Admit it. Working overseas can be tiring and overwhelming. Plus, you miss your family so bad and you want to be with them. Apparently, there are mouths to feed and bills to be paid. Plus, you want to make sure that your family, especially your kids or younger siblings, will have a secure future. This is why you are willing to take the sacrifices to ensure everyone’s welfare.
Still, you can’t be an OFW forever. At one point, you have to come home and build a life in the Philippines instead of depending on an employment overseas that may or may not happen. This is why it is important to start saving early and thinking of putting your money into something more sustainable, like a business.
The question now is are you ready for it?
Well, you need to satisfy these qualifications first:
Minimum of Six Months-Worth of Emergency Fund
One of the funds you need to prepare for is an emergency fund. You will never know what would happen, so it is best to prepared. Plus, not all businesses will succeed especially during the first year, which is why it is imperative that you have a fund that will keep you covered in case you hit a roadblock.
If you’re not convinced, then here is another reason why you need to have an EF: you could use the funds for additional working capital instead of borrowing. At least you don’t have to worry about interest rate, right?
Two Words: Financial Stability
This is the first thing you need to look into before you start with your business. In fact, you should be financially stable wherein a fixed amount of money comes in every month.
What does financial stability means? It’s about being free from debt, regardless of the kind loan. This way, when you decide to borrow money for additional working capital, you only have ONE loan to worry about.
Being financially stable also means you already diversified investments that are currently earning. You can check out this post about investment options to help you get started.
If you insist on putting up your own business even with existing loans, then at least make sure that you qualify the first requirement, which is having an emergency fund.
You Know What to Pursue
There are tons of businesses you can do. You might also be inspired by the many rags-to-riches stories, which is why you want to take your cue from them.
Is that what you really want?
Before you go home, make sure you know what you want to accomplish. At this point, you should have a business idea with a defined strategy on how to make it happen, including suppliers, marketing techniques, a defined demographic, and where to sell your product or service. Quitting your work overseas without having a clear, defined business plan is a big risk. You need to be sure first before you kiss your job goodbye.
You Understand How the Business Works
The difference between being an entrepreneur and an OFW is that being a business owner is a 24/7 job. You don’t get mandated off days and you have to work day in and day out to make sure that your business thrives. This is why you need to be equipped with necessarily business knowledge to make sure that you will succeed in this endeavor.
Eventually, problems will come along. You need to be able to solve this instead of quitting and saying you’re done with business. If that is your point of view, then you are surely better off working overseas because that’s not what a successful businessman will do.
The key here is to start small first. Also, don’t give up everything yet just to make this entrepreneurial dream happen. Take it slow and eventually, your dream of having your own business will come true.