Advice on setting up a business in the Philippines?

You will be like a sheep in the wolf's den. As a foreigner it will be just short of impossible for you to do this without plenty of local expertise. You'll spend a fortune and not get anything setup. Your best bet is to farm this out, 100%, to a Filipino company and let them worry about qualified staffing and infrastructure.

Listen to Yak Rider. It may not be what you want to hear but its the cold hard facts.

Yak gave you the right answer. Use what's already set up. They are very qualified and knowledgeble.

I would definitely attend that meeting that Allen is referring to. I would also ask them alot of questions about anything you need to know and if you don't get your questions answered then I would check on it myself on a trip to the Philippines. I would check out available office spaces and ask around where is a good location to have such a business. What is your companies website??

it is true that it would be hard for you to set up the business you like when you're a foreigner. most of the time, you will end up exhausted just for preparing the papers for your business. it's pretty much better that you tie up with filipino companies or talk to filipino who knows the ins and outs of the business that you like. i'm glad that there are people like you who like to help filipinos find a job and invest in a business here. if ever, just e-mail me for any questions in setting up your business and i'll be glad to be of help.

you must never do this ! you will be sorry ... it has been tried and it fails about 99% of the time . To prove whether I am correct or not - go hire 4-5 people to do anything - simply pick up trash on an empty lot . then take a look at the lot at the end of the day ..... For more complicated things , the results are very much worse

join the philippine business conference this october 20, 2008. manila hotel, you will meet lots of people involved in the call center industry. will be there too.

http://www.mixph.com/2006/03/steps-to-register-your-business.html try this site

You would need a local partner you can trust to help you find an office space and get setup. I would suggest you look at Iloilo City or Bacolod City. There are many call centers already here and the operating costs are much cheaper than the big cities of Manila or Cebu. There are many colleges here and finding good english speakers that are computer literate is no problem. It takes about 1 week to install the phone lines and 2-3 weeks for the DSL connection. Business permits usually take 3-4 working days. You would need to price the Office equipment and furnature. Buying in volume would get you a good deal. Same for the desktops. ($700) each roughly. Rent would be $200-$300 a month depending on location. One year lease and 2 months down and first month upfront is the norm. Starting Pay here is P10,000 ($240) for a call center agent.