Unemployment is one of the biggest problems in the Philippines. Because of this problem, some people are looking for something that will help them live throughout the day.
However, even employed people can have problems when it comes to their expenses. This is why those people who bear entrepreneurial spirits are doing business.
In doing business, there are things that you should consider such as capital and investments. The results of any business can either a success or a failure.
Small businesses are perfect for those who do not have a job but has the capital. It also works best for those people who are employed but wants to have another source of income.
Even though it’s early before the New Year comes, this is just the perfect time to choose and plan for your new business venture. Here is the list of the top 29 small businesses that you can do here in the Philippines.
Best Small Business Ideas in the Philippines for 2015
1. Sari-Sari Store Business
The sari-sari store is the most typical business that Filipinos do which only requires a small capital to start. From the word sari-sari, which means variety, people sell different kinds of stuff or snacks and gain profit from it.
Although this is not a “big shot” business, having a sari-sari store as a business is a very effective way of gaining profit with small capital. This is a good business especially for those people who have a lot of time or for people who love selling things.
You can invest in having a simple space to get this started, but be sure the room is facing the road. Most sari-sari store owners put up their store in front of their house. You can then fill that space with different things such as condiments, snacks, candies, and so on, as long as they fit your budget.
2. Rice Retailing Business
Unlike other people from different, Filipinos eat rice almost every day. Rice is considered a necessity in the Philippines. This is why people prefer to sell rice grains which consumers will surely buy.
Although this is a sure shot business, you will still need a fair amount of capital and a good business space. You can also rent a good stall around your area. Make sure that you always maintain the cleanliness of your store and products.
3. Food Cart Business
Food cart business is a very popular business to start but many people are tricked by this. Some food cart owners let others franchise their food cart in a low price with no royalty fee. However, you should keep in mind that you will become only a seller of the product and not a business owner.
If you want to invest in this kind of business, make sure that you will franchise the products that have already made their names and brands. You can also create your food cart by simply setting up a food cart with your own products. This can also be considered as an investment.
If your products are good, you can be a franchisor and serve as an inspiration to other people who want to do business with you.
Related: 8 Best Franchise Businesses You Can Start in the Philippines
4. Printing Business
Printing can have a very good market especially when you are in the Philippines. Companies that use traditional marketing create tarpaulins, billboards, and other advertising materials.
Aside from marketing purpose, printing business also works on special occasions. This can be birthdays, anniversaries, and funerals.
Getting the right location for this kind of business is very crucial. A few of the best place to start this business is near a school, and wherein students need to print different materials for their daily projects.
Remember to plan all the necessary things before creating this business.
5. Buy and Sell Business
You can usually see this business everywhere especially when you love browsing the web for products to buy. There are lots of products out there, which people tend to buy or sell.
From the words that define it – buy and sell, this is a business wherein you will buy products like gadgets and clothing for a low price and sell them at a fair price. The capital you need here ranges from small-to-large depending on the things you will be buying.
6. Street Food Business
The Philippines has lots of interesting things and one of these is the street foods. You won’t usually see street foods in other countries, and the good thing about street foods here in the Philippines is that, despite being weird looking, they taste so good. However, not all street foods are clean so make sure to check your surroundings and your store itself to make most out of it.
You will usually see street foods on the sidewalk while some uses carts to sell. This type of business doesn’t require high capital to start. The profit that you can gain with this kind of business could double your capital. Street food business may look simple but it can gain a lot of profit; in exchange, street food vendors need to work all day. Seems tiring right? However, hard work can have positive outcomes.
7. Flea Market Business or tianggê
Flea market is where people rent a small space and sell goods. Unlike buying on malls, flea market has an interesting feature. You can bargain the things that you want to buy here.
This is also the reason why this is very popular to Filipinos—you can buy things here at a lower price. If your products are good, people tend to buy from you instead of from other sellers.
Avoid being infuriated especially when you are dealing with someone who wants to buy. Expect that not everyone will buy from you, so you need to have the charisma and the right attitude when dealing with people.
8. Online Selling Business
This is very similar to the buy and sell business except that you will bring your products online. This is best for people who have their physical store and want to have more exposure on the Internet.
Building an authority and trust-worthy business will be the key to your success since you are only communicating online. Make sure to build a positive review about your business while you’re on the go.
9. Cellphone Loading Business
This is another typical type of business that you will see in the Philippines since most people have their own cellphones. Taking this fact, they will be need to load and will find loading station for their phones.
This business can help you profit from 10% to 15% of your total capital. Not bad for a small business, right? The only thing that you will need to start this business is a cellphone and a good capital.
If you have decided to choose this business, be careful on every transaction you’ll do or you might mess up and load another subscriber. You will gain no profit if that happens.
10. Laundry and Dry Cleaning Business
Laundry and dry cleaning business is a common business that you will find not only in the Philippines but also in other countries. There are people who are too busy with other things and have no time for house works like doing the laundry. They usually hire people to do this stuff for them while some look for laundry shops.
To get started, you will need business permits and equipment for the business. Securing a permit means that your business is legal, follows hygiene requirements, and has safety measure when something happens.
The location is also important. The suggested area is a place where most people can easily walk in or a busy street. It is also good to establish the business where there are lots of dormitory and apartments because people who live in places like these tend to be busy with their studies and jobs so they usually need the services of a laundry shop.
11. Hair Styling Business
Filipinos are born to be hygienic, which means they clean themselves several times in a day. But when it comes to maintaining hygiene, hair has been an important thing to consider. Most people have their haircut or hairstyling within a week or a month.
Although we know that few people can cut their hair, not all people can do it. Having this business can be a success or failure depending on your employee or the hairstylist.
You need someone who is skilled in this industry to make your business “BOOM” or simply to make your business skyrocket. Aside from that, you will need a good location and business permits too.
If hair-styling is one of your passion or hobbies, well, that’s good news for you. Now, you just need to start it and make it happen.
12. Photography Business
From the word itself, this business is all about photographs. This is also a common type of business, but it usually needs a lot of effort and capital.
If you are a photographer or at least good at catching the angles and creating a good effect to make the photo look better, then this is the most recommended business for you. Basically, if you are an individual who aspires to be a photographer and plans to push it further, all you need to have here is the determination, talent, and a good camera.
13. Tutorial Business
What are tutorials? These are topics wherein people teach tips and tricks about something they are good at. For some people who do not waste their knowledge and give it for free, they use it to earn from it.
There are different kinds of tutors. They can be for academics, programming, designing, and much more. In this business, people hire you to teach them on what you know.
There are things that are hard to understand and required to be taught more than once that is why people hire someone who could teach them personally.
14. Baking Business
Baking business is also a popular business in the Philippines not only because Filipino loves bread but also because bread is secondary to rice, which is our staple diet.
There are lots of products that you can create by baking, and there are also risks in doing this business. The first risk is that you can’t be sure that all your products will be sold, but do not worry because you can always focus on creating the best-selling bread. This way you will reduce that risk.
To get started you just need baking equipment, business permit and talent on baking.
15. Landscaping Business
Landscaping can be a very good business especially when you have some leads for ongoing projects. Basically, this business can be of any size as long as you are doing several tasks in regards to preserving residential lawns as well as commercial grounds.
There are few golf courses here in the Philippines and if you are lucky, you can do a partnership with them. Landscapers are those who keep golf courses groomed. They can also work on parks. Others do some landscaping on the roads to make the city look good.
If you are planning to do this business, you need to invest in the equipment needed for it and some manpower. It also requires some permits and paperwork.
16. Website Design and Development Business
This is one of the rising businesses you can do in our time. This kind of business needs talent and knowledge. Some people have the passion and skills to create designs and websites.
You will need to learn lots of things before you can hold grasp about web development. Unlike other businesses, you won’t usually need some capital here, but of course, you will need a computer, website, and a web hosting.
This kind of business is also considered a high-pay job since web designing doesn’t come cheap.
If you are to create a business like this, it is better to create your own team and get some leads for it. The process of web development is a bit complicated so it would be best to have someone with you who is also familiar in what you do.
17. Consulting Business
This type of business is also common but finding a good one is not easy. Because there are lots of businesses here in the Philippines, it is important to manage your business to hold the competition.
However, there will be times wherein you will have a certain problem in your business, and you have no idea on what to do. This is where consulting comes in.
There are people who know and have experienced different problems in a business. Some of them builds consulting business to help others based on their experience and specialties while earning some money.
18. Blogging
Blogging is now becoming popular all around the world. Basically, a blog is a web page wherein you write your own experience, expertise or about everything—may it be a story, experience, expertise, lists, tips, ideas, and so on.
You may wonder if you can earn with this one, but actually there are lots of bloggers who already made millions using just their blogs. Since there are already markets in the virtual world, you can consider your blog as a billboard holder or maybe even greater.
19. Direct Selling Business
Direct selling is also becoming popular here in the Philippines. This kind of business will require you some money to have a membership. After becoming a member to a certain company, you will have a certain benefits or discount to their product and you will be able to sell their products and still have some profit.
Direct selling also means getting the product directly from the manufacturer, which is the reason why members can avail their products at a lower price. The profit here is good especially if you already know a lot of buyers of that product.
20. Appliance Repair Business
We all know how important appliances are. They are used to make daily living easier and more comfortable by doing the things automatically. An example is the air-conditioner, which makes the room cooler and comfortable during hot seasons.
Having a business like this can give you profit, however you need the right skill set for this business. People who do this business have knowledge on electronics that is why they make the job look easy. You don’t need a lot of capital here, but you will need some materials needed for the business.
21. Candle Making Business
Candles are handy for emergencies especially on rainy days and typhoons. The Philippines has always been a pathway for typhoons, which is why having a candle business can be a good idea. But this business does not only apply only on power outage. Candles can be used for other purposes as well.
There are candles that produce aroma, which can change any room’s mood, while giving light to the room. You will need some efforts and small capital with this business but make sure you also have safety measure in your business.
22. Dance Instructor Business
This business is for people who love to dance. Dance instructors are people whose passion and main skills are dancing. If you specialize in one or more of the different types of dances, you can build your dance class.
Obviously, you will need a good room for dancing, which doesn’t usually come cheap. To kick-start this business, you can start with a simple room and a few students.
Hiring a dance instructor doesn’t come cheap. You might need safety measures to avoid accident that could happen.
23. Dog Training Business
This business is very good to start for those who love taking care of dogs and know how to train them. There are lots of dog owners and lovers in the Philippines but not all of them know how to train their dogs.
If you know how to train a dog, then go for this business, and you will earn money while doing the things you love. You will only need basic tools for dogs if you are planning to do this business.
24. Travel and Tours
This kind of business is one of the fastest growing businesses nowadays. Companies in this kind of industry are popular to all travel lovers out there. If you love traveling, travel and tour business can be a perfect business for you.
The year 2015 has started well especially here in the Philippines, and a large number of tourists may continue to arrive this year. This estimation means that this business can be perfect for this year. Who doesn’t want a discounted price for travel, right?
25. Money Exchange
Money exchange business is also a great business for this year. More and more people are going abroad to earn for their family, and most of the time, they send money to their family. Naturally, they need establishments to convert the foreign bills to peso given that each country has different currencies. This business requires a considerable amount of capital, but it can be a good investment.
26. Fitness Coaching
Are you a person who loves fitness? Fitness coaching can be the perfect business for you because your knowledge of fitness is the thing that mainly matters. Many people want to become fit, and I’m sure that many people have this goal as their New Year’s resolution.
Exercising alone will not ensure you the perfect body that you wish. There are lots of ways to tone the body, and you can obtain a perfectly toned physique by doing proper exercises. Since you are an expert in this field, you might as well earn some money for being knowledgeable.
27. Party Needs
Special occasions are abundant here in the Philippines. You will see parties almost every other day. Thus, party needs business is always one of the popular businesses in the country. The start of the year is also a good time to begin, so your business can cover all the holidays.
28. Furniture Making
Investing in a furniture making business is a good idea. Furniture making can be enjoyable especially if you have the right skills. You may need to invest a certain amount of capital for the tools and equipment, and the good thing is that, these items can used for a long time.
You can sell custom-made furniture for an increased price. Customers love custom-made furniture that suits their taste. Most of them are willing to pay a considerable amount.
29. Virtual Assistance
Establishing business online is common nowadays. For this reason, the demand for online workers increases. Virtual assistance is one of the most popular services that you can offer. You can build a team who can offer online service as an assistant. The good thing is that you don’t need large capital for this, and the pay is high.
What’s your plan?
Above are just a few of the small business ideas that you can consider for 2015. Which one is your favorite? Is there any other business ideas that you are thinking to create?
Let us know your thoughts by commenting below or by sharing your feedback about this article. You may also follow us on Facebook. We love to get connected with you!
