Have you thought about living and working in the Philippines? Many travelers to the Philippines immediately fall in love with the Philippines when they come to visit. From the beautiful beaches and waterfalls to the friendly people and ease of conversing in English.
The Philippines is an amazing country that has so much to offer those who wish to call this their home for the long term and not just a short vacation turnaround trip. My good buddy Ryan wanted to know if a young guy could make a serious attempt at making a living here in the Philippines and explains his thoughts on the subject in the video below, check it out!
Living in the Philippines
If you have considered packing your bags, moving out of your country, and living in the Philippines you’re not alone. The allure of tall coconut trees, white sandy beaches, and a relaxing lifestyle make it very easy to understand why so many people consider doing just that.
Many foreigners come to the Philippines with a dream that runs along those lines.
When you’re working the rat race in the west, living and working in the Philippines may seem like an impossibility. However, it is far from impossible and so many people every year are making this dream become a reality now more than ever.
As I said, there are loads of foreigners who pack their bags and move to sunnier shores. They come to the Philippines to start resorts, dive shops, and bars. For the savvy businessperson, there are loads of Philippines business opportunities around every corner and many are actually quite obvious choices considering their popularity in any given location. One idea is to start a dive shop which considering the Philippines consists of over seven thousand islands in total makes perfect sense from a business standpoint considering the sheer amount of water surrounding the islands. Many people who are living and working in the Philippines do so with a dive shop. They buy gear, hire staff and rent a shop. You can go diving almost anywhere in the Philippines, but a popular spot is diving in Puerto Galera.
This opportunity also presents a few challenges. Have you ever run a dive shop before? Are you a qualified diver? If you want to start a successful dive shop, you want to be a highly qualified diver.
Business in the Philippines
Another idea is to start a resort or hotel or any kind of business in the Philippines for that matter as the barrier for entry is quite low considering the requirements by most western countries’ standards. This is a very common option and one that many foreigners and ex-pats choose as the first means of staying for an extended period of time. In many of the tourist areas, foreigners have invested huge sums of money to build resorts, restaurants, and all sorts of common travel accommodations geared towards tourism all over the islands.
Some of them become wildly successful and make great money in doing so and have found themselves living the Philippine lifestyle they have always wanted. However, for each successful resort, there’s a handful of resorts that are never even opened or better yet barely scraping by. You see, many foreigners charge into the Philippines and forget the rules, yes I said the rules in which you may forget of their very existence if you’ve been in the Philippines for any given amount of time. They make silly mistakes, such as not getting a clear title on the land before building their resort just to name an obvious yet common mistake made here by many.
If you want to start a resort, it’s not as simple as “build it and they will come” as most who decide to go for this venture imagine in their minds prior to the start of such an investment. Like I said, in most tourist areas, there are numerous resorts that are all competing with each other, and only so many tourists and potential guests and customers alike are able to occupy all the rooms on any given island. To succeed, you will need to gain an advantage, particularly in your marketing and how you present your business to the world, and properly invest in how to make your company or business known and seen to the masses. How will you get people to the resort? Is the location good? Will you have a website? Will people know how to find your website when they search on Google?
Before you get started, it’s worth getting a rough idea of how all these components will come together. Doing this will enable you to successfully live and work in the Philippines.
Other options for working in the Philippines include starting a bar or restaurant as well as running adventure tours or something similar to this as just having a bar nowadays is not as popular as having the extra activities and theme to go with the experience your business offers those who are in need of your service and what sets you apart from the rest of the crowd doing the same thing. In the Puerto Galera nightlife surrounding Badladz, there are many bars and many restaurants owned by foreigners.
Before you jump on a plane to the Philippines, there are a few more things you need to know.
If you want to work when you come to the Philippines, don’t expect to do anything that a Filipino can do. If they can do it, they’ll get the job as they are much cheaper. Don’t expect to teach English. Don’t expect to get a job unless you really stand out from the crowd.
In the end, it is possible to start living and working in the Philippines. It will take patience, hard work, and a sizeable lump of determination. But you can do it.
If you have any questions, contact us and we can do our best to help answer any concerns you may have. If you would like an amazing place to stay while getting your footing here in the Philippines and would enjoy the ease of being close to Manila without having to worry about the chaos of being close to a big city come visit us at BADLADZ Adventure Resorts right here on the tropical paradise in Puerto Galera!
Cheers,
Sean
