Home-based negosyo ideas and the permits each one adds

Home-friendly business types, from fewest to most extra permits

The address question comes first

Before you pick a type, check whether your house can be a business address at all. The City of Imus checklist, for example, asks for proof of your right to use the location, the owner's consent if you do not own it, consent from co-owners, and an HOA resolution if you are inside a subdivision with an association.^[1]

If you rent, ask your landlord early. A written consent is easier to get before you have bought stock. If you live in a subdivision, read the deed restrictions and ask the HOA office whether it issues resolutions for home businesses.

Work done on a laptop

Virtual assistant work and web design need no shop space. Their kits list no sanitary permit or product registration: the VA kit has four extra items and web design five, mostly about client data and selling online.

The privacy rules scale with size. Registration with the National Privacy Commission becomes mandatory at 250 employees, or when you process sensitive personal information of 1,000 or more people. A web design business that sells its own online service must publish its business name, address and contact details on its homepage under the Internet Transactions Act.^[5,10]

Selling goods from the house

The sari-sari store is the classic home negosyo, with seven extra items. Most are about how you sell: price tags on goods, and no cigarettes within 100 metres of a school or public playground. If your house is near a school gate, measure before you stock cigarettes.^[8]

Online selling and dropshipping (six extra items) and perfume and beauty products (eight) also run from home. DTI says the price tag rules of the Consumer Act apply to online stores too, so your listings need prices.^[9]

Cooking at home for sale

Frozen food and catering are common kitchen businesses. Catering falls under the same sanitary permit rules as other food establishments, and vehicles carrying perishable food must have refrigeration.^[6]

Packaged processed food is where home cooks most often get caught out. An FDA License to Operate is required before manufacturing or selling covered processed food, and each prepackaged product needs its own registration. The same applies to a home bakery that sells sealed, labelled goods.^[7]

Services that go to the customer

Home-service hair, nail and beauty work is covered by the sanitary rules for tonsorial and beauty establishments, so you still need health certificates even without a salon. See the salon kit.^[4]

A home business with total assets of ₱3 million or less, not counting land, can register as a Barangay Micro Business Enterprise. Registration with DTI is free and gives an income tax exemption on the business's income.^[3,2]

Questions people ask

Do I need a mayor's permit for a home-based business?

Yes. Running the business from home does not exempt you. Cities add proof that you may use the house, such as the owner's consent or an HOA resolution.

Can I sell homemade food without an FDA licence?

Cooked food served or delivered fresh falls under the sanitary permit. Prepackaged processed food sold under your label needs an FDA License to Operate and product registration before sale.

Is BMBE registration free for a home business?

Yes. DTI registers BMBEs for free if total assets, excluding land, are ₱3 million or less.

Which home-based negosyo needs the fewest permits?

Of the home-friendly types here, virtual assistant work lists the fewest extra items, at four. NPC registration only becomes mandatory at 250 employees or when you process sensitive personal information of 1,000 or more people.