the challenge of business: a fool's act

it's really hard to go into business especially if we haven't analyzed yet all the factors to be considered in putting up our own business. but we must be careful not to move and take action or else we will be trapped in a situation called "analysis paralysis".

but in my case, when the opportunity presented itself, i grab it immediately and made a couple of lapses or shall we say a "fool's act" when i decided to partner with a friend.

the problems

1. i got really excited. when i was a member of the Parish Youth Council (PYC) in our parish, a visiting priest, which is the author of our ministry, taught us not to make any decisions if we are in extreme feelings (e.g. overjoyed, very sad, fiery angry, excited, etc.). these extreme feelings overclouded our minds that lessens our ability to think wisely over a certain situation.

because of excitement, we didn't saw all our options and possible problems that we will encounter in the future. we had the worst problem we could ever have--we overlooked our initial capital. we didn't make an estimate of the needed funds for our initial operation. we only prepared for our expenses and so, when our first and biggest client approved our proposal we crammed on where to get our needed capital.

2. the truth about my partner's financial status. my eventual partner didn't tell me that she has no available money to invest. all the while i thought she's waiting for her money to come from her Social Security System (SSS) or a loan to be approved or something that guarantee her involvement. but the sad part is up to now she contributed not a single penny to our initial capital.

this put me in chaos. i shouldered all the burden of financing everything.

my solutions

1. loan again. with these problems, i resorted to file another loan and this time its a Back-to-Back Loan from the Simbayanan ni Maria Development Cooperative (SMDC). but still our capital is not enough to cover our first major transaction. and so we need another patch up solution.

2. look for investors. presses with time and out of options, me and my wife sent text messages (short messaging service-SMS) and emails inviting our friends to invest in our business. good thing we have a few friends who were brave enough to risk their hard-earned money with us. a special mention to our Godfather, Tito Binggoy who carried the big load for us. but of course i promised to give them a 5% per month interest for their investment. business is business, you know.

on july 9, wednesday, we completed our full delivery to our first major client. thank God for He supplied me with friends that trusted us and invested with us. we surrendered everything to Him and faithfully trusting Him to provide for us and we were glad that He never let us down. truly, He is a Great Provider and a Good Father to His children.

the fool-est act of all time

since we are in a hurry to establish the company we decided to allow my partner to register the company as sole proprietorship under her name. and so all documents, receipts, bank account, etc. were all legally hers. our partnership agreement up to now has not been signed by both parties since we are still finalizing the details.

if worst things happen, may God forbid, i don't have anything that would support my claim. huhuhu...

hopefully, things will get better soon. Lord, help me please!

business & savers club

in my last article i utter my disappointment with the less interest of our members in our financial literacy seminar. but now i will hold on to our mission and to stay focus in achieving what we have started.

my only consolation after our activity was that the participants wanted to have a follow up. not just another seminar but a concrete action plan on how to move another step towards financial freedom. they wanted to come up with a savers club and a business that would create passive income among members.

those who have low risk tolerance may opt to save their money, pool them together and we will park it at the Simbayanan ni Maria Development Cooperative with a minimum annual interest of 6% for time deposits.

while the other members who have high risk tolerance will embark on a business with high return on investment but with potential high risk. though up to now we have not decided on what kind of business we are going to enter since we also need to protect the each others investments.

here are the suggestions:

1. eatery - pares, lugaw/goto, kwek2, siomai, chicken feet
2. store - ladies bags and accessories
3. rtw - ukay-ukay

we can also help market the existing products of our members then encourage other members to come up of their own business. sooner or later we may come up with a company that would concentrate on marketing our own products.

but since we have not yet decided on what business should we take, we better start our savers club as of the moment. at least we can say that we did something to jumpstart our small idea.

ultimate desire

what is your ultimate desire?

my ultimate desire is to serve God more and help more people, to have more time for my family and my community, and to organize more activities and projects that will help narrow the gap between the rich and poor in my country.

this desire will help me overcome all obstacles and challenges that i will meet along the way. it will keep me focus and endure all the pains and failures that i'll mistakenly commit. this desire will push me to the limits and to take an extra mile.

that is why i need to be rich.

present status

most of my time being an employee is alloted to my work, 9-10 hours a day, 5 days in a week. the remaining less quality time is divided among my family, service and myself.

up to now, my job is still my bread and butter. i cannot quit from my job yet because our daily expenses depend on it. that is why i created other sources like buy and sell and joined a multi-level marketing. but still it is not yet enough to take the place of my monthly income.

to be rich is to be free

to be rich is to be financially free. to be financially free means not working for money, but money working for me. i can create more businesses and that businesses will create more jobs and livelihood projects. i control my time. i can play with my kids more. i can have romantic dates with my wife twice a week. i can go to my service whenever i want. i can evangelize and bless more people.

more actions required

i will continue my business in dealership and network marketing since the products are full of potentials. i will continue my stocks trading online. i need to look for more opportunities that will give me additional income like partnership, foreclosed properties, etc. i will try to invest in other businesses or buy a franchise.

i won't give up. i need to keep my desire burning. i'll do whatever i can. i need to be persistent, work hard and be patient. and i'll let God surprise me on what fruit of this labor be.

keeping patience

"patience is a virtue."

one of the things i've learned from playing Cashflow 101 Boardgame invented by best selling author and businessman Robert Kiyosaki is to be patient. be patient to wait for the proper time and opportunity before grabbing the most awaited "big deals" of the game. one needs the proper timing, enough resources, and good risk assessment before jumping in to any given opportunity.

patience defined

according to Wikipedia, "patience is the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties."

practical application

to reach my goal, to become a Christian millionaire in the near future, i need this important ingredient to success to help me work hard and persevere more.

as a businessman - i will market and find more subdealers for the newly improved Goldskin Placenta Soap, enriched with Papaya extract, Squalene and now with Vitamin E. it is also available with a new packaging and endorsed by actress Snooky Serna.

as a realtor - i will look patiently for more foreclosed properties and other for sale announcements within my area in Taguig. i need to focus on a certain radius to avoid inconvenience and hassle.

as an investor - since the stock market is so confused and still waiting on what will happen to the US economy and its adverse effect to the world as a whole, i will treat temporarily all my transactions as long term investment rather than short term.

the right opportunity will come to me and i will reach my goal, soon... so help me God.

move! act now!

"nothing happens unless something moves."

at long last, i made an appointment with an agent from a mutual fund company. we will meet on sunday afternoon to discuss the details on how we can invest in their stock or equity funds.

why mutual funds?

because mutual funds are managed by professional money managers. by owning shares in a mutual fund instead of buying individual stocks or bonds directly, my investment risk is spread out.

stock or equity funds

stocks funds are considered risker than bond funds (although certain bond funds can be very risky) and are used for growing your money. money market funds and bond funds typically provide returns just a percentage or two above inflation, but stock funds should do much better over long periods of time.

inflation fighter

for the Philippine investor, inflation is a particularly serious challenge since the Philippines has a high inflationary environment. it's worth noting, though, that the average historical rate of return of the Philippine market in the past ten years largely outpaced the inflation averaging in the double-digits.

that being the case, your savings need to grow at a rate that will outpace inflation. otherwise, you will be losing valuable purchasing power from the capital that you've worked so hard to accumulate. investing in stocks of publicly traded corporations through the stocks or equity fund can provide you with built-in protection against the erosion of your savings over the long-term.

long term investment

when you invest in a mutual fund, you are investing in a diversified portfolio of securities that normally fluctuate in value. to obtain the best results, they should generally be regarded as long-term investments which means they should be held for seven years or more.

the securities markets in which mutual funds invest tend to rise and fall over the short-term, as well as the value of your investment. your ability to withstand short-term volatility, especially on the down-side, will generally result in greater returns over the long-term. when the value of your investment decreases, and it will from time to time, be patient.

that is why this kind of investment is very suitable for my retirement fund. but since i also up to capital gains, i'm still investing in stocks through online trading. this may take sometimes but i promise that this month will not last that i will put my hard-earned money to work for me.

Think Rich, Pinoy! Millionaires Club

we'll be having our second meeting for our group in TRPMC Makati Club tomorrow. though i haven't look for a possible property for our project (as our individual assignment), i think we have so much in the agenda that we could handle other tedious things like this.

looking for a good foreclosed property in banks is so time consuming and very frustrating. it's not enough to look through the list, you still need to see it for yourself if the property is worth buying.

next time i will share to you the things you should consider in buying a property. have a good time!