My Business Idea and Why I Can’t Start a Business in My Place

They said having a business is better than having a job. But starting one is difficult and not as easy as ABC. You have a high-income job, why start a business? Well, for me having a business is better if we will look for a long-term perspective—if it will be successful.

I have been writing on several platforms where I earn a very good amount of cryptocurrency but we can't deny that they are not permanent and soon, they will be shut down. Hence, I am starting to save and treat my earnings from these platforms as my investment and use it for future purposes like building a business. 

But of course, before starting a business we must assess and analyze it first. The target audience and consumer, setting, and the concept of your business. After thinking of these things, I realized that starting a business in my place isn't ideal and difficult. Here's why;

People love debts

Having debt is a burden. You will never be rich and not win your finance game if you have debt. But at some point, people love having debt. My mother had a lot of simple businesses in our place like selling clothes, selling foods, halo-halo, etc. But she said, her past businesses are not successful because until now, there are still people who owe a debt to my mother, they are not paid after long years. Take note that a 1 cup of halo-halo before was only ₱5.00 each, yet, they will ask for debt and promise that they will pay it but they were not. 

You know that they have debts, so why not ask them for payment? Here's the thing, the debtors are wilder and bolder when creditors are collecting the payment. They were always like “we still have no money, can't you understand it?” and after the confrontation, they will not talk to you (forever) and forget about the debt. 

Believe it or not, I had an e-loading business but people are still asking for a debt. They are paying, but for a very long time. I remember that someone didn't pay me after more than or less than one month. Asking for a debt is not a problem if you can pay it immediately, please calm down when the due date comes like how you calm down while you are asking for a debt. 

There are few consumers

We are living in a very small community where people barely spend their money. Life is hard since the main job is fishing and the source of income is usually from the lake which is not an ideal job during this season. You cannot build a supermarket in this place because you will just waste your money, people do not have enough money to spend in “kinda” luxury places.

There are rich people but I don't think building a huge business isn't ideal in this place. People will buy, but just for the first month. In the next month of your business, it will start to die slowly. There are even “places-to-go-with-a-very-good-view” in other barangays where they are asking for entrance fees but as time passes by, visitors start to fade despite having an affordable fee (₱5.00-₱10.00). 

It is like selling something with a lot of competitors and it is almost impossible to have sales. 

My Business Idea

I don't know if we can consider this a business but I want to buy a vehicle, specifically a tricycle. It is like a “tricycle for rent” where the person that will use it will give me a portion of his daily earnings. It is a great way to have passive income and I think it is a good investment because transportation is what we always need. The tricycle has become the cultural vehicle of Filipinos and I think it will take decades to replace it despite the growing technology. 

It is a good idea, why not start and go for it? I shared the idea with my mother and she told me that they also had this idea before. She said she will tell my uncle—who knows well about the terms in this industry—and sadly, it is complicated.

It is not like buying a tricycle now, looking for a driver tomorrow, and starting on the next day. Because in reality, you need to register the vehicle and transfer under my name as the owner with LTO, there is a renewal thingy and a more complex process. 

He also reminded me that there are careless drivers who will not think about the vehicle because they didn't own it. They know that it is a vehicle rental that pushes them to be careless. I also need to think about the maintenance, and other fees when a tricycle has a problem. 

I realized that this is not the right time to start it. Since my money isn't enough yet for the estimated price and I don't think I can handle these consequences for now because this idea will be initiated in another place which is far from where I live because as I said, I don't have a plan to start a business in my area (for now) maybe soon there will be more opportunities here. 

So, I decided to buy a laptop that I can use for my studies and possibly more income opportunities. It is hard to manage them all on a phone. Besides, I have more plans with my online presence where I could earn but I decided to do them one step at a time. For now, I am saving more to be able to buy a laptop. Probably by June or July, I can buy one and start to zero again. But, that's fine. I just hope that I am on the right path. 

Published: April 26, 2022