4 Simple but Smart Business Ideas for OFW Spouses

Being an OFW is not easy. The same goes with being an OFW spouse. You need to be both a mother and father, and keep the family together while your spouse is working overseas. Then, there’s always a challenge as to how you will budget the money and make sure everything is alloted and accounted for while waiting for your partner’s remittance.

Do you always have to wait for money to come? What if you try putting up a small business that will help you and your family get by?

Here are simple but smart business ideas you can try that will help you earn something extra (and hoping you can save more in the process):

Curate a Personalized Gift Box

Who doesn’t want anything personalized? Many people these days would love to buy or give something that will represent a particular person’s personality. Take advantage of that by offering personalized gift box services that represents various personalities.

You can buy items that represent a certain personality and take advantage of your spouse’s job overseas to look for products that are hard to find in the Philippines. If you know someone who sells bath soap, cosmetic products, toys, and the like, which you can add in the gift box, propose a partnership that will become beneficial for everyone.

Sell Perfume

Everyone wants to smell good. That is why most people, no matter how expensive it could be, are willing to spend on perfume or cologne to smell great.

Apparently, buying perfume in departments stores is expensive. For ordinary Filipinos, shelling P4,000 to P6,000 for a bottle of perfume is too much on the budget. Offer them an alternative by selling perfume at a cheaper price. Ask your spouse to buy bottles overseas and sell it in the Philippines at a cheaper cost. You can also take pre-orders to make sure that you won’t have nothing left in your inventory.

Get into Food Business

How can you say no to food? Whatever happens, Filipinos will spend money on food, so it’s nice to take advantage of that.

You can try baked goods like brownies or cookies. If you perfected particular dishes, you can offer that and put up your own party tray business. Some people would like to take the hassle of their plate and just look for someone to “cater” for them, so this is a good opportunity for you. Or you can try office food delivery, which is ideal if you live near offices or commercial centers. Filipinos will always have a knack for home-cooked food because it’s affordable.

There are many training centers that offer crash courses on food, so you might want to look into that.

Merienda Cart

You don’t have to rent a space for this since this is something you can do at home – if you have space in front of the house. You can sell merienda or snacks such as barbecue, banana cue, fishball, kikiam, and drinks like sago at gulaman or buko juice. Since it’s summer season, sell halo-halo or mais con yelo too. Filipinos will always have a special spot for these foods.

This business idea is great for you because you don’t have to shell out too much money and at the same time, how can you resist this kind of food?

Don’t just rely on remittances. The financial success of a family depends on you and your spouse. Help each other and save, save, and save.