Business and Family in P.I.

This one has probably been done before , but might be interesting to re-visit if so

As much as I love my wife's family , I soon very early on learnt that in my case business + family was not going to work
Especially if you are not there to oversee things , this is my situation and experience only , there is no doubt that there are possibly reverse versions of my experience where everybody made lots of money and was happy ever after O-| .

As a trial for future operations there , I bought 2 pedicabs (10+yrs ago) , I think we paid about 60,000 peso each , all three of my wifes brothers did not have permanent work , everybody there was extremely excited and happy .
And for a $3,000aud I thought it was a pretty safe little investment .

Upon my return to oz , my wife later informs me that they have engaged two drivers for the pedicabs , I said what about your brothers , reply was they don't really want to do that , so the family rented each pedicab out to the drivers for 100 peso a day , and proceeded to receive the regular income of 200peso/day from the pedicabs .
Every time I returned to the Philippines for the next 5 years I spent my "holiday" rebuilding and repairing pedicabs , everytime the rego was due we had to send the money , major repairs also send the money , replace tyres etc , send the money .

At one point they informed us that they needed some extra money and had decided to sell one of the pedicabs , so with all my brilliance , I purchased it(for the second time) from them for 35,000 peso and gifted it back to them . A couple of more years passed , and when I realised that I hadn't had a holiday for about 7 yrs (always fixing pedicabs)
I terminated all business activities , re-possessed 1 pedicab , for personal use , and then banned everyone from the pedicab and scooters that are mine , and for 3 or so years now I have been enjoying time there , not fixing everything as in the past . I figured my final approach to the situation was better than just sticking a match to everything in the front yard .

Thoughts Gentleman ?

Tony

 

Well, Tony. you beat them, by Joining them, Retirement and doing what you like. but now, they have nothing again and you, can sit back and smile, while they, cry in the Beer, that, no doubt, you bought them! Lesson learned by them, I doubt it. Lesson learned by You, OH Yes! coz my friend, you made the 100% right decision. Biting the hand, that feeds you, has never worked, Well done that man


JP

 

Some medicine View attachment 11001

 

A BIG Thankyou!

Strange as this exact topic came up last December while I was there as to ideas of what it was I would like to do... I was throwing ideas around and my two Bro's eyes lit up when I suggested this ingenious fail proof idea of making a few pesos... I was informed that to buy a New Tricycle with a Good Bike will set me back around 100,000 pesos. So far so good... Maybe I should buy ONE EACH and start a Family Business? I mean; what could go wrong huh? :D

Then my mind began ticking over, both hire the Tricycles in Duma for their nightly work, and I was told 100 pesos per day... *tick tock tick tock*... Say WHAT??

Wait... 100,000 divided by... *mumble mumble* opens up trusty Orgasmic Calculator on PC... *Tap Tap Tap* :( HUH????

NEEEEEXXXXT!!!! O-|

Thank you for confirming my exact thoughts mate!

 

A slow learner for sure but eventualy you saw to it and now you can enjoy your holidays, that's a happy ending, I hope...

 

Frankly I've never heard of one of these ventures that succeeded. I'm sure there are a few out there but not many.

This is a quote I heard sometime ago, don't know to whom to attribute;

"THE ONLY THING EASY ABOUT MONEY IS LOSING IT."

Wifey and I were just talking about that exact same thing just minutes prior to this post.

When it comes to money the most difficult word to learn how to say is NO!

Many people in Philippines want HELP, but only on their terms. If you go to a bank to borrow money it is always on THEIR terms.

You cannot make people do what they SHOULD DO.

 

Tony...I think a number of folks are thinking some of the same things; especially having some type of work/business to keep us busy after retirement.

Personally I'm taking a break from work for a while but I am not ready to retire yet, I just love what I do too much and know I can't do it here.

I truly enjoy most of the wife's family that I have met but would never go into business with them, nothing against them but I just don't think most of their life experience would put them in a position to be in a business. On the house build I wanted to employ as many as the wife's family as we could, construction experience or not.

The good thing with this approach is that they are getting paid to learn construction and have progressed to doing a good bit of different tasks. They hump it everyday and seem to be having fun doing the job. I like people like that and would recommend quite a few to work elsewhere once my house is done.

Like I started with my reply, I have a few business ideas floating around in my head, at least one of them is going to happen (hopefully fairly soon) but it will only work if me and Cherry manage it and only use family as employees not partners.

Shawn

 

Oh how very true all of the above , I am still amazed everyday at people that want help with things and then want to be the ones to decide how it all goes down , I did find a way to cure that ailment , I sent no money there for 12 months , and things are a bit different now , because nobody wants to experience that kind of drought again , it is just kind of strange that some people don't realise that it is the person with the money that gets to make the decisions and not the other way around.
Hallelujah , I am not alone :D

Tony

 

I'm the oldest of eight siblings and some of them have screwed me out of money. I say that only to say that Filipinos are not the only persons that will get to you, it is anybody.

 

I hear you LOUD & CLEAR!

30 years ago I had a Motorbike accident, while I was in Hospital I died 4 times and all of my so called friends cleaned me out of everything I owned, but then I suppose it is to be expected when the Vultures are sitting on the fence...

But the one thing I NEVER expected;
I had several Loans which I managed fine while I was working, my Mother offered to help find a Finance Company who could roll all of my Loans into one with a lower repayment rate over a longer period of time, sounded reasonable... I stressed to her NOT to overborrow buy a single Dollar, ONLY BORROW WHAT I NEEDED!

Next thing there is $2,000.00 more in my Account, my Mother explained to me (yes you can see where this is going already as could I) that I would need that money when I got out of Hospital, so strung up in traction with more holes and leaks in me than an old Battle Ship I gave her the benefit of the doubt...

When I got out of Hospital, I went to take over my Loan, only to discover that the extra money was long gone, and during my marathon stay in Hospital, not ONE SINGLE Loan repayment had been made!! I WAS FURIOUS! I had a Girlfriend and FOUR children all under the age of 2 years to support on a SINGLE Sickness Benefit due to Social Security screwing us for more than 3 months taking my GF's Pension from her, so in another moment of stupidity, I demanded my Mother REPAY what she owed to me and what she had not paid!

Mistake #02: After 6 months my Sister told me she had read a Letter of Demand threatening Legal Action against me, I contacted the Financial Institution to discover that again; Dear Mother had not paid a Single Payment... All up her actions added another 5 to 7 years to my Loan (I now forget exactly which) at $103.00 per Fortnight, and increased it the amount she had not paid plus late fees and fines, plus I was out of Pocket the 2 Grand, my own Mother who I had spent a good 6 years paying her run up debts and bailing her out of trouble so that Dad never found out what she was doing, who bought her a nice little Car, the list goes on...

Her excuse; "She thought if I died no one would know and the Debt would be wiped"...

Later on in life Dumb @ss me bought her another Car after Dad died... She repaid me by cutting me totally out of the Will and stitching it up in a way I have no leg (no pun intended hehe) left to stand on...

Blood does not make one Family...