Month: January 2019

How long have you been working overseas? Throughout the entire duration of your stay abroad, have you considered putting up your own business? If yes, then what do you plan to start?

The truth is you can’t be an OFW forever, which also means you can’t earn in dollars until you reach retirement age. Before your contract ends, you need to start something sustainable to ensure that at least, your daily needs are covered. This is why you need to consider entrepreneurship.

Check out these business ideas that you and your spouse can try for additional income:

Sari-Sari Store

Sari-sari store may be an age-old business idea but believe it or not, it is still among the profitable businesses out there. All you need is a space (it can even be in front of your house) and few thousands to buy your stocks, and you’re good to go. A sari-sari store is easy to manage and could be left in the hands of your spouse while you’re still working overseas.

Who knows, this sari-sari store could turn into a mini grocery business.

Carinderia

Aside from sari-sari store, carinderia business is another business venture you might want to consider. All you need is little capital and impressive cooking skills so people will go to you and buy your food products.

If you live near offices, then consider offering packed lunches. Establish your menu by Sunday, get orders from offices first thing in the morning, and have their orders delivered by lunch time. You might be surprised with how much money you could make from this business.

AirBnB Rental 

Do you have a property like old house or condo unit that you are not using at the moment? If yes, then why not turn it into a money-making machine through property rental?

Short-term property rentals through AirBnB are popular these days. It is cheaper and guests have more freedom to do what they want to do (like cooking means instead of eating out). There is also a high demand from traveling foreigners and millenials who are itching to go on a staycation, so make sure you take advantage of it.

You might have to shell out money for renovation because when it comes to this kind of business, looks are everything.

Food Cart

Food cart business are popular these days. In fact, there are companies who welcome franchisers by offering their food carts at affordable prices.

If you don’t have hundred thousands to spare, then that’s fine. You can put up your own food cart, look for a space with high foot traffic (like near school or offices), and sell there.

The key here is selling a product that is both yummy and affordable. You can try to make and sell siomai, burger, or hotdog in a bun. Serving lugaw orkwek-kwekcan be a good idea to. Don’t forget the drinks.

Online Retail Business

Online retailers are on the rise these days. This is because there are available platforms that allow you to sell products for free.

Still, the key in this business is offering a product that is not readily available in the Philippine market. If you could offer products from the country where you are working and sell it in the Philippines, then there is higher chance that you’ll land a sale.

Money Transfer Business

You understand how challenging it is to send money to and from the Philippines. You might want to take advantage of that by putting up your own money transfer business. If you feel this is a big leap, then you could franchise an established remittance center for assistance.

Just don’t charge skyrocket-high fees or else, people won’t go to you.

Which among these business ideas would you want to try?

Starting a business is not a walk in the park. You need to make sure that your business is profitable in order to survive. Then, there are marketing strategies you have to think about to make the people know your product exist. You also have to deal with customers who may or may not like your product. Then, you also need to think about adding new products on your line or possible expansion to make your business grow.

Before everything, you need to think about this important factor: your business name. 

Don’t underestimate a business name. The name of your business reflects not just what you’re offering but also who are the people behind that business and what are the values you represent. This is why it is important to make it right because this is how people will remember you. In other words, your business name is a reflection of your business’ identity.

That being said, here are tips and things to remember when choosing a business name:

Tip No. 1: Make it unique and unforgettable. 

There are a LOT of entrepreneurs in the market offering the same products. In this digital world, you need to make sure that yours is something that stands out and something that people will remember.

Therefore, go for something catchy and could easily stick to the people’s mind. Avoid nonsense mix-up of names or something that is hard to spell or pronounce. Otherwise, you won’t be able to maximize the power of name recall, which could help you a lot in this business.

Tip No. 2: It should reflect your business. 

Let’s say you want to sell sausages. Your business name should tell people that you are selling sausages. Avoid using terms like “technology” or “solutions” because it does not reflect what you’re actually selling.

In choosing a business name, make sure it is a reflection of the product or service that you are actually selling. Do not deceive people by adding popular terms just for the sake of being remembered.

Going back to sausages, you should include the term “sausage” or “food” so people will know that you are selling something of that sort. This will make it easier for people to remember you as well.

Tip No. 3: Simplicity is key. 

Do not create long business names. Believe it or not, your potential customers won’t care that much. Stick to one or two business names and you’re good to go.

Since we’re talking about simplicity, avoid adding special characters to your name, except for ‘s. Remember that name recall is important, so keep it simple as much as possible.

Tip No. 4: Ensure that the name is available. 

This is important. Even if you finally came up with the most brilliant and eye-catching names, you need to check that nobody owns it yet. Trademark infringement is a serious issue, so choose something that nobody has thought of yet.

If you came up with a name that is owned by no one, then register it as soon as you can. This way, you got the first dibs and you are the rightful owner of that particular name.

Tip No. 5: Don’t rush. 

We understand how important it is for you to start your business. Without a name, you won’t be able to start because your social media pages will depend on it.

Still, relax and give it some time. A business name is important in ensuring the success of your business. If you can’t think of a name now, then perhaps tomorrow or two days from now could help in squeezing your brain for the perfect business name. Ask help from family and friends by having a brainstorming session. There are also name generators available online so take advantage of those as well.

Brand new year means brand new opportunities. At this point, you know that OFW life is not forever and applying for a new job overseas may take time. This is why you vowed to do something to ensure continuity of funds in the family.

How will you do that? You consider opening a new business.

The truth is there are tons of opportunities available to help you jumpstart your entrepreneurial career. If you’re unsure as to what type of business you should start, then let this list help you.

Here are business ideas you can try this 2019:

1. Online Business – The online market is flourishing. Many Filipinos spend a lot of time glued on their mobile phones and, yes, shopping or at least browsing for items. Take advantage of that by putting up an online store. You could sell anything you like but to set you apart from the rest, offer the people something that is not readily available in the market. It could be one-of-a-kind products from the country where you’re working or a product that you make.

2. Cleaning Services –  Most households are unable or have difficulty finding a reliable house help. If you worked in a hotel or as a household service worker overseas, then put those skills to use and start your own general cleaning services company. All you need are cleaning tools and equipment and eye for perfection, and you’re good to go. Just make sure you get equally reliable and trustworthy cleaning ladies because reputation is key in this type of business.

3. Food Delivery – Does anyone in the family love to cook? If yes, then try offering those to die for meals to people. Instead of renting a space or putting up your own restaurant, try food delivery services first. You can start cooking at your own kitchen first and commission a third-party to deliver the food to your customers. Keep in mind that the appearance of your food matters a lot, so take good, enticing pictures. Who knows, this could be a start of something bigger, say your own restaurant in the future?

4. Food Cart – If cooking is not your family’s thing but you still would love to get into the food business, then consider franchising a food cart. The good thing about food carts is that there is already an existing business model that you can adapt. Plus, the franchised food cart already made a name in the market, thereby making marketing easier for you. You can check this post for affordable food carts you can franchise.

5. Laundry Service – Apart from general cleaning, laundry is something Filipinos are willing to pay for. You can open your own laundromat and give people some convenience. Self-service laundry centers are also in demand these days, so you might want to invest your hard-earned money on that.

6. Gift Boxes – This type of business is in demand these days. Take advantage of that by putting up your own subscription service. Every month, subscribers will receive specially designed gift boxes that contains items based on a particular monthly theme. You can have monthly themes like “Toys and Games,” “Goodies from Overseas,” or “For the Coffee Lovers.” Items can be easily sourced so this won’t be a big issue for you.

7. Party Supplies –  The party industry is booming these days. People are willing to spend money to make their parties Instagram-worthy. You can take advantage of that by putting up your party supplies store. The good thing about this business is that items are available on wholesale, which means you can get items at cheaper prices.

8. Tutorial Services – Are you good at a particular subject, preferably English or Math? Put those knowledge into good use and offer tutorial services. Many working parents these days are willing to pay for tutors since they could have a hard time squeezing study time as soon as they get home. If you can’t offer tutorial services, then at least anyone in the family can do for extra income.

9. Personal Grooming Home Service – Did you work as a barber, hair stylist, makeup artist, or spa personnel abroad? Use those skills by offering home service facilities. Compare the prices of said services in the malls and offer a competitive rate. Don’t worry. People are more willing to pay for convenience.

It’s a brand new year. Surely, before 2018 ended, you made a list of things to accomplish as well as plans and resolutions for 2019. You are also proud of yourself for aiming for those goals and promised to do whatever it takes to make sure these resolutions will come to life. After all, at the end of the day, all you want is a better future for you and your family that is why you outlined those goals.

The first week has been great and so far, you’re on the right track. The question now is whether or not you can sustain this until December 31, 2019.

Of course you can! Here are tips that will ensure that you can stick to your 2019 goals and resolutions before 2020:

Write your 2019 resolutions. 

Yes, it is old school, but it still an effective ways to make sure that you’ll make it before the clock strikes at 12 midnight on December 31. As odd as it sounds, writing your resolutions for the year has higher effectiveness rate than just relying on your mind.

Keep those resolutions simple and attainable.

One of the reasons why New Year’s resolutions are not sustained is because you set unrealistic and impossible to attain goals. Forget that.

What you need to do is to keep your resolutions simple and attainable. Instead of aiming for a complete overhaul of your lifestyle, target one to two habits first and then move on to the next. Instead of aiming to reach one million by the end of the year when you don’t have savings yet, keep it realistic and target at least P100K.

The point is the simpler and more attainable your goals are, the easier for you to make these happen.

Daily action is key. 

You can’t attain something without putting 100 percent effort to it. This means you need to outline steps you need to take everyday to make sure that by the end of the year, you will stick to those goals and resolutions.

What you can do is schedule your activities for the week to help you attain those resolutions. For instance, you promised to save P100K by the end of the year. Before the week starts, finalize your raket/s (apart from your main job, of course) and the amount you are expecting that could help add up to your savings.

Breakdown your one big goal to smaller goals. 

Let’s go back to P100k savings for 2019. It’s easy to say you want to save that much but how do you plan on achieving that goal?

This is why it is important to make manageable action chunks from that one big goal. It is easier to make those resolutions happen because you are more focused and at the same time, there is a higher chance that you will achieve it.

So how do you plan on achieving the P100k savings? You could start by looking for sidelines. To get a sideline, you set aside one day to look for part-time jobs or ask friends around if they know someone who could find your skills useful.

The bottom line is start small to help you supplement that one big goal.

Track your progress. 

This is important. You’ll never know whether or not you are making progress if you don’t track it, right?

Establish a system that will help you record the progress you’re making or check whether or not you’re done with this particular daily action. This way, you can easily see what areas you need to work on and whether you could make those resolutions happen.

Always focus on the positive.

We understand. There are days when you won’t be able to stick to your daily goals and it will make you feel bad. That’s fine.

Instead of worrying about those missed days, focus on the positive side, say the fact that you are making progress with your savings or the sideline you just booked this coming weekend. If you look at the negative side, your perception towards your 2019 goals could change and may compromise the things you want to achieve.

At the end of the day, it’s also about discipline, mindset, and your willingness to make your 2019 resolutions happen. When you establish that, then you are set for the rest of the year – and beyond.