Philippines Website Startups: Why we’re capable

March 16, 2009

Whenever the word Philippines is mentioned to foreigners (especially in the tech industry), the first thing that they would associate us with is Outsourcing or Offshoring. It was definitely a well known term especially in the I.T. industry here in the Philippines, but how about internet website startups? Try asking Filipinos in the Philippines about Web 2.0, only a few will understand and most won’t probably know what you mean. But, I believe Filipinos have the capability to compete in internet world, they would just need awareness and inspiration, and here’s the reasons why I believe we can do it:

Ideas

We’ve all got a business idea that we want to do, we just need to be creative and different, which Filipinos are. We just need to think about how it’s going to make a difference. If you don’t have an idea, I have a list here.

We have the skills

We’ve done so much outsourcing and offshoring for other countries, are you satisfied in telling others that you’ve done this website and that but never really got credit for it? It is a risk to do a web startup, but you already have the skills all you’re investing is time.

We have help and Resources

You’ve worked for an I.T. company for years that gives you the skills to make websites, and, of course, you’ll be meeting people who are knowledgeable in certain areas that you’re not. You can ask for help from your own direct contacts and if not from them, there are always support available for us online for free. Support forums and discussion boards will really help you out, with great community members always ready to help without anything in exchange.

Collaborate

You could have an idea that might be too big for one person, use your contacts and find people who you can work with for this project. And collaborate and share the rewards, it makes the load lighter for each person and more knowledge to share.

Low capital required

All you need is a decent hosting and a domain to start with, you could get an executive hosting from A2Hosting at $7.95/ month to test out the market and before your traffic surges. You also need a domain name (–.com), where I recommend getting a top-level domain (.com, .net, …), that matches the concept of your website. I recommend getting from GoDaddy.com which costs around $7.49 / year for a domain. These are the two most essential things to start your web business, the rest is upgrading your webhosting once you get a larger traffic. If you need help coming up with domain names for your website, I have some tools here that could help you out.

We can develop world class products

With our skills, ideas, creativity, and resources, I could say that we are capable of competing in the Internet Web startups in the global stage. It’s all about believing in ourselves and with our famous line here in the Philippines, “Sipag at Tiyaga” (means Hard work and Patience). We can go a long way.

I, personally, am developing web 2.0 websites today. I’m hoping to launch it very soon and will be announcing it here in TechFilipino. I’ve honestly admit having failed a few times, but that doesn’t stop me, I would simply pick myself up and learn from my mistakes and work on the next project. I’m proud to be a Filipino Internet Entrepreneur and I hope more and more Filipino internet entrepreneurs emerges this coming years.

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