If you are planning to expand your business, then the Philippines is an ideal choice. With its sustained growth & modernization, rich resources, and rife local & international trades, the Philippines consistently attracts many large multinational corporations that are looking to lower their costs and take advantages of competitive domestic wages and a highly educated workforce.
Indeed, the Philippines known as the “Pearl of the Orient” is an enticing site to expand your business, but as with any new venture especially if it’s overseas expansion, the process does take time and requires careful planning.
So here are the top three things that you must know before expanding your business to the Philippines.
Know the Legal Requirements
You must know that tax codes & business regulations vary from country to country. Therefore, you must research tax laws, import restrictions, customs laws, corporate organization, and liability laws. Even the domestic legislation needs to be examined for the issues arising under the labour law, tax law, immigration law, customs law, agency law, and other producers/distributor liability provisions.
Foreign investors usually register and start a business in the Philippines with a Domestic Corporation or Branch Office. Corporations are more favourable when it comes to administrative regulation while branch offices may be more advantageous if you are thinking tax-wise. The important thing is you need to ensure that all the legal requirements are in order.
Check the Language Barrier
Apart from the ability to understand and speak in English, check for the country’s standards for humour, accepted puns or jargon, or even the subtle gestures as they might not be the same as they are in your domestic country’s norms or idioms. In addition to that, you will be professionally dealing with Filipinos and the documents in that language more often for that hiring a professional who has expertise in Filipino language translation will be the best decision.
A professional Filipino language translationwill not help you with translating conversations or your documents, but also they’ll help you in understanding law and order of the country by interpreting the exact meaning for you to overcome the language barriers.
Perform Due Diligence
Before expanding your business to another country, it is vital to understand what will be the full impact on your business. Will your product capture the local market? More importantly, perform a SWOT analysis against the competition in the market. It will help your business immensely to assess what it can and can’t do, as well as about its potential opportunities and threats.
Expanding a business is the natural progression of a prosperous venture. If you want to maximize your chances of success with a thriving location, then the Philippines is your answer!