Prices of gas (gasoline, diesel and other variations with high-octane ratings) are skyrocketing. The constant increase of gas prices is, to say the least, frustrating. When you pass by the gas station in the morning, you'll often discover that prices were raised while you were sleeping. Pinoy Entrepreneurs, and all consumers for that matter, are contantly faced with balancing an almost stagnant income with a constant ly-increasing fuel costs.

In transactions involving properties owned by married persons, the consent of both spouses is generally required. For instance, if a married Pinoy Entrepreneur signs a real estate mortgage to guarantee a loan application to be used as business capital, the signature of his/her wife/husband is required by the bank or other lending institutions. Why?

Buy real property instead of a car, someone said when I consulted him before I bought my first car years back. The value of real property appreciates, as compared to a car which is pure expense from the moment you buy it, through all repairs and maintenance. Worse, it depreciates in value. I decided to buy a car, because I figured it's a necessary tool in my work and business, which would then hopefully allow me to earn enough money to buy a house and lot.

A recent query concerns the liability of incorporators (incorporators are basically the stockholders who created the company, with their names appearing in the articles of incorporation). We briefly touched on the liability of incorporators in our previous posts: A Smart and Pratical Guide for New Entrepreneurs and Forms of Business: Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation. In incorporating a business for our clients (to read how to register a corporation, click here), we sometimes need to address the same concern or query.

You've heard of the phenomenal business success of entrepreneurs in the internet world. The most successful, of course, are Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of Google.com. When you use "google" as a verb in lieu of "search", you know that the site has done something right. If you add the billions of dollars earned by Google (it reported $5.19 billion of revenues for the March 31, 2008 quarter), then you know they have done some really, really right. There are a number of Filipinos who are successful online and one of them is Jovel Cipriano, an ex-IBM executive who decided to sell Filipino delicacies through a website: pinoydelikasi.com.

Running a business is relatively easier when it is small, maybe just the husband-wife tandem of Pinoy Entrepreneurs classified as small or medium enterprise (SME). The challenges multiply with the growth of the business. More advanced accounting and record-keeping tools are needed, for instance. The increase in the number of employees, but itself, creates challenges that Pinoy entrepreneurs must face. The challenge is not only with respect to salaries and other benefits, but also to the liability of entrepreneurs face for acts of their employees.

Businesses may, in certain situations, have no choice but to increase prices. While Pinoy Entrepreneurs may work to keep prices low, some may be trying to artificially jack up prices. When such happens, one of the tools often cited to control prices is the Price Act (Republic Act 7581). Price manipulation is declared illegal under this law. There are three acts considered as price manipulation, punishable by imprisonment:

Pinoy Entrepreneurs could harness the benefits of a cooperative in setting up a viable cooperation among various interested individuals. A cooperative is a duly registered association of persons with a common bond of interest, who have voluntarily joined together to achieve a lawful common social or economic end, making equitable to contribution to the capital required and accepting a fair share of the risks and benefits of the undertaking in accordance with universally accepted cooperative principle.