Richard returned to his home at Tondo. And again, he was lucky no one were at home when he arrived.

He was still living the lowkey life, keeping secrets to his mother and little sister that he was making a butt load of money from the divine reconstruction system. Even though he felt bad, he genuinely believed that the money he has right now is not enough.

Why is it not enough? He has over five million pesos in liquid assets, that is about 100,000 USD. It’s a life-changing money for everyone but not enough to guarantee a stable and prosperous and luxurious life he dreamt of giving to his family.

He’ll use the five million to invest it on a business he had come up with, which is buy-and-sell second hand cars.

He immediately went upstairs and locked the door.

Then he sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled out his phone.

This was no longer a side hustle.

No longer some random buy-and-sell operation.

This could become a real business.

A very real business.

And if he was going to invest millions of pesos into it, then he needed to know exactly what he was doing.

Richard immediately opened Google.

Search bar:

"Second hand car dealership Philippines"

Enter.

Within seconds, hundreds of results appeared.

Facebook pages.

Dealership websites.

Buy-and-sell groups.

Marketplace listings.

YouTube channels.

And as Richard continued scrolling, his eyes slowly widened.

The market was massive.

Absolutely massive.

M Cars.

F2A Cars.

Automobilico.

AllCars.

Ugarte Cars.

Premium Warranty Services.

Various independent dealerships.

Some specialized in economy vehicles.

Others focused entirely on luxury cars.

Some sold imported vehicles.

Others dealt with repossessed units.

Richard clicked through several websites.

Then several Facebook pages.

Then YouTube channels.

His expression gradually changed.

Because these businesses weren’t small.

Some had inventories worth hundreds of millions of pesos.

Rows and rows of vehicles.

SUVs.

Sedans.

Pickups.

Luxury cars.

Everything.

And people were buying.

Every day.

Richard quickly opened another tab.

"Used car market Philippines statistics."

More results appeared.

The deeper he researched, the more excited he became.

Thousands of used cars changed hands every month.

Banks constantly auctioned repossessed vehicles.

Insurance companies sold write-offs.

Private owners upgraded and sold older units.

The supply never stopped.

And neither did demand.

Many Filipinos simply couldn’t afford brand-new vehicles.

So they bought second-hand instead.

Which meant the market would always exist.

Richard slowly leaned back.

This was good.

Very good.

Because the last thing he wanted was to invest millions into a dying industry.

Instead?

The market looked extremely healthy.

Then he moved to the next problem.

How exactly do you start a dealership?

Search.

"Requirements for used car dealership Philippines."

The results appeared immediately.

Richard grabbed one of his old engineering notebooks and started writing.

DTI Registration.

BIR Registration.

Mayor’s Permit.

Barangay Clearance.

Business Name Registration.

Official Receipts.

Tax Compliance.

Business Bank Account.

Then came the property requirements.

Commercial Lot.

Office.

Signage.

Parking Area.

Employee Facilities.

Security.

CCTV.

Insurance.

Richard continued writing.

The list slowly became longer.

Eventually he placed the pen down.

"Damn."

Starting legally wasn’t cheap.

Not impossible.

But definitely not cheap.

The lot alone would cost a fortune.

Especially if he wanted to look legitimate.

Then another realization entered his mind.

Actually...

He didn’t need a huge dealership immediately.

He wasn’t trying to compete with established companies.

He only needed enough space to display inventory.

Maybe ten cars.

Maybe fifteen.

Maybe twenty.

Richard quickly opened Google Maps afterward.

Then started searching available commercial properties.

Pasig.

Quezon City.

Parañaque.

Las Piñas.

Valenzuela.

Even Bulacan.

The prices varied wildly.

Some lots wanted over three hundred thousand pesos monthly.

Others were far cheaper.

Richard quietly noted everything down.

Then he moved toward the most important part.

Inventory.

Without inventory, there was no dealership.

And inventory meant vehicles.

Cheap vehicles.

Very cheap vehicles.

The cheaper, the better.

Because unlike everyone else in the industry...

He didn’t care about condition.

At all.

Richard opened Facebook Marketplace.

Then several repossessed vehicle groups.

Then insurance auction pages.

Then salvage listings.

Almost immediately, opportunities began appearing.

Toyota Vios.

Flood damaged.

₱120,000.

Honda City.

Engine issue.

₱150,000.

Mitsubishi Montero.

Collision damage.

₱280,000.

Ford Everest.

Flooded.

₱350,000.

Toyota Fortuner.

Total loss insurance write-off.

₱400,000.

Richard’s heartbeat accelerated.

Because ordinary buyers avoided these vehicles.

Mechanics avoided them.

Dealers avoided them.

Most people saw problems.

Richard saw profit.

Massive profit.

He clicked another listing.

Toyota Vios.

2019 model.

Severe flood damage.

Asking price:

₱95,000.

Richard nearly laughed.

Ninety-five thousand.

The owner practically wanted it gone.

Then another listing appeared.

Honda City.

Engine seized.

₱110,000.

Then another.

Nissan Almera.

Transmission failure.

₱85,000.

Then another.

Toyota Raize.

Collision damage.

₱180,000.

And another.

Montero Sport.

Major front-end damage.

₱250,000.

The list continued.

Richard slowly realized something.

His biggest challenge wouldn’t be finding vehicles.

His biggest challenge would be deciding which vehicles to buy first.

Because there were simply too many opportunities.

His phone screen filled with damaged vehicles.

Flooded vehicles.

Auction units.

Insurance write-offs.

Bank repossessions.

Everything.

For normal dealers, these units represented risk.

For Richard?

They represented inventory.

Inventory that could become Lexus.

BMW.

Mercedes.

Audi.

Volvo.

Or even high-end models Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and other brands.

His heartbeat slowly accelerated.

Then he opened the calculator.

Five million pesos.

Current capital.

One million reserved for lot rental, permits, renovation, and operating expenses.

That left roughly four million.

If he spent an average of two hundred thousand per salvage vehicle...

He could acquire twenty units.

And then once it is working, he’ll earn a lot of money due to the sheer price margin from the initial capital. Imagine buying 100,000 cars and then reconstruct it into 3,000,000 cars. The profits are insane.

"Okay, it’s settled. Time to set up a business."