Making Money In The Philippines | Business Risks Exposed!

Pea introduces a Patreon supporter named Steve (YouTube channel: Gorman Outdoors) who shares a real, operational alternative to the typical foreigner-in-the-Philippines businesses. Instead of the usual bar, cafe, or laundromat — all of which require significant capital at risk — Steve runs a tilapia fingerling farm in Banga, a region where fish farming is the dominant agricultural activity. The video is mostly Steve's walkthrough of his operation, with Pea providing introduction and commentary.

Why foreigners need a business in the Philippines ​

• Getting a regular job as a foreigner is nearly impossible — Pea says "you're about as likely to get a job here as you are to find a gold bar in your toilet"
• If you want to live in the Philippines before retirement age, you need your own income source
• Most foreigners default to bars, cafes, or laundromats, all of which require significant upfront capital

Steve's fish farm setup and startup costs ​

• Located on a half-acre pond in Banga, an area surrounded by fish farms as far as you can see
• Started with approximately 4,500 female tilapia and 1,500 males (3:1 female-to-male ratio for breeding)
• Total startup cost: just under $3,000 USD, which included:
  • Breeders (the fish themselves)
  • Labor to clean the ponds
  • Fish nets (two styles — one for small fingerlings, one for bigger fish)
  • A pump to drain the ponds dry
  • A battery-operated sprayer to kill unwanted leftover fish before refilling
  • Pond lease: 30,000 pesos per year on a 2-year lease with option for 3 more years
• Steve had the advantage of friends who already ran fish farms, so he had mentorship — he just needed to finance it

How the operation works ​

• The ponds are shallow — only about 2-3 feet of water over roughly 2 feet of mud underneath, making net work difficult
• Water comes from a creek that runs around the ponds and feeds the whole area
• A kubo hut on-site stores feeds, pump, and equipment; workers sleep there overnight during fingerling harvest to guard the fish
• Nets are used to corral fingerlings into one section, then scooped out
• They sell fingerlings only — not grown-out fish
• Buyers come with a truck; fingerlings are placed in cellophane bags with water and oxygen for transport
• Standard practice: give 10% extra fingerlings to account for any that die in transit
• Buyers grow the fingerlings out to about 1 kilo over roughly a year, then sell the full-size fish

Why sell fingerlings instead of growing fish to full size ​

• More harvests per year — fingerlings can be harvested roughly every month
• Growing fish to full size (about 1 kilo) takes approximately a year and requires continuous feed costs
• While the per-unit price is higher for full-grown tilapia, the fingerling model produces more frequent revenue and higher net returns when feed costs are factored in

Financial results ​

• First harvest (after 50 days): 214 kilos of fingerlings, net profit of 3,500 pesos after all costs — "not a big harvest"
• Second harvest (after 90 days): 584 kilos of fingerlings, net profit of 19,000 pesos after labor, materials, oxygen, cellophane bags, and next month's feed
• Break-even point: approximately 11 months from initial investment
• On a 2-year lease, that leaves 13 months of pure profit; Steve plans to extend to a 5-year lease total
• The 19,000 peso monthly profit covers his Airbnb and a couple weeks of groceries
• On the harvest day shown, they were pulling from three different ponds, producing over 300 kilos total for the buyer

Risks Steve identifies ​

• Fish kill from typhoons — if ponds overflow, you lose fish
• Predators eating your stock
• Fingerling prices dropping (market risk)
• Feed costs increasing
• Overall risk is lower than many businesses because the capital investment is comparatively small
• Steve's frank assessment: "If you're looking for a get-rich-quick business, this is not it. This is a long-term investment"

Operational details shown on camera ​

• Neighboring ponds use nets to keep their catfish from jumping into Steve's tilapia ponds
• Most farmers in the area raise tilapia, some raise catfish
• The fingerlings are tiny — about 3/8 of an inch
• Workers move the bottom of the net slowly through the mud to prevent fish from escaping underneath
• An assembly line forms for bagging: bags pre-filled with water, fingerlings scooped and weighed, oxygen added, then loaded onto the buyer's truck

Pea's take ​

• Not a get-rich-quick scheme, "but those never work anyway"
• It's a solid plan that covers basic living expenses — rent and groceries — which is a meaningful baseline for an expat
• She directs viewers to Steve's channel (Gorman Outdoors) for more details

📺 Watch the full video on YouTube

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