• fare for transportation expenses in getting the licenses
• fees for the licenses needed
• notarial fees
• bank fees
• a certain amount for a checking account
• rental fees
• equipment
• furniture
• some staff’s salaries
• office supplies
• utilities
• miscellaneous expenses

However, I think this is only for brick and mortar businesses. Which means,

businesses that really has an office space or store space that people can go to and visit and buy things from.

There is no trial period.
There is no,
“Let’s see if we can sell something first, then if we have a small customer base and some money to prove it would work, then we could pay for all those fees needed to run a legitimate business.”

I could say it would be worth taking the risk in paying these fees if you have a traditional business. Because there you could physically approach people and really sell them something.

Sadly, it seems there is no provision for Internet-based businesses.
On the internet, you could put up a blog like this one, and wait for months before  anyone would get to buy anything you sell on your blog.

Usually, blogs make a sale through affiliate ads or selling advertising space, much  like ours.

Affiliate ads are those ads you click on at a website that lets you learn more about a product or even gets you to buy a product at a different website.

Selling advertising space is paying the blogger to display your graphic ad on their blog.

There is no hard and fast rule on when you would earn from a blog.
If you would venture into an online store, there is also no hard and fast rule on when you would earn from it.

On the Internet, you could spend a whole lot of money for months before you could  actually earn anything.

So if you want to run a legitimate online business, be ready to spend a lot for the business licenses and the online expenses for many months’ (and possibly even years for worst case scenarios) before you earn anything.

It would be nice though if some new regulations could be made for Internet-based  businesses that would allow people willing to venture into online businesses for a certain number of months with a free conditional business license.
A free conditional business that would expire a month or two after the online business earns a certain amount of minimum income.

Because for a legitimate online business in our country, it would cost at least PhP6,000 for licenses alone. Followed by the cost of creating and maintaining an online business. Then the regular filing of paperwork required from legitimate businesses which also costs something. Including the raised eyebrows and incessant questioning of “why doesn’t your online business still don’t have any income?”

Our country isn’t very prepared in adapting and formulating new regulations for new  venues for business like the Internet. I’m not expecting there would much change in my lifetime.

If you think licensed software is too expensive, try dividing the cost of the licensed software, with the total number of hours per year that you will be using it (inclusive of customer support, free upgrades, and all the other freebies) and you’ll find out that the cost is insignificant compared to the productivity and security it can give to your business.

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When you avail of a BMBE Certificate, it isn’t very clear how you can get business loans without or with minimal collateral.

When you avail of a BMBE (Baranggay Micro Business Enterprise) Certificate, it isn’t very clear which taxes and fees your business is exempted from.

When you open a business and along the way you decide to close it but did not formally close the business with all the agencies it is registered with, you are still required by law to submit tax forms regularly to signify that your business is NOT operating. Otherwise, you will be charged penalty fees of not less than PhP200.00 for sole proprietors and not less than PhP1,000.00 for partnerships and corporations for  each unfiled form.

If you start a business with a very small capital, you can avail of a BMBE (Baranggay Micro Business Enterprise) certificate to allow your business to be exempted from the coverage of the Minimum Wage Law.

When you open a business and along the way you decide to close it, you are required by law to formally close the business with all the agencies it is registered with and pay the appropriate closure fees. So you spend money when you start a business, and you also spend money when you close it.