⌛ I'm a Canuck who's visiting soon!

Hi!

I'm meta and I live on the very cool and rainy Vancouver Island. Think of it as Dumaguete during the rainy season but missing about 25 degrees C! Oh, and you also want to add in deer and bear running around everywhere! :D

I'm considering spending a couple of weeks in Dumaguete in February, so I have a ton of questions which I'll address later in the various appropriate forums:

- Car rental (economy)
- Hotel with pool (affordable)
- Good restaurants (also affordable)
- Shopping centers (I'm a real fan of big modern indoor malls)

and more.

I'd also like to discuss "becoming a client" of an outsourcing business in Dumaguete. But more on that later and in the right forum!

Look forward to chatting with you!

 

welcome to DI,

1.) Dumaguete Cars - Car Rental, Transfers & Services (the only legal one in Dumaguete
2.) in Dumaguete only Florentina Homes I would send someone for clean room and pool on a ok standard. in Dauin (13 km south) Mikes Resort starting 2500 peso up to Atlantis and Atmosphere 100$ and more a night. some between.
3.) well, taste is in the eye of the beer-holder,plenty of ok food around (if you are 9 years in the PI like I am , you eat what is available... if only a few month, food might be good, if you like authentic dishes it is disappointing), but speaking of hygiene and authentic, there is only 1 restaurant I bring my friends...
4.) not existing .... 1 provincial mall with 100 handbag an shoe shops, local fastfood and 3 movie theaters.. on of them already with surround sound...

cheers from a provincial town in a 3rd world country

Rhoody

 

Hi Rhoody and thanks for the reply.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeelieve me, there's nothing better than a provincial town in a third world country as long as it's nice and clean and warm! :D

I'm in a bit of a quandary as the primary purpose for my trip is to set up an arrangement in town for outsourcing aspects of my business. And I have to confess I don't even know where to start! Is there a local newspaper with classifieds where I can advertise for business partners/participants (no financial stake asked for)? I don't want to wait until I get there and just walk up and down the streets asking people if they want to set up an outsource facility! :o

Thanks for the tips. I'd love to find out which one is that ONE restaurant!

 

warm.... yes
nice and clean... well speaking for Dumaguete City, the opinions might be different and my real opinion would not be suitable for this thread. You can believe ma after 9 years here in the philippines... Dumaguete is great, but very different.

I do internet business from here.. without a lot of money to invest or local connections, simply skip it unless you have a lot of time and nerves to spend.

Negros conicle is the local newspaper for local advertising. we also do commercial advertising here on DI, but NC is cheaper I think (if you dont count reader per peso )

Anyway, building big business with tons of dollar here is easy, doing something medium or small ... well you wanna have a look into the City personally first

 

Well, I'm attracted to the city due to the "university town" status. I need an educated workforce that speaks and writes perfect "American" English. However, the enterprise is supersmall, so I'm likely only looking at 4 people to start and perhaps expanding to 8 in the future. Purely on a shoestring. Furthermore, I need to set it up through a Filipino entrepreneur and only act as their "customer," as I'm aware that foreigners are not exactly encouraged to start businesses there.

The closest I've ever come to The Philippines is either Tokyo or Cairns, so I effectively know nothing of the country. I know I want to be outside Metro Manila as I'm a bit phobic about huge cities. I want to find a location in the provinces where crime is low, educated English-literate workers may be located, and has a low cost of living (although I'm sure that you can compare the most expensive place in The Philippines against the cheapest place in Canada and still be astounded by the difference)!

 

if your business has a set sales pitch and/or set support documentation, u can go with one of the call center companies

if u plan on bring involved and have a more sophisticated service model, it is a lot more work than u anticipate.
american accents are rare here, u will get a high standard of literacy, people are relatively shy here and will not necessarily be able to identify with your customer requirements
expect multitudes more training than u are anticipating and major shifts in your expectations of work practices. some hires will exceed your expectations some will disappoint to a level u have not experienced before

otherwise if u plan on minimum involvement, u are more than likely going to fail whether u fine a local partner or not.

an option that u may not have considered is hiring freelancers on line. more management time involved but higher quality available and u are not fixed to location/business plan

another option : you will have a better pool in cebu or manila

live here before u decide, it is a big committment

best of luck in your endeavor

 

Thank you for the indepth reply!

I can't deal with the call center companies and also I'm not interested in US accents as the work that needs to be done is only in written form. I've been using outsourced freelancers for years in The Philippines and other countries such as India and Pakistan and I've been tearing my hair out to the point that I look like Lex Luthor.

I have to try and find a really wise, dedicated, and hard working manager who is willing to put in the time and the effort to manage a small but equally dedicated workforce to get an elevated level of work done on a daily basis in exchange for considerably higher than average earnings. Unfortunately from what I understand of Manila and Cebu both of those locations are out of consideration, but I am more than willing to look at any other smaller cities. I want peace and quiet, cleanliness, modernity, high education levels, low crime, and lack of urban frenzy. I've heard great things about Bacalod, Iloilo, Palawan, and the Subic/Clark region. Any input on those?

You would think that what I'm asking for would not be so difficult to achieve but I'm well aware that it might very well be! :(

 

I don't want to rain on your parade but I heartily agree with the comments of the others. Been running business here in the Philippines for 20 years for myself and as an employee for others. Sizes form 4 people to 180 people.

A lot of people come here and think,. WOW only P 280.00 per day salaries (depending on where you are) I can make a fortune by outsourcing in the Philippines .. WRONG!

Number one rule: If you want it to succeed, you HAVE to be there and involved day to day.

Otherwise you may as well just bring in a whole bunch of P1000.00 bills, sit on the Boulevard at Dumaguete and drink P25.00 beers and tear them up. It will be a lot more satisfying than trying to run a business of any size remotely and at the end of the day, a whole lot cheaper.