 gallon woven bags of Loam soil, woven bags  provides drainage. At this point if two plants germinated in the Rockwool, I choose the stronger plant and cut the weaker one. I've tried the 10 and 5 gallon bags but they are too heavy to move around.

Now germinating Onions is a different story, sometimes they take two weeks to germinate. I fold a wet/moist paper towel and place many seeds between the flaps of the towel. Then this is placed in a sealed baggie in a warm dark place. Once the seeds roots germinate, you have a root & seed at this point. Then the root & seed are are transplanted into the 16 oz plastic cup with the seed just below the soil. Several weeks after visible growth they are transplanted into 6/7 inch plastic grow bags, one plant per bag to allow the bulb to expand.

There are many videos on you tube regarding many and all types of vegetables, from seeds
to harvest. While going through many months of paperwork to import seeds, I watched these
videos for hour and hours.

About 30 years ago I had grow rooms for Herbs (hahahaha). It was much easier to grow and harvest Herbs.

Auto repair is a hobby I enjoy, plus one of my brothers-in-laws has been a jeepney driver for over 40 years. He has a ton of connections for people who need to have mechanical work done on their cars. I know it won't make a lot of money but it'll give me the chance to stay busy doing something I'm fairly good at. After 35 years as an airplane mechanic, I learned a thing or two about fixing things.

I've worked on tractors, cars, pickup trucks, jeeps, generators, air compressors, light carts, aircraft tow vehicles, forklifts, and motorcycles. So, basically, if it has an engine I can take it apart, identify the problem, determine if the piece of equipment is fixable or if it is a lost cause, then repair it, if that's possible, and put everything back together. Heck, sometimes I can even manage to put it back together and have a few parts left over. (LOL). Hand me another beer and watch this!

Having multiple hobbies is an enjoyable way to stay busy. You get to do something you enjoy. Occasionally you sell a couple of candles, and maybe some specialty soaps and make a little money. You're happy, your neighbors are happy. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Back in the states, I would go on multi-day backpacking trips. Sometimes I'd combine the trips with Fly fishing in high-mountain lakes. Great exercise. Great for getting away from traffic noises.

In The Philippines, I still enjoy going for a 30-45 minute early morning walk. I also have a mountain bike that I can use to get exercise and see more of the communities near where I live at a slower pace. Bonus, If I see something that grabs my attention I can pull over and talk to the locals to learn more. They seem to enjoy the fact that an American is taking an interest in what they do and how they do it.

A good mechanic with your experience is hard to find here.....the guys here that call themselves mechanics usually have 1 or 2 tools....and want to borrow mine.....I bet you have a few more tools in your toolbox.

carlisom78 wrote:

Occasionally you sell a couple of candles, and maybe some specialty soaps and make a little money. You're happy, your neighbors are happy. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Lock up so you don't get trouble by someone evil report you,. Such can make you much trouble.

When we were packing for the move I filled three balikbayan boxes with mechanics hand tools and power tools for use on projects around the house. All together I shipped about $3,000 worth of tools. I LOVE working with my hands! It's an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.

Carl

People with no life can report me if they want. I don't have anything to worry about, because I haven't done anything wrong. I'm just talking with other expats. So If having a conversation is going to bring the speech police down on me I don't care.

Carl

coach53 wrote:

carlisom78 wrote:

Occasionally you sell a couple of candles, and maybe some specialty soaps and make a little money. You're happy, your neighbors are happy. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Lock up so you don't get trouble by someone evil report you,. Such can make you much trouble.

Oh, come on!!!

carlisom78 wrote:

When we were packing for the move I filled three balikbayan boxes with mechanics hand tools and power tools for use on projects around the house. All together I shipped about $3,000 worth of tools. I LOVE working with my hands! It's an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.

People with no life can report me if they want. I don't have anything to worry about, because I haven't done anything wrong. I'm just talking with other expats. So If having a conversation is going to bring the speech police down on me I don't care.

But you aren't allowed to get pay - or even do the work - without work permit   
Or do you have old type SRRV with which you were allowed to work?   
I believe that work permit extemption is canceled because many YOUNG Chinese missused it movingg to Phils to "retire" but realy for work   At least it's under review.

Many Filpinos even claim it's illegal for foreigners to do work for yourself, but I'm rather sure they are wrong, but can become problem to clear out such problems anyway by even ssome baranay captains have that wrong belief.

I never said that I had done any work that I got paid for in the Philippines. I was simply commenting on posts made by others with my opinions. We are allowed to have opinions without a work permit I assume.

All our small businesses are under my wife's name.....I just claim to be a caretaker and silent partner...hehehhe...but we know who does most of the design, building, maintaining around here......sorry, just patting myself on back a little...hehehe

Anybody, even foreigners are allowed to do the work on their own property.....unfortunately there are a small percentage of really jealous and hateful filipinos who hate seeing others succeeding....and might try to cause problems......we have a few here, but they are harmless so far.

No need to worry...you are working on, repairing, upgrading your own stuff......and possibly helping neighbors and others fix theirs........helping others is NOT a crime......if they want to give you a little food or money.....its ok......we are just doing favors for the people.

Oh my gosh, foreigners making money, Filipinos working off books, Sari-Sari stores not paying taxes, fake items sold at Green Hills, Counterfeit Drugs, Louis Vuitton Bags 90% off. . . .Contact the NBI better yet call Rodrigo Duterte, this has to stop immediately or else Senator Manny Pacquiao will box your ears off.

*You will be prosecuted under the full extent of the law.

*Anything you say will be held against in the court of law.

* or pay me 500 php and I'll forget the whole thing.

I'm in the application process for my SRRV now. Waiting for the Philippine government to start accepting visa applications again. The lady who has been helping me works at the PRA office in Angeles.
As soon as I find out they are accepting retiree visa applications again I will go to her office with my paperwork to submit. She has already offered to write me a letter for the purpose of opening a bank account and another letter to aid in applying for a work permit if I want one.

I'm thinking about opening a garage to work on people's cars once I get my retiree visa. I should do some research to see what the cost to rent a place would be. If the rent is too high then it wouldn't make sense to pursue the idea further.

Carl

Gregorio2020 wrote:

No need to worry...you are working on, repairing, upgrading your own stuff......and possibly helping neighbors and others fix theirs........helping others is NOT a crime......if they want to give you a little food or money.....its ok......we are just doing favors for the people.

Sadly WRONG about helping others not being a crime.. Even aid projects volontary (=no pay) workers need WORK PERMIT to be allowed to do such...

And NOT allowed to be "caretaker" or any other work in any BUSINESS without work permit.  '

(Except unclear about SRRV after government review after the misuse by many young chineese immirant "retired".)

But concerning working at OWN family LIVING property I interprete same as you,

I retired here almost two years ago, and have been learning extra money, keeping my brain active, and having fun sharing my knowledge and expertise on-line.

All I need is a decent internet connection (which may reduce my options when I'm ready to move to a province).

No work permit is needed, I get paid through my US bank account and I'm not taking any jobs Filipinos can do

It's a little too involved to explain here, but I'm happy to talk to anyone about it--almost anyone can do it.

Thanks to all the replies. Coffee shop seems to be the most appealing to me.

bizwizard wrote:

No work permit is needed,

Do you meam you "don't need" work permit, because Phil government will not nice you work?   
Or why woulldn't you need work permit working in the Philiippines????

bizwizard wrote:

I get paid through my US bank account and I'm not taking any jobs Filipinos can do

As I have understood it that's NOT a reason to not need work permit.
But it's a reason you wil get a work permit APPROVED     And you can own WHOLE a business like that in Phils by it's counted as "export bussiness".

- -

From what I understand, although you are physically present in the Philippines with your keyboard, the client is not in the PI and the work is not being used in the PI, nor is any money flowing through the PI (although I guess  you could have it come to your PI bank account).

So why would you need a work permit?

And of course, the government would not know about your activiities, either.

Is the some clause of a regulation I don't know about?

Would a pizza-to-go kiosks work in the Philippines too like it does in the US?
Like Little Caesar's, Papa John's, etc.

bizwizard wrote:

From what I understand, although you are physically present in the Philippines with your keyboard, the client is not in the PI and the work is not being used in the PI, nor is any money flowing through the PI (although I guess  you could have it come to your PI bank account).

So why would you need a work permit?

And of course, the government would not know about your activiities, either.

Is the some clause of a regulation I don't know about?

Well. With your argument wouldn't any of the Call centers and such need to have business and work permit...   

Around 1-3 years ago came a SPECIAL law for people working in the Philippines whole through internet, with some incentives compared to common businesses.   I didn't save it because I don't plan to have such, but I suppouse you can find it by Google.

I don't know risk level to get caught, but not fun to get caught in Phils...   
Don't be sure they will not notice. check where money come from, tsismis neighbours...