Not all months are created equal. As sure as the sun rises, typhoons pass through the Philippines. It’s just a matter of how many typhoons pass in a year and how strong each typhoon is. An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, based on official statistics from PAG-ASA, DOST. There are two major seasons in the Philippines: (1) the rainy season, from June to November; and (2) the dry season, from December to May. According to PAG-ASA, the dry season may be subdivided further into (a) the cool dry season, from December to February; and (b) the hot dry season, from March to May. Typhoons usually happen during the rainy season. In 2007, for instance, almost all of the typhoons (except 1) happened between July and November. So, business activities are better scheduled during the first half of the year.

Not all places are created equal. The southern part of the Philippines — like Davao City, General Santos City, Butuan City or Zamboanga City — are rarely visited by typhoons. On the other hand, places like Bicol, Samar and Leyte are the usual entry points of typhoons,  generally born in the Pacific Ocean. Of course, a Pinoy Entrepreneur doing business in those places are already familiar with the typhoon "schedule" and are expected to "prepare" for these regular destructive visitors.

Not all typhoons are created equal. There used to be only 3 storm signals when I was still a boy. Today, there are four: Storm Signal No. 1 (winds of 30-60 kph may be expected in at least 36 hours or intermittent rains may be expected within 36 hours), Storm Signal No. 2 (winds of greater than 60 kph and up to 100 kph may be expected in at least 24 hours), Storm Signal No. 3 (winds of greater than 100 kph up to 185 kph may be expected in at least 18 hours) and Storm Signal No. 4 (very strong winds of more than 185 kph may be expected in at least 12 hours). In the Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore noted that hurricanes and other natural disasters are getting worse.

Prepare not only for the wind and rain, but also for floods. Floods happen everywhere, but business establishments in Metro Manila are more likely to be affected by floods. This is particularly true in low-lying places like Malabon and Navotas, although you'll be surprised that there are also flooding in cities like Makati, Manila and Quezon City. Bottom line, prepare your business against floods.

Pinoy Entrepreneurs are expected to run their businesses regardless of, and always prepared for, the expected natural calamities like typhoons. Regardless of the situation, it should be business as usual.