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!

my first official business

though i tried my luck in buy & sell, network marketing and real estate businesses, nothing yet became my niche.

an opportunity

an opportunity comes when my wife's friend ask her to form a partnership in computer selling and services. we hurriedly grab this opportunity since our soon to be partner is an experienced and an expert in the field. she holds a list of suppliers and clients that we can tap when we start operating. at the same time we have a big prospect that needs to be taken care of asap. all we need to do is to come up with our own company and register it to make it official.

financing

we agreed on our initial capital of 100k and we decided to divide it for 50k per share. and since we are in a hurry, i immediately applied for a consolidation loan with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). good thing, all my files are in order and my application was approved immediately.

registration

we faced some problems especially during the registration. to register a partnership with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) it requires a lot more documents than the usual and since we are in a hurry we decided to start our company under the sole proprietorship with my wife's friend as general manager. that means we only have to register the company with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

the company

on june 16, monday, our first ever official business had its soft launching. it is located in mandaluyong city near the City Hall. though we still need to register it with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for our official receipt, we can now start looking for clients.

additional sacrifice

due to capital and budgetary constraints, we lend our personal computer for our company operation. i know that sooner or later it will be replaced with new, sleek, all powerful, wi-fi, notebook.

we are hoping and praying that this first venture of ours would succeed and grow. so help us God.

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.