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Home⇛International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research⇛vol. 6 no. 10 (2025)

From Repatriation to Medium Enterprise: A Narrative Review of OFW Entrepreneurship and Scaling Barriers in the Philippines

Ruben B. Tindugan

Discipline: business and management

 

Abstract:

This narrative-plus-structured literature review examines how repat-riated Overseas Filipino Workers in the Philippines move from neces-sity entrepreneurship to sustainable medium-scale enterprises and where support systems fall short. Sources from 2019 to 2025 were screened for methodological clarity and local relevance, then synthe-sized across five lenses: finance and cash discipline; governance and compliance; managerial capability and operating discipline; market ac-cess and supply-chain linkages; and technology and digitalization. The synthesis finds that while the ecosystem lowers entry barriers for mi-cro start-ups, the pathway to scale remains thin. Lender legibility is un-even. Formalization and e-documentation requirements slow partici-pation in formal markets. Supervisory depth and operating cadence of-ten stall during the shift from founder-run to professionally managed. Accreditation and purchase-order documentation are pivotal for stable demand and financing unlocks. Basic digital tools shorten cycles and reduce errors when integrated into daily work. An actionable bundle emerges: monthly close within 10 days, a 13-week cash forecast, a com-pliance calendar and approvals policy, onboarding to e-invoicing and digital payments embedded in accounting and order tracking, a buyer documentation pack with on-time-in-full tracking, and supplier-fo-cused coaching to build lender legibility. Moving from micro to medium scale is most likely when these elements operate together. Policy should test this bundle using longitudinal cohorts and quasi- experi-mental designs. Future research should track adoption fidelity, hetero-geneity by sector and region, and lender responses to improvements in documentation and cash discipline.



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