Lessons from My Dad 1 - Business is fun! September 20, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business, Personal , 1 comment so farMy dad is a businessman. Actually, he is a realtor. As a child I was having problems spelling that word, much more explaining to my classmates what a realtor does or why my daddy doesn’t go to a normal office like their daddies who work for the big multinationals or in government. While their dads worked by the bundy clock, my dad usually started his mornings in the golf course. Why? Well, according to him, most of his big deals were signed in the golf course. So I grew up thinking, “Wow, business sure is a lot of fun!”
For someone like me who easily gets bored with routine, going into business allows me the comfort of mixing fun and work. How?
1. For starters, I don’t have a boss. I don’t have anybody lurking behind me and waiting for a cue to terrorize and berate me for all HIS faults or simply watching every move that I make so he can add something to his list of “reasons why I should fire you today.”
2. I own my time. Whether I’d like to start work at 12 noon and end at 3pm or work from 10pm to the wee hours of the morning is MY call. So long as I deliver quality work on time, no one will nag me.
3. I can choose. I can choose to accept or to decline a client depending on my schedule. I am only human and I expect to work like a human being. And there’s absolutely no one wo can OVERLOAD me with a lot of reports and paperwork to do except myself.
4. Best of all, I earn what I worked hard for. I won’t settle for just a fat bonus. Heck, I busted my ass trying to finish “everything.” I deserve no less than “everything”, too!
Why I Think You Shouldn’t Do Business with People You Love. September 15, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business, Personal , add a commentPeople usually say, you must pick a business that would be enjoyable for you so as to ensure success. Well, I used to think that it would be so much fun putting up a business together with my friends. It’s like rolling business and pleasure into one. Yeah, we’d have lots of time to hang around and have a ball. Like it would be so much more exciting planning how we’ll be spending our glory days in some far away land sipping pinacoladas under the sun once the business starts running smoothly.
Well, that point of view, of course, has changed over the years. And boy, am I glad I never opted to go into such partnerships! And if, like me, you put more premium on RELATIONSHIPS (whether they’re family or friends) over MONEY, I’d say you read on and try to see how things really work in the real world.
These are the top three reasons why I decided not to do business with friends and relatives.
1. Commitment - Even if you jive well together, it doesn’t necessarily equate to all of you having the same level of commitment. There will always be the issue of who did more work for the business.
Say for instance you guys decided that having you own spa would be cool. So each of you decided to put in equal amounts of money as capitalization. There would be some who are just so into it so they put in a lot of effort in planning, researching, sourcing, marketing, etc. There would be others who are into it only because they’d feel left out if they didn’t join. Still there would be some who join but don’t always have the time to put into the business because of a lot of reasons. And there would also be those who would just sit and watch everybody else do the work.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to divide the tasks equally among yourselves, it doesn’t always get done equally and up to par to everyone else.
2. Discipline - The hardest part would always be telling your friend, your sister or your relative that he is not doing his job well and to exact punishments for wrongdoings. If your friend is always yakking on the phone all day instead of working or if your sister always comes in late or if your uncle is always sleeping on the job and you don’t try to even call their attention to it, it would trickle down to your other employees. Why punish them for being late when your sister does it? Why scold them for unfinished reports when your friend isn’t even doing her job?
3. Money - Each one of you is different. Some have time to spare. Some don’t. Some have the skills. Some don’t. Some have the patience. Some don’t. Even if all of you spend eight hours in the office everyday, your outputs will always vary.
So who gets paid more?
I have never tried getting into business with friends. And I no longer have the intention to. I have seen some very good and tight relationships ending in fierce squabbles about business because of the reasons I’ve stated above.
I’m not saying there’s no way around it and that doing business with friends would just end up in total disaster. Maybe there is a way around it if you’d sit down and discuss these issues beforehand and try to come up with a compromise that would work well for all you. But one thing’s for certain. It’s going to be one tough ride that would certainly test you to the very core of your beings.
As for me, even if there’s a way around it, I wont. My relationships are just to precious to risk for the sake of money.
Are Philippine Banks Anti-Entrepreneur? August 25, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business, Personal , 6commentsLet’s face it. The toughest problem when starting a business is the money needed to run it. Although I have suggested in an earlier post several ways to remedy the situation, I notice a lot of people finding it really hard to approach banks for loans. That, of course, does not exclude me.
My friends from the US tell me that even the jobless people there have credit cards and can easily apply for loans. Here in the Philippines, sometimes opening a savings or a checking account or placing money in a time deposit makes you feel like going through a needle’s eye.
Let me share a recent experience.
There’s this one bank that opened near our house so I was thought maybe it would save me a lot of time and gas to just transfer our accounts there. So, I went and inquired.
First up were my children’s savings accounts. I told the new accounts clerk that my kids (ages 9 and 12) will be opening a savings account. So, she rattled off a list of requirements. I was quite prepared for everything except for the 2 VALID IDs. I asked her if the school ID would suffice (as I failed to bring their passports with me). She stressed that the bank requires TWO VALID IDs. Whaaaaaaaaaa? Is she crazy?!!! I really wonder how the banking industry can really promote the value of saving to the Filipino youth with THAT requirement. For one, not all kids have passports. They don’t have driver’s licenses or gun permits or social security or tax account numbers!!! Gosh, they’re just kids! 
Next up were my business accounts. Lo and behold, the new accounts clerk told me that in order for me to open a checking account, I needed to have a savings account with them for at least 6 months with an average daily balance of no less than 50,000 bucks!!! And as a welcoming remark she told me “Ma’am, let me remind you that we charge a lot for bouncing checks.” How warm. How welcoming. Gosh, I felt like a criminal! Grrrrr! @#$#$%#&^%$%^$%#$!!!
And believe me, that happens in MOST banks here. You need to have someone REFER or sort of GUARANTEE for you before you can open an account. So what if you have a really good business that needs funding but you simply lack the “person who will refer or guarantee for you”? Do you simply set that business aside?
It’s tough how sometimes “small-time entrepreneurs” like me are being treated like trash in big banks. I don’t suppose they give the same kind of welcome to their big-time corporate clients. No wonder a lot of people are turning to getting loans from the Indian nationals who charge whopping interest rates!!!
Though there are really scrupulous characters around, heck, what’s the credit investigation for? They don’t even bother to check if you’ve got a good record with credit card companies or if you’ve ever issued a bouncing check in your life. Nope, they don’t do that here. You simply get that rejection upfront - even if you are just inquiring.
Are Philippine banks just for millionaires and for those who have average daily balances of no less than 50grand? Oh well, no wonder more and more Filipinos are at a complete loss when you talk to them about putting money in UITFs or even time deposits. All they ever know of banking is their ATM payroll account that don’t even earn noticeable interests.
I believe there are still a whole lot more of honest individuals who can make a difference in this country’s economy if banks would be more accomodating to small business people (and to kids as well). A lot of potential is being put to waste simply because these people aren’t being given the chance.
System Loss ni Juday August 23, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business, Personal , 1 comment so farI got this by email from a friend. I’d like to share this with you as this issue affects ALL OF US, not just as business people but as private individuals as well.
________________________
Pakibasa po ng malaman nyo gaano ka-corrupt ang government sa electric bill natin!
Bilib ako sa commercial ni Juday, biro mo naipaliwanag niya in 30seconds ang masalimuot na system loss na yan..:)
Tama si Juday sa kanyang paliwanag ng system loss, pero kung tayo ang bibili ng yelo at ayaw talaga nating mabawasan ang yelong binili, syempre magdadala tayo ng styrofoam ice box o Coleman..
Ang tawag diyan ay increasing the efficiency. Kung baga sa mga distribution utilities ayusin nila nang husto ang electrical network, pati na ang mga substation and step-down transformers para nag-o-operate sila sa maximum efficiencies. Kung lumang-luma na, palitan o di kaya imaintenance. Tapos, ireduce, at kung maaari ay alisin, ang mga administrative inefficiencies, tulad ng wrong meter readings, pilferage at kung ano ano pa…
At alam ba ninyo na hindi lang Meralco ang nagpapasa ng system loss?
Pati ang TRANSCO na government owned at siyang nag-me-maintain ng power grid. Balak ipasa or naipasa na ng TRANSCO ang 2.98% ng system loss nya sa Meralco.. at syempre kanino pa ba naman iyan sisingilin ng Meralco?!!
Ngayon alam na natin kung bakit natunaw ang yelong binili ni Juday…pero part pa lamang yan ng equation kung bakit mataas ang singil ng ating koryente.
Kunin ang electric bill.. at heto ang components ng ating electric bill…
Generation charge
Tax on Generation charge
Transmission charge
Tax on Transmission charge
System loss
Tax on System Loss
Distribution, Metering and Supply charges
Lifeline rate subsidies
Tax on distribution, metering and supply charges and lifeline rate
subsidies
Local franchise tax
Universal charges
I-add mo lahat yan at yan ang total electric bill mo… pero napansin nyo ba sa isang electric bill 5 tax ang babayaran natin?
Para lalo nating mapansin, ganito ang flow ng kuryente bago dumating sa bahay naten..
Ang NAPOCOR or IPP ang magpo-produce ng kuryente…bago pa makaalis ng planta ang kuryente, magbabayad na tayo ng tax na 51cents /kwh.
Ang kuryenteng iyan ay padadaanin ngayon sa TRANSCO, papunta sa distribution utility natin gaya ng Meralco.. Muli tayong bubuwisan ng gobyerno, this time 11 cents/kwh
Pag nakarating sa meralco ang kuryente, muli sisingilin tayo ng buwis ng gobyerno, ng distribution tax at franchise tax…
At dahil magbabayad tayo ng system loss muli na naman tayong bubuwisan ng gobyerno… ng system loss tax..
Ah eto pa ang kwela sa lahat, after i total ang iyong electric charges..
papatawan kang muli ng tax.. this time yung 12% e-vat!!!
Imagine 5 Tax na binayaran mo, yung tax na yun eh bubuwisan pang muli ng isa pang tax…
Ang alam ko po sa batas bawal ang double taxation… pero sa ginagawang ito ng gobyerno.. siguro naaayon na sa batas kase lampas na sa double eh (sarcastic lang po).
At upang madagdagan pa ang sama ng loob nating mga filipino… Ang NAPOCOR, ayon sa batas ay kinakailangan mag imbak ng supply ng coal na tatagal ng 5 taon..
Pero ano ginagawa ng NAPOCOR… sasairin nila yung supply nila ng coal upang tumagal lamang ng isang taon. At dahil paubos na, mapipilitan silang mag-conduct ng emergency purchase na di na dadaan sa bidding.. or kung dumaan man, dahil sa ikli ng time table, walang makakapag bid.
SO si NAPOCOR bibili ng coal, hindi sa lowest bidder, kundi sa kanilang preferred supplier.. ang masaya pa neto, ang laki na ng patong.. higit pa sa doble ng actual price ng coal sa market!!!
Idagdag pa dyan ang arkila ng mga barko na gagamitin sa pagta-transport ng coal… na syempre muling pagkakakitaan ng mga NAPOCOR executives.. .
Sobra na nga pinapataw na tax sa atin ninanakawan pa tayo ng gobyerno natin..:( ansaya ng buhay sa Pilipinas no?
Kaya bago natin husgahan si Juday, sa kanyang paliwanag ng system loss, at bago natin awayin ang Meralco sa taas ng singil ng kuryente.. tignan muna natin ang pinag-uugatan ng mahal na singil..
Meralco lamang ba ang salarin? O ginagamit rin lang sila ng corrupt na gobyerno para lalo tayong pahirapan?
Sabi nga ni Juday: YAN ANG BATAS!!!
More Filipinos are Earning from Home August 19, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business , 5commentsHeard it on the news the other day. As the rate of unemployment rises in the country, more and more Filipinos are getting into home-based businesses. Whether it is as simple as putting up a sari-sari store or going into multi-level marketing or direct selling or getting into high tech businesses like home-based call centers or internet based online tutorial businesses, Filipinos are slowly finding their way towards self-sufficiency.
However, it is still a question of “How long can they make the business last?”
Aside from financial illiteracy, there are other factors which contribute to the failure of a business venture.
According to www.home-based-business-opportunities.com:
“The number of people failing with these opportunities is significantly larger than those who succeed. The major reason contributing to the fact is that because of low entry costs and the huge claims made by these programs, many people join at impulse only to find that running the business, like any real business takes whole lot of work! Other factors that contribute to members failing with business opportunities can be:
1. Catering to a dying or over saturated market. Upon signing up, the members may find that they are competing with already settled big players in their neighborhood or their prospective customers might have already been approached with similar proposals earlier.”
(Mona says: It always pays to be “the early bird.” Sometimes, people hear of a good business idea but they tend to wait for a friend or a relative to try it out first before going into it himself. By that time, a lot of people have already entered the scene so they only get the “crumbs”. This is true not only for MLMs but also for any type of business. It is so common to see the same business like internet cafes standing side by side and competing neck-to-neck with each other. It is the early players who usually get the prime spots and who have the advantage of having a larger share of frequent customers. And having been there “first” also means they had the advantage of earning loads of money before any competition went into the picture. In cases like this, one has to try harder to STAND OUT from the rest by offering better service or other things the competition does not have.)
“2. High priced products/services. Customers may not be willing to part their money for high-priced products when they can find equivalent low-priced products in the market. Or the quality of the products may not justify its steep price.”
(Mona says: Know your target market well. Be sure you are where your market is. Simply put…A high-end boutique would not sit well in a low-class mall.)
“3. Limitations on marketing methods. The business opportunity may not flexible enough to allow their members to express their creativity by allowing them to employ their own approach to market the products.”
(Mona says: This is so true for food franchises as businesses like these come with a manual and a fixed set of rules. Inasmuch as one would like to make his franchise compete aggressively with those around him specially in terms of pricing, he is restricted by these rules. However, if he can defend his stand about the need to apply such changes not only for his outlet but also for the other franchisees I don’t see any reason why the mother company wouldn’t change the rules. Even giants like McDonald’s implement changes to their menu or to their company colors to suit a particular country’s culture and taste.)
“4. Lack of support. The members may find their mentors too busy to help them get started and may get overwhelmed due to lack of support and mentoring.”
(Mona says: If support won’t come to you, then you better get out there and look for it! There are ways ( and there will always be ways) to get your business going. One of them is to never stop learning. You can learn not only from mentors but also from books, from other people’s experiences, from your personal experiences, and heck, you can even learn from your own imagination!)
“5. Illegal operations. The business opportunity may not confine to state laws and local zoning regulations and may shut down after some period of operation.”
(Mona says: If you want something to turn out right, you’ve got to start it right. Make sure that all the legalities are in place - from paperwork to fire safety standards. There’s more harm in trying to go against the rules when it comes to this one.)
“6. Over exaggerated claims. The members may find that the claims were larger-than-life and the facts may be bitter to digest.”
(Mona says: Okay..okay…As a consumer, I have been a victim of overexagerrated claims one too many times. From diet pills all the way up to real estate and college education plans. If you think it’s too god to be true, then it probably is!)
“7. Other aspects from members side like lack of marketing know-how, lack of record keeping, lack of management competence and lack of financial management.”
(Mona says: In my opinion, no business can ever go on autopilot. In business, one has to move, make his lists and make things happen.)
“Doing proper investigation and research and restraining from joining on impulse will ensure your long term success with the home business opportunity you decide to join.”
The Quotable Quotes I Can’t Apply in Business August 13, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business, Personal , add a commentWords to live by - It’s nice to have them like some sort of credo to inspire and motivate you in as you live your life. You recite it like a mantra to attract the good fortunes and drive away the bad.
However, for me, there are also words to “leave behind”. These are the sayings that really don’t make much sense to me, specially in business.
On top of my list of these words to leave behind is the saying “Plenty are for those who wait.” This expression is the “sister” of the saying “Patience is a virtue and the “first-degree cousin” of “Blessed are the poor.”
I tend to dislike these because a lot of people take them very literally and they are using them as convenient excuses for not doing anything to get ahead in life.
Call me impatient. But I’m certainly not the type who’d sit on my a*s and wait for the mountain to come to me. Opportunities and ideas don’t come to life with you just staring at it. You’ve got to be quick to move and grab hold of it before it gets away. Once it leaves, you can never have it back.
I’m not saying you should be greedy or you step on others’ toes just to get ahead. But don’t just wait because the only thing you’ll get plenty of will be regrets, missed opportunites and lost income.
Here in the Philippines, there’s this new breed of Filipinos who have the “relief goods mentality.” Well, some of them really do need help specially when disasters like typhoons hit them. It’s just irritating sometimes when you hear them talking like the world owes them a lot and should be given everything that they’ll ever need.
I watched a documentary on malnutrition on TV a few weeks back. There was this mother feeding her kids just rice and salt. She says there’s very little money for them to buy anything more than that because the husband doesn’t have a regular job. What struck me was they were living in the province and their shanty is surrounded by land! LAND…SOIL…you know what I mean?!!! Why can’t she and her husband who seem to have all the time in the world (because they dont have jobs) even take it upon themselves to at least plant something they can eat!!! Grrrrr! And they are expecting people to pity them and give them dole outs…Gosh, what losers!
When is the best time to start a business? August 12, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business , 9commentsI just talked to a friend who’s been slaving away for one company for the past thirty years. (Yes, folks, he’s got loyalty awards to show for it.) He’s looking forward to availing the early retirement program being offered to employees who have long served the company. He says, aside from paying off all his outstanding loans, he’s dreaming of putting up a business with the money he is going to get.
The problem : He still does not know what business he wants to get into.
The bigger problem : Because of that, he sounds quite skeptical to risk his money because it might not work out.
The biggest problem : What will happen to a 49-year old man with no business, little or no money and no job?
In my opinion, getting into business should never be pushed off as some sort of a “retirement plan.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t one who “retires from work” be relaxing and enjoying life?
If these people think that starting a business is easy and relaxing, I hope and pray they know what they are really talking about. Isn’t it more logical to think that one must take advantage of his youth and start early so that when he reaches a certain age, he can “really retire and enjoy life”?
After that meeting I found myself thanking my lucky stars again that we went into business early on in life. At 25, I know we weren’t really all that young and fresh. But we still had room to make mistakes, learn from them, get back on our feet and start all over.
As for my friend…I wish him all the luck! 
It pays to procrastinate…sometimes. August 12, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business, Personal , add a commentAcross race, gender and age, procrastination or putting things off for tomorrow is looked upon as a bad habit. We were always taught to do things NOW.
However, I never really knew that there will come a time when I’d be looking at procrastination differently.
We’ve wanted to buy a new car since last year to replace our five-year old pick-up truck. Thank God, we kept putting it off! The entire business community has been wracked by the global crisis that sales have also gone down for all our businesses. It would hurt to pay off the monthly amotization of car with this scenario. To top it off, the price of gas is just soooooooooo high now in this side of the world that we can only use the car on very important and skillfully scheduled trips.
Okay, so we don’t have the new car. And I thank my lucky stars for that because we found two new outlets for our food business and we can use the money we’ve saved up for the car to put it up! That would mean additional income for us!
See, there’s good in putting off buying some things…even if they’re on sale for a limited time only!!!
What’s stopping you from going into business? 4 - The Scaredy Cat with Two Gods August 12, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business , add a comment“I can’t concentrate on putting it up and going into it fulltime because I’m scared of losing my regular paycheck.”
So, we’re talking about risks now. Everything in life is a risk. So, doesn’t it ever cross your mind that staying employed is as risky as going into business? Believe me, it is. How many companies have closed shop due to the global crisis? You are only as good as you’re boss thinks you are. Once a new and more aggressive one comes along, you’ll be relegated to the ranks of the “retirables.” So you’re out there battling it out. But who gets rich out of your efforts? Who gets to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor as you try your best to outdo the others in the company? Oh, sure, you get a piece of it when you get a commission or a bonus that you can blow off with one grand vacation with your family.
So, is that really all you’re worth?
If you think not, then read on.
If all the hesitation to start that business comes from the toss-up between staying employed and going into business fulltime, you’ve got to understand that you can’t be serving two gods. What if you’re boss asks you to stay overtime and at the same time you are having an emergency situation in your “part-time business”? Who do you follow – your boss or you? Ultimately, one has to give in.
Going into business means you have to make a choice. There’s little room for gray areas. You’ll never get anywhere if you always play it safe. It’s like you’re neither here nor there. At some point in your life, you’ve got to make that leap of faith. And to do that, you’ve got to know and believe in yourself.
What’s stopping you from getting into business? 3 - The Clueless August 12, 2008
Posted by mona in : Business , add a commentOkay, to continue the discussion on what’s keeping people from starting their dream businesses…
This isn’t really about the people who don’t even have the ability to find out for themselves the how to’s of registering the business and making everything legit. But I’ll attack it just the same. Gosh! People who make THAT a problem are either lazy or stupid or both and don’t really stand a chance of making it as entrepreneurs. If one can’t even muster enough strength, self-confidence and what-have-you, to make a call or visit a government agency by himself and find out, I really wonder how in the world he’s gonna get his clients.
So going back…
What this is really all about is the inability of the person to know exactly what business to put up. All they have in mind is “it’s gotta be something that’s gonna make me a lot of money.”
We all want to be rich. Fine. Problem is, some people are just so totally clueless in the dream business that they’re planning to up. They just read or heard somewhere that Mr. X or Uncle Y is already a millionaire by putting up a Z business. And they come up with the conclusion that:
IF Uncle Y or Mr. X + Z Business = Millionaire,
THEN, Me + Z business = Millionaire…
Haha! 
How we all wish it were always that easy to say that if he can do it, so can I!
What they plainly missed out, intentionally or unintentionally, are the variables in between that would make Uncle Y or Mr. X equal or not equal to Me.
In choosing a business, you never start with the money that you want to have. Treat that as some sort of a “given goal” for everyone. Heck, who wants to start a business and not make money?!!!
You always start with what you know, what you can do well and what you enjoy doing. It’s that simple, really.
A diving enthusiast can put up a dive equipment shop and offer diving lessons. A person who enjoys surfing the internet can find business opportunities online. There are a zillion ways to earn while having fun. You just have to really know yourself!
