Top Business Districts of Metro Manila

Melissa June 13, 2011 Business Guide, Location, Outsourcing 0

Makati (aka Ayala Center)
This is the de-facto first choice for office space since the 80′s and even up to now it is still the place to be for businesses. It is the busiest of all the CBD’s mentioned here and rents are still the highest. Hi-rise buildings are a mix of commercial, and residential and all the streets are reached by public transportation. The main thoroughfare is Ayala Avenue, followed by Buendia Avenue. In Ayala Avenue, most tenants are the contry’s biggest financial, insurance, law and auditing firms. This is also the closest to the airport. The best hotels in the city are also around the Makati Avenue / Pasay Road area. Among them are Makati Shangri-La, and the Manila Peninsula. The smaller inner streets on both sides of Ayala are called Salcedo Village and Legaspi Village, rents are comparatively lower and more older and small buildings are located — but not for long though. You would also notice that there is a low-rise residential area around the Northeastern side of Makati nearer EDSA, these are called the Bel-Air and Urdaneta Village which have been historically the area for the well-to-do crowd. The places northwest to west of Makati are a bit on the seedy side and therefore less desirable. The offices located on this side (Buendia and westwards) are not in great shape. It is also floody during rainy season on the Eastern streets near the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) — as long as you are before Chino Roces Road you are fine in my honest opinion. The nicest area in my opinion is near the “Greenbelt” area, close to the park, and close to the mall yet quieter but still close to the MRT and public transportation. There are also several serviced apartments around that area that you can rent at a significantly lower price than a hotel yet provides you with decent, clean accommodations, with kitchen and maid service and proximity to business and entertainment.

Pasig/Mandaluyong (aka Ortigas Center)
The main attraction of this CBD is its central location in Metro Manila. It is also much less polluted and streets are not as busy compared to the Makati CBD. The rents are also slightly lower. However, the land area is currently very small but there is some expansion going towards the Mandaluyong (Shaw) area called the Greenfields district. The most developed area is on the Pasig side where the most desirable streets are: F. Ortigas Jr., Julia Vargas, Meralco Ave., and San Miguel Ave. Then there is also the inner “gem streets”. The buildings here are a bit older (90′s) but rents are much attractive than the main streets. Most newer constructions are also along the main streets. Many BPO businesses are housed on this office buildings. Many workers here work at night so food services within the buildings are usually open late. There is also a night food market every Friday called the Banchetto located at F. Ortigas Jr. Rd (formerly called Emerald Ave.). The area also has its fair share of good hotels such as the EDSA Shangri-La, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Discovery Suits and serviced apartments such as the Malayan Plaza and the Joy Nostalg. The Philippine SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) office is just across EDSA, about 5 minutes drive. The main shopping malls are Megamall and Shangri-La Mall. Further east of Meralco Avenue, there are very few office spaces available as this is occupied by Valle Verde, an upperclass subdivision. Workers would usually have to walk or take jeepney or FX (hired aircon vans) from EDSA/MRT or elsewhere to get to the offices.

Taguig (aka BGC or Bonifacio Global City)
BGC is proud to claim its fame as a successfully masterplanned business district and one would easily see the difference: wide-treelined streets, all-new high rise buildings, the place attracts the young and hip, definitely. The rents are no longer cheap though, it rivals the prices of Makati and is expected to still go up and even go beyond Makati rates. There are still many open spaces and there is really much less noise and pollution compared to the first two. However, there is an issue with public transportation for the workers. The buses do not come here that often and the place is far from the commuter trains. The rents for the condominiums within BGS are also way too high for the average worker. A lot of foreign companies have opened a branch or subsidiary office in this area.

Other notable places:
Alabang
To get to Alabang, one needs to take the South Luzon Express Way and exit on the 3rd or 4th exit. It is not a joke commuting to these parts as traffic can be burdensome especially during the rainy season. The Alabang area is considered part of the suburbs as you would notice a huge difference in the environment, more lower rise buildings, and less crowded. However, you might have trouble finding employees willing to commute that far. However, much more affordable and generally nicer accommodations can be found in that area since one has a choice of living in a house with a garden and a more laid back lifestyle. The Festival Mall and Ayala Town Center are the main commercial areas of Alabang. As of now there are few buildings too choose from as not many new buildings are being built yet which makes rents there still not as affordable as they should be.

Libis (aka Eastwood)

In the Northeast of Pasig right at the end of C5, which is Southeast of Quezon City, you would find Libis area, which is also called Bagumbayan, QC. The commercial area located there is called Eastwood, which is the branding chosen by its developer (Megaworld). First impression is that it is a new and very lively place. The shops and restaurants are built right next to the office buildings, and the place is not that big, therefore very walkable. Mostly BPO’s (voice and ICT), including big names in IT such as IBM’s Global Services, and Trend Micro are located there. Many condominium units are also around the area, and units are rented by employers for their staff or rented by workers themselves. And also, if you are into nightclubbing, then this is the place to be. However, location-wise, it is not easy to commute there as it is on the far eastern edge, and few roads lead there.

Ways to start an offshore team

Melissa June 10, 2011 Outsourcing 0

If you are looking into starting an offshore team in the Philippines, there are several ways you can actually do it. I am going to sort it it in order of speed or complexity.

1. Work directly with freelancers using ODesk or Elance.
Find them in sites like freelancer.com, LinkedIn, ODesk or Elance, even Craigslist or just google for them! Trouble is, management is very difficult even if you are using sites that are made for this. The risk is also obviously higher and satisfaction rates are lower (based on my experience). If you happen to find a good one then good luck in also keeping them to yourself! ;-) Most take more than one projects at a time.

2. Hire a staff leasing provider
What these bigger companies usually provide on top of finding people for you is actually managing them for you. Remote management rarely works. The key here is good management that you can rely on. However, there is one thing that might be worrisome: lack of control — you have no idea how they are running your team on a daily basis. And this lack of knowledge of what goes on there sometimes would drive you nuts! ;-) Later on, you might find yourself extremely dependent on these companies that you might find yourself stuck with just agreeing on their terms just because they own your most precious resource — the people. The good thing is that, these companies usually can provide you with people quickly (within days), and even a fitted office space to go along with it. Otherwise, you have no reason to consider them if they respond slowly. Also, try to shop around and research the going rates and if possible the reputation of the company. Make sure contracts are not very restrictive on your part.

3. Buy a domestic company with existing staff
Why buy the milk when you can own the cow? However, make sure you have done your due diligence, checking the financial status of the company, checking also its compliance with all government institutions. And definitely check if they have the people you are looking for your business venture.

4. Start a domestic company from scratch
If you have time on your side, and clients not barking at your door, you can take your time and build it from scratch. Problem is, you actually have to have someone travel to the Philippines to get this started. It is best to send someone from your company to manage the operations totally. You would have to find your own administrative staff, down to messengers and assistants to get your office to run smoothly. You need to hire legal and accounting counsel as this is crucial to doing things right. You can also consider registering your company for Tax Free incentives such zero corporate income tax holiday for several years either through BOI (Board of Investments) or PEZA. You will need the service of a broker to find an office space (or find it yourself — which is a lot of hardwork). You will need to visit government agencies such as the SEC, the local and city government, BIR, SSS, PagIbig, Philhealth or hire someone to do it for you. And let’s not forget, you need to open corporate bank accounts too.

5. Start a local branch of your firm
This option is quite similar to #3 except that there are more documents needed such as financial statements and proof of financial capacity from the mother ship company. You also need to appoint a resident agent, usually someone you sent from your company to work on your behalf. The resident agent should have proper visas to stay in the country.

Why start a business in the Philippines

Melissa June 8, 2011 Outsourcing 0

Not many investors consider the Philippines first for doing business because most of them do not hear a lot of good things in the news about the Philippines. Most of the time they hear about calamities, civil unrest (People Power revolutions), bombings, terrorism, which gives them the wrong idea that the country is very unstable. Contrary to popular belief, the Philippines is actually Asia’s best kept secret among those that have actually lived and done business here. Of course, the experience varies but most foreigners love living here because of the warm and friendly people, weather, the beaches and its natural beauty. Others are turned off by the chaos, corruption and the many cultural problems caused by extreme poverty and joblessness. But with the lack of employment comes an opportunity for businesses to tap a huge amount of manpower that is willing and able to work for wages that would astound them.

The lower wages is not the only thing that attracts businessmen but also the remarkable English fluency of the natives. Contrary to what others think in some parts of the globe, the natives no longer wear G-strings, start bonfires and climb trees, sorry but if they still believe that is the case then they must also been living in the caves themselves . An English speaking foreigner can find his way easily just by speaking to locals. Business and legal documents are all written in English, official business language is English as well as the medium of instruction in schools. Finding food from one’s country is also not a problem here, especially in Metro Manila where you can find restaurants that serve pretty much any kind of dish from all over the world.

We are quite fortunate to have found excellent IT people for my husband’s Manila offshore team. His client is very happy and satisfied with their work. Costs are NOT the only reason businesses go to Manila to find people — it is also the lack of skilled workers in their homeland that drives them to find it elsewhere. I know in some countries like the USA, off-shoring work is frowned upon by many and they think that jobs are being taken away from citizens but the truth is, it is not easy to find talent, and if they cannot find it in their own shores, even at competitive rates, they have no choice but to look elsewhere. Another reason for starting a team here is for 24 hour support, and some companies realize that having additional support outside of their timezone is valuable to their business.

In my experience, starting a business here is also quite easy and inexpensive compared to other countries. You can start a business with little money depending on the size and type of your business, or whether it’s for export or not. The corruption may be present, but one can actually tread those murky waters in a smart way if one does his homework well (or hire a consultant to help them). In our case, we did it by doing our homework (a lot of research!), hiring consultants for our knowledge gaps, and utilizing social and family contacts, and the rest was just luck and hardwork! In my future article(s) I plan to discuss more about the costs of starting a business and the different ways you can get started. Check back soon!