7 reasons why you should start selling online now in the Philippines.

According to Statista, the market value of e-commerce in the Philippines is expected to reach $15 billion in US dollars and will quadruple in six years. That could mean a lot of potential and opportunity.

1.) The second source of income

If you are working full-time, then this is a good opportunity to increase your earnings and save more money. Why would you want to increase your earnings? It can improve your life as this could help you pay off your debt, save for a vacation, save for your future, and many more. I know many people who got laid off from their jobs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic here in the Philippines. By having a second stream of income, you can stop living paycheck to paycheck since your income is diversified.

2.) To combat inflation

According to Asia Nikkei, Annual inflation in the Philippines increased to 6.9% in September 2022. This could mean a higher cost of living. The price of fresh milk was 85 pesos. At the time of writing this blog, the price of that fresh milk is now 100 pesos. If you are only depending on one stream of income, then shortly your salary might not be able to cope with the soaring prices of commodities.

3.) E-commerce is becoming more popular in the Philippines

In the introduction part, I already mentioned the market size and value of e-commerce here in the Philippines. Online shopping is here to stay, SM, Robinsons, Waltermart, and even Vista Mall have it too. E-commerce is here to stay. These giant companies have seen the future of e-commerce. Filipinos like to do online shopping on the two giant e-commerce platforms, Lazada and Shopee, and even on other e-commerce websites owned by our fellow Filipino entrepreneurs. Imagine the potential of e-commerce. There are 84.4 million Filipino internet users this year (2022). By leveraging social media, the opportunity to sell your goods, products, or services is unlimited.

4.) The ability to avoid the 9-to-5 grind

We believe that millennials give more value to work-life balance. The reason why we put this on our list is that we experienced and saw how much potential you can earn just by selling online. In the last quarter of 2021, we were able to gross 470K in pesos by just selling baby clothes in Lazada. Why can’t you too? We are not encouraging anyone here to leave their full-time job, unless, of course, your online business is stable and you are earning more than your full-time job.

Selling online can unlock the potential to live your life without dealing with your boss, toxic officemates, or your so-called Jollibee Bida bida officemate.

5.) Help people

When you start a business, you should not only consider earning money. You have to give back to the community. Having the power to create jobs is one way of giving back to the community. We have a close relative who is working part-time for our online shop. We also donate a portion of our earnings to our local church because we believe that without God, nothing is possible.

6.) Investment for the future

Our online business is considered an asset since it gives us consistent income. At the time of writing this blog, our online store had already earned 2.7 million pesos, excluding our Lazada and Shopee stores. Our online store is created using Shopify. We will also teach people how to create their online store soon here on our blog.

If you want to secure your future, we believe that creating an online business and your brand is one way to accomplish it. I know people from our e-commerce community who are working in it full-time. They were able to buy their house and car and can go and travel in and out of the country. Creating an online business will open up many opportunities for you as long as you work on it.

7.) To accomplish your goal and give you a sense of accomplishment

When we first received our first order in our online business, we already felt that we had accomplished something important to us. Believe me, hitting your first order feels like winning the lottery.

Our first goal for our online business is to buy a car. This may vary since we all have different goals in life. We were able to hit it, and we were able to get a Toyota sedan. Disclaimer, This blog is not meant to hype or brag. We don’t even know if someone will read this. We just want to share our experiences with our fellow Filipinos because it might inspire them.

The online business process itself is already an accomplishment for me and my wife. We love the process and we learn from it. When we get orders, whether it is one, two, or more a day, it makes us feel that we have accomplished something.

Conclusion

Being a business owner isn’t easy. Expect that every day will be a challenge, but always think that hard work always pays off. As an entrepreneur, you should overcome it. If you fail, you will have to try again. Failing is part of being a business owner. From it, you will learn. As an entrepreneurial mind, we should adapt to the rise of e-commerce. In our future blogs, we will cover our Lazada, Shopee, and Shopify stories. Stay tuned as we will give you tips to scale it.