Living And Working In Cebu

Posts Tagged ‘business’

Startup costs for a new business can be much lower in Cebu than elsewhere, enabling you to do things that may have seemed beyond your reach back home. As with any new business do your market research. A business model and service that works well at home may not be viable in the Philippines environment.

Be warned that while at first there does not seem to be any regulation or registration requirements, this is not the case. Generally very small ventures are left alone but as soon as your business starts to be successful or has a high profile it will come to the attention of the authorities. At which time you will need to have all the required permits and accounting practices in place. Getting these can be more challenging than back home.

The eBook ‘Making A Living In The Philippines’ has been written by someone that has actually done it and covers all these aspects. Purchasing ‘Making A Living In The Philippines’ gives you access to a network of people that are thinking about or already have made the move so you can benefit from their experience and ideas.

The Philippines already has a very high unemployment rate and the last thing they want is foreigners coming over and competing for jobs.  The local wages are such that many foreigners would find it a challenge to survive on them anyway. For those who are fortunate enough to score an ‘expat’ job (expatriate) they will enjoy a good salary, housing, education and often paid vacation travel.

Those jobs are not easy to come by if only because the Philippines has a very well educated and qualified professional pool to draw from. Those jobs are also almost always recruited for overseas. Any job openings that occur domestically that are aimed at a foreigner filling the position will also attract a much lower salary. I have worked at firms where the local expat hires are paid a quarter or less than the imported expat hires. Of course the local expat hires are still paid about the same more than the local hires so what goes around, comes around!

There will always be more jobs for expats in Manila than in Cebu, if only because Manila is over ten times the size in population and area. This doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to be had there. I know several long term expat employees of There will always be more jobs for expats in Manila than in Cebu, if only because Manila is over ten times the size in population and area. This doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to be had there. I know several long term expat employees of furniture manufacturers and other businesses as well as owners of restaurants, clubs and so on who have lived and worked in Cebu for decades.