Denise Emille Duque
January 29, 2023

If you’re dreaming of starting your dream business, you can’t just do it alone. It can be overwhelming to consider everything you need to start and manage it. Sometimes, you need an extra set of hands to make it easier. That is why many Filipinos choose to start a business with their families.

Starting a family business has the following advantages:

·         You work with people you trust

·         Office or work politics is less likely to occur

·         Family members

·         You understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses

·         Your loved ones will always be by your side

·         The money stays in the family

·         Business traditions are easier to maintain

On the other hand, here are some of the disadvantages you need to keep in mind:

·         Family disagreements can interrupt business

·         A family member you may want to hire may not always meet the needs of your business

·         Negative feedback can be taken personally

·         It’s tempting to be too lenient with relatives

·         Potential lack of fresh ideas

·         The whole family can go into a financial crisis if the business fails

Now that you are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of starting a family business, here are 4 business ideas you can start with your family.

1.       Sari-sari Store 

Capital Needed: P10,000 – P100,000

Sari-sari stores are the easiest business to start in the Philippines. You can set one up through a window with railings facing the road or have an extra room to display your commodities.

Managing a sari-sari store with your family is easy. For example, you and your partner can purchase the goods, do the pricing, inventory, and etc. Your children can also help you in operations by becoming the “bantay” when you are occupied.

Depending on the size of your space, you can easily start a sari-sari store with a few thousand pesos to buy a variety of products from canned goods, sweets, chips, additives, soft drinks, soaps, detergents, etc. And if you found success, gradually expand your business by offering mobile load, school supplies, etc.

Although starting and managing a sari-sari store is easy, you must keep in mind that competition is fierce. You must stand out by offering greater value, variety, and customer service to make it successful in the long run.

Depending on your business’ size and success, you can have a daily revenue of P4000.

2.       Carinderia/Turo-turo

Capital needed: P10,000 – P15,000

If you have a passion for cooking home-cooked meals, then this is the perfect family business for you. All you need is capital for food supplies, utensils, equipment, and space. You can set up a turo-turo business anywhere, but if you live near schools, commercial areas, and generally busy areas, you can start your business right at home.

You can start by offering staple Filipino dishes including adobo, caldereta, barbecue, kare-kare, lumpia, fried fish, adobong sitaw, pinakbet, giniling, etc. Over time, you can expand your menu by offering breakfast meals, snacks, and fancier dishes to spice up your menu.

Operations-wise, you and your partner can handle the purchasing of supplies, cooking, pricing, etc while your children can handle transactions and customer service.

A good carinderia business can earn P3,500 or above per day.

3.       Baking Goods

Capital needed: P5,000-above or lower (Depends on the availability of equipment)

If you have a passion for baking and your social media posts about your baked goods get tons of good reactions, you can start an online baking business. Filipinos are natural sweet tooths which is why online baking businesses boomed in recent years.

Depending on your available equipment and the products you plan to sell, you would need capital for as low as a few thousand pesos and above. Some of the products you can sell include puto, cupcakes, brownies, etc.

You can tag your family members in your baking or in the selling part of the business.

A successful online baking business can earn P200k – P1.1M annually.

4.       Selling Produce (Fruits, veggies, meats, poultry, fishes)

Capital needed: P20,000 - above

Going to the market to buy meat, fish, poultry, fruits, and vegetables is not always convenient for many people living far. If you want to start a family business that can help your local community, you can start selling produce or a talipapa business with your family.

There are several things you need before you start a talipapa business. First, you need a capital of at least P20,000 and above. Next, you need a space to sell your products. Following this, you need to find good suppliers of fresh meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, etc. And of course, you need equipment such as knives, weight scales, etc. and you also need to know basic butchery skills (or hire a relative who’s good at it).

You and your partner can handle things like purchasing supplies, keeping tabs with suppliers, pricing, etc. Your children and other relatives can handle transactions, butchering, etc.

You can also make your talipapa digital. In recent years, more and more people are buying produce online. You can take advantage of this by selling your produce on social media or through an eCommerce website.

Daily-earnings can reach P2,000-P18,000 depending on the success of your business.

Requirements

Before you jump into starting a family business, you need to have the following business documents to make it legal:

• Barangay Clearance
• Mayor’s Business Permit
• BIR Registration
• SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG registration
• Special permits if applicable
   

Tips

Here are some tips you can use to make your family business more successful:

• Make a thorough business plan
• Understand your target market
• Keep roles and responsibilities clear
• Listen to each other’s feedback
• Use the available technology to make business processes easier and to open new ways to expand
• Communicate properly
• Have a backup fund for financial emergencies
• Have another source of income