15 Powerful Small Business Tips Philippines

Operating a small business is indeed challenging in the Philippines. So, with this in mind… do you want to know the secrets of success? Today we will be exploring the best small business tips for the Philippines.

Table of Contents

Small Business Tips In The Philippines

The Biggest Tips For Small Businesses In The Philippines It To Use Your Passion

Before thinking of what business to start, it’s a good idea to think of your Passion. There is an ongoing argument in the business world of passion Vs. Money. Some passions do not generate profit. Therefore, some experts advise people to follow the money and not their passions.

I believe success is found in both Passion and profit. When a person has Passion, they focus well and to the point. As a result, a person can finish tasks without doubts or complaints. A person’s chance of finding success is higher when they are passionate and committed. People can direct their energy in finding staff that shares the same Passion. A business owner can also work to the Pareto principle to increase chances of success (80% of the sales come from 20% of the customers, etc.)

When Starting A Small Business In The Philippines, You Need To Build Your Knowledge

Passion is the force that will always drive you to improve as you achieve business success. Nevertheless, in many cases, it is wise not to let passion alone control all your decisions.

Knowledge will guide you towards the right path. You can compare it to driving. Your Passion is the gas pedal, and your knowledge is your steering wheel. In other words, with the right knowledge, you can gain confidence that you are going in the right direction with the right momentum.

There are many different knowledge topics to focus on as a business owner, such as communication, delegation, networking, and others. In addition, when focusing on your business specifically, there is also a great deal of knowledge to gain, such as market research, marketing, etc.

A great tip for small businesses in the Philippines is to increase knowledge. There are many different business education sites online, such as Skillshare & Udemy.

Successful Small Businesses Always Build A Specific Business Plan

You have probably realized from Filipino Wealth how vital a business plan is. The industries in the Philippines are highly competitive. Therefore, obtaining a business plan is a great way to keep your strategies clear.

Your business plan answers all the hard business-related questions and outlines your business’s future. For example, you can determine or update your competition, target market, wealth, and competitive advantage, among many others.

We have created a free business plan for the Philippines, which can be downloaded below.

Download Your Free Small Business Philippines Template

Although it is not a required document, making a business plan is one of the best tips for small businesses in the Philippines. As the old saying goes, “It is hard to go to a new place without a map.”

If You Own A Small Business In The Philippines, Aim To Niche The Business Down

One of the best tips for small businesses in the Philippines is to find your niche. So many businesses fail because they attempt to either be the same or provide a product/service to the whole community.

So you may be wondering, how do I niche my business down? The first step is to look at your business. Is it in the food or health sector, for example? Next, go down the list to find a niche, even sub-niche categories.

For the example above, a business could become a café in the food sector. Niching, this down brings us to the student café. You may be wondering, “why is this important for small businesses in the Philippines?” When we can niche down a business, we can also niche down on the customers meaning that we can find customers easier and significantly cheaper.

One Vital Small Business Tip Includes Finding The Right Sources Of Capital

Whether your business is new or not, it can be hard to do business with banks in the Philippines. You will realize that the time you spend negotiating there could have been spent in developing your business.

It is always important to find the right capital sources as they may be cheaper options available long and short term. For alternative sources of money, you could look at the private fund sources. Checking your investments and savings can help before going to other sources.

It’s always wise not to rush into starting a new business. In many cases, it’s a good idea to have a survival budget, which is generally around six months. Many banks and investors will ask entrepreneurs, “can your business survive six months without an income?”

Where can you obtain additional funding? Aside from business loans, you can use a crowdfunding platform such as Gava. Crowdfunding is a way to raise money from contributions made through the Internet.

As A Small Business Owner, Build Your Entrepreneurial Confidence

Many business owners find it challenging to sell. Some feel intimidated to talk about their business products & services. People often have a great sense of knowing when others are unconfident, uncomfortable, or not telling the truth.

Therefore it is essential to believe in your business and the value that your business brings. Being shy is not usually a good trait in the business world. Therefore it’s a good idea to practice self-confidence.

On Jamiefitzjohn.com, I spoke about how to build confidence. In many cases, confidence is built through new experiences. An excellent small business tip for the Philippines is to grab opportunities to help improve your business confidence. This can include networking events, speaking, product awareness, etc.

All Big Businesses Started Small. Start Small With What You Have

Starting a business in the Philippines has never been easier. The good news is, you do not need to start with a big business straight away. When starting, what is essential is to have the first steps listed down and measures to take to grow your business.

You most likely have all your business ideas prepared already when you start your own company. Nevertheless, it is wise to be careful not to let these ideas become too complicated. You may end up spending more on expensive and complicated extras on the business that customers will not take notice of.

Focus on signal over noise. Don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t actually make things better
Elon Musk – Tesla CEO

For a new business, it is always best to narrow down your focus and start small. You can experiment with your business idea and make a quality product or service. Your business idea needs to exceed the expectations of your customers and keep your promise to them.

You can remove features that are not needed to save on your expenses. For example, a small business in the Philippines does not require the same additional features that large companies have. However, as your business grows, you could choose to include extra features, products & services.

If your small business is eligible for registering benefits from Barangay Micro-Business Enterprise (BMBE), you can visit your nearest DTI Go Negosyo Center. Some benefits you can get here in the Philippines are financial assistance and exemptions from income tax payments.

Another Key Small Business Tip Involves Focusing On Business Strengths

This is often a great small business tip for the Philippines that is missed. Many business owners focus on strengthening their weaknesses, which is always a good thing. However, they sometimes do not focus on improving their strengths.

What product are you selling the most of? What video gets the most attention? What service is being asked for the most? Pushing what hot will help your business grow.

What is recommended is to look at your business through fresh eyes. First, list all of your activities in your business. These can include your management style, your business processes, your delivery operations, etc. Next, write a number between one to ten against these processes. One being extremely weak and ten being extremely strong.

This will allow you to see your business’s strengths and weaknesses and what areas to improve upon. Then, after taking some action steps, it’s a good idea in 30 days to repeat this exercise.

Treat All Customers Like They Are VIPS (Because They Are)

Its always necessary to make time to develop relationships between your business and customers. Customers should feel happy whenever they talk with you or your staff. As a business in the Philippines, your reputation with your customers is vital.

Therefore, you would not want to do anything that can damage it. Therefore, one of the best small business tips for the Philippines is building and maintaining your reputation (More in the next tip).

Aside from retaining these customers, excellent customer service can make you gain more advantages and more customers. In other words, providing excellent service allows you to quickly recover expenses, get more referrals, and have positive reviews and feedback. Therefore, satisfied customers are your best advertisers.

Even If Your Business Is Small, Always Strengthen Your Reputation

Reputation is built in a lifetime but destroyed in seconds. Therefore, the service or product quality is essential because your name is on the line. If your business suffers, then potentially, your reputation can suffer.

You can start building your reputation through your brand name. Aside from choosing a name that customers can easily remember, it should give a positive impression of what you offer and what your business is about. In other words, a customer should be able to identify what to expect from your business.

For example, if you sell all-natural products, your customers will expect no chemicals in them. Therefore, your labeling and marketing should be on point and clear. A mistake with how you present your products can ruin your business’ integrity. Networking with the community is a great way to strengthen your reputation and build possible leads.

In Order To Be The Best You Need To Hire The Best

When first starting a business, it is common to do most of the work. Nevertheless, to achieve your business goals, you have to develop the skills you are good at, but how do you develop a part of the business you are not skillful in? You hire the best.

Employees are essential in the long-term success of a business. Therefore, doing background checks and auditing their skills need to be done. As a boss, you should always train the staff so that their skills will always be at their best. If not, they might become bored and unproductive.

One of the most crucial small business tips the Philippines to remember: When employees feel important, they grow. When they grow, your business grows.

Small Business Owners Always Find Learning Opportunities.

Every challenge you face in your business is an opportunity to learn. If you want to succeed, you have to be a great learner. This is especially true when you are new in the business world. You cannot expect that you will do everything right for the first time.

You have to find learning opportunities to develop your business and make it different from your competitors. Even if you reach your goals, you should keep your mind open to new techniques and ideas about your business processes.

Learning also means finding mentors or peers who can teach you. In doing business in the Philippines, whether big or small, you never stop learning. If you do not know anyone in your industry personally, you can join related associations or groups on Facebook.

Another Vital Small Business Tip Includes Finding The Best Suppliers

After your customers, another crucial relationship is with your suppliers. This is because a supplier can also determine the fate of your business. For this reason, it’s unwise to tolerate frequent late deliveries and high prices. As mentioned, you can include this when updating your business plan.

Whatever business you are in, your suppliers’ reliability also reflects on your reputation as a business owner. The right supplier is best described as delivering on time, consistently giving quality products, and regularly manufacturing goods.

If there are many supplies offered, you can test the product for its quality by checking, attracting customers’ most confidence. Another thing to consider when searching for a supplier is the location.

The nearer the supplier, the better. You can save a lot of waiting time and delivery costs. The payment methods of a supplier can provide convenience. If a supplier accepts a credit card, you can maximize your credit card limit and make it easy to purchase restocks. It also prevents you from having to borrow money from illegal lenders.

As A Business In The Philippines, Always Utilizing The Internet To The Fullest

It is not far from impossible that people will do business online. In the Philippines, the industry of online commerce is growing. Before other companies take over the industry, you can take the opportunity now to make your online presence.

Many small business tips in the Philippines for the experts include having a website. This is where your customers can find all the information they need about your services and products. There is a limit as to what you can show in a physical store. People from different parts of the Philippines or the world can be your potential customer by having a website.

Do you feel intimidated by building a website? You do not have to be because it is not expensive considering the benefits you get. With a budget of around P20,000 or less, you can hire a professional to build a great business website for you.

One of the best tips for small businesses in the Philippines was starting small in our previous tip. Therefore, creating a short landing page for your site will be sufficient in your early days.

The Last Small Business Tip For The Philippines Focus On The Small Daily Wins

Building a business in the Philippines, big or small, is not an easy task. It is common for business owners to feel disheartened early on. Therefore, focusing on small daily wins will help you gain a perspective and keep you motivated when setting up a small business in the Philippines.

We take risks all the time, we talk about failure…We need big failures in order to move the needle. If we don’t, we’re not swinging enough
Jeff Bezos – Amazon CEO

This is always similar when building your business. It is best not to focus so much on the end goal (even though we get told we should) but instead focuses on the present. Concentrate on what value you can bring to your customers today and how you can make their life easier and better. If this is achieved, your results will follow.

The Best Small Business Tips In The Philippines – Takeaway

The Biggest Tips For Small Businesses In The Philippines It To Use Your Passion

When Starting A Small Business In The Philippines, You Need To Build Your Knowledge
Successful Small Businesses Always Build A Specific Business Plan
If You Own A Small Business In The Philippines, Aim To Niche The Business Down

One Vital Small Business Tip Includes Finding The Right Sources Of Capital
As A Small Business Owner, Build Your Entrepreneurial Confidence
All Big Businesses Started Small. Start Small With What You Have

Another Key Small Business Tip Involves Focusing On Business Strengths
Treat All Customers Like They Are VIPS (Because They Are)
Even If Your Business Is Small, Always Strengthen Your Reputation

In Order To Be The Best You Need To Hire The Best
Small Business Owners Always Find Learning Opportunities.
Another Vital Small Business Tip Includes Finding The Best Suppliers

As A Business In The Philippines, Always Utilizing The Internet To The Fullest
The Last Small Business Tip For The Philippines Focus On The Small Daily Wins

There are many different tips for small businesses in the Philippines. As we have mentioned before, the Philippines is a grand county to set up a business in. There are many different opportunities in many different areas around the county and online.

The difficulty Filipinos mainly face is a financial one. However, the problem is never a lack of money. The problem is a lack of ideas. Captial can be gained from many different areas. You may need to do some digging to find that pot of gold.

As a quick bonus tip for small businesses in the Philippines, I’ve noticed that word of mouth has been paramount over the years. In other words, it matters massively. Getting people’s attention for the right reasons is a great way to build your brand awareness. So I hope that today’s list of small business tips in the Philippines has given you some value.