New Article from Financial Management Blog

Why it is Hard to Start a Business in the Philippines?

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:50 PM PDT

Owning a business may be the dream of many people because they want to be like the famous entrepreneur of this country. "Business" seems to be good to hear but it entails many hardships particularly if you will start your business from scratch.

I don't want to discourage aspiring entrepreneurs but you should know the truth that many businesses fail. According to the statistics, 90% of the businesses fail during the first year of operation.

There are different factors that you should consider when doing a business in the Philippines and several requirements that you should meet before you can start a business in the country. These are mandatory that your business should meet like DTI registration, business permit and BIR registration.

Going back to the question, why it is hard to start a business in the Philippines? Some of the reasons I realized when we're starting a school supply business are listed below:

1. Lack of Enterprising Skills

Starting a business requires several skills such as computer skills, technical and financial skills. Most entrepreneurs should know the basic of mathematics, accountancy and more.

Therefore, it is very important that an aspiring entrepreneur knows the basic of business mathematics and accountancy. She must learn the basic of addition and subtraction, balance sheet and so on.

2. Lack of Resources

When I say "resources", these involve not only the capital or money you need to start a business but also the other things you need like the land, building or space, equipment, materials and people necessary to build a new business.

For people who have friends and relatives engaged in business, finding resources will be easier compared to those who have none. That's why you can see more Filipino-Chinese are starting business faster than those to their Filipino counterpart because they have many connections and relatives related to their business.

3. Lack of Inspiration and Dream

Inspirations and dreams fuel our desire to start a business even though there are many difficulties and challenges that lie ahead. Without a dream, business cannot be established.

If we look at big companies in our country and even the international ones, they have their own "Vision" and "Mission" statements. These prove that a business should be built on these two things.

4. Lack of Support from Family and Friends

Our family and friends play a big role in the success of our business. When we started our school and office supply business last month, I have realized that my wife worked harder than me.

She not only supported the business but also make it thriving and profitable one. Our friends and church also support us by praying and blessing the business in our opening day.

5. Lack of Government Support

Lack of government support could be another reason why it is harder to start a business in our country. Though there are many government and private companies' programs to help starting aspiring entrepreneurs, most of it are not enough to support each industry.

Final Thoughts

Starting your own business is not easy. It is like landing for a dream job when you are a new graduate. However, all of these difficulties can be resolved through perseverance and proper know-how.

We cannot avoid these problems but we can devise solutions in order to solve these challenges. Make sure to look for help when you don't know what to do.