EARLY BIRDS GET
REWARDS!
There is no minimum age required for
starting to built one’s wealth. You can be 14 and below or 40 and above, or in
between. Advance three steps if your family presently owns a business; one step
back if nanay and tatay don’t. Skip the game altogether if you refuse wealth of
any kind in your belief that “blessed are the poor in spirit”.
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT!
“A college degree gives you
credibility, pero hindi siya prerequisite (to having a successful business)”.
Says entrepreneur and business coach Berna Moldez. “ang tinuro kasi sa atin is
go to a good school, get good grades, then get a good job. Theres nothing wrong
with that, pero kung mapapansin mo, yung mga wealthy sa US – dropout sa college.”
So diploma holders advance three steps. Dropouts and undergrads get to advance
seven steps!
IT’S TRUE!
Billionaires Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,
Larry Ellison, and Michael Dell, all didn’t finish school.
DISCLAIMER:
Skipping school is not a guarantee
that you will amass wealth. Read on and find out why…
YOU’RE HIRED!
Okay, you’ve managed to get a degree.
Your parents sure are happy. A word, though: Employment does offer security,
ensuring that paycheck knocks on your wallet monthly, but that’s about it.
“bihirang bihira yung mga taong yumaman sa employment,” says Moldez. “If you
still have to go to the office or kung saan yung business mo, kahit pa malaki
yung sweldo mo, hindi pa yun ang equivalent ng wealthy.”
EYE – OPENER
Real wealth means you also have healthy relationships and time to do
your passion.
UP THE CORPORATE
LADDER!
So you’ve been promoted – well,
congratulations! But you address that sudden back pain to “happily” end one
chapter in your life, hold your horses. “Most pinoy have poor money
management,” says Moldez. “If for example, na-promote sila, ina-adjust nila
yung lifestyle nila sa income nila right away, biglang kailangan na niya ng
bagong phone, biglang kaya na niyang mag-mortgage ng kotse. But that how poor
people think. Wealthy people think,”how can I make this money grow? “ Then
eventually, if there investment pays off, doon pa lang sila bibili ng luho.” Go
back four steps and lose three turns if you bought a new car. Move one step ahead
if you saved your kwarta!
STOCKS IN THE MIDDLE!
What about stocks, or investing your
money in established businesses? “If you have spare money, that’s okay,” says
Moldez. “Pero kung yun na yung life savings mo, we don’t suggest that you put
everything there. “The same goes for mutual funds, or pooling your money with
your kaibigan to buy stocks at lower trading cost. “Stocks are very volatile,
unless you have millions, we don’t really recommend that you invest in stocks.”
Lose two turns if you choose to buy stocks. Advance one step if you are still
giving it a second thought.
PART – TIME LOVER!
Can you be an employee and an
entrepreneur at the same time? Moldez answer: “Yes, pero pag part time mo
gagawin yung isang bagay, part time din yung magiging results. If your just
starting with your business, don’t give up your job at once.” Advance one step
if you’ve started to explore a profitable business. Go back five steps if you
just got fired!
CAPITAL “ P “
So you’ve made up your mind: its time
you stopped being wala sa ayos around, and about time you stepped up to
establish an empire of your own where you can hire the hottest employees, among
others. But as expected, you get cold feet at the part where most people pause
before they even start – getting money. Some really genius ways to source your capital, three blocks
ahead…
ECONOMIC RECESSION,
BOTCHED CASH DEAL, CREDIT CARD DEBT ???
How much capital for what? P1,000 and
below: gift-wrapping store, storage space. P1,000 – 49,000: Grapic design
agency, T-shirt store. P50,000 – 100,000: food cart, dance studio.
SCRIMP AND SAVE
“ You need other peoples money,”
Moldez says. Using up all your savings in any investment, even if its your own
business, almost equates to financial suicide at risks are ever-present. “At
most, 40 percent lang dapat yung galling sa iyo. You can loan from banks or ask
your friends to be your investor.” Move one step forward if you’ve availed of a
loan or barrowed capital from a friend.
MONEY’S IN THE SAFE…
NOW WHAT?
Being able to raise sufficient funds
means the road to riches is now paved smoothly, right? Wrong! “Sa negosyo, its
not only the right opportunity, right location, and right timing that are
important, you also have to be the right person,” says Moldez. Robert Kiyosaki,
author of The rich dad, poor dad books, said there are really no bad
investment, only bad investors!
YOU AS THE MAIN
‘CAPITAL’!
As we’ve implied earlier, the success
of a business cannot be measured by one’s intelligence quotient. “kailangan
lang may determinasyon ka to succeed,” says Moldez. Maraming gusting yumaman,
maraming gusting mag succeed pero kaunti lang yung committed.” Failure only
happens once you stop trying again. All the successful people you see now
failed a thousand times, but manage to moved on. “one of my favorite example is
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb,” she cites. “It took him 10,000
tries before he was able to make his invention work. If he stopped at his 9,999th
attempt, wala tayong light ngayon. Ganun yung mindset ng entrepreneurs and
successful people. Advance two steps if you’re committed.
BUSINESS ---------
FAILURE!
THE GREAT EQUALIZER
Kiyosaki, in his book cash flow
quadrant: rich dad’s guide to financial freedom, also mentioned something about
EQ being more important than IQ. “kailangan ang
emotional quotient mo mataas,” Moldez says. “kailangan matatag ang loob
mo to the failures that you will have to face, and you should learn to bounce
back from them.” Up next the five aspects of EQ you should improve on…
A.
SELF
AWARENESS AND MOOD MANAGEMENT
Mean living by your
“gut feelings” and being able to control strong emotions for better decision
making.
B.
IMPULSE
CONTROL
Is the ability to
consider the long term effects of your deeds before getting down with them.
Poor impulse control may lead to bunkrupcy.
C.
SELF
MOTIVATION
Is having the strength
to do something with much zeal and confidence.
D.
PEOPLE
SKILLS
Is the ability to
relate to the public and yield positive results.
E.
BE GUIDED
ACCORDINGLY
Seek financial
education by reading books and finding mentors to hone your entrepreneurial
skills. “you cannot create wealth alone,” stresses Moldez. “If you want to be
wealthy, you have to change two things: books you read and people around you.
Attend seminars, and seek guidance from people who actually were able to built
their wealth from scratch.”Advance nine step if you have authored a finance book and have previously mentored a
millionaire. Otherwise, go up one step.
SUGGESTED READING
A.
Secrets of
the millionaire mind, T. Harv Eker
B.
Think and
grow rich, Napoleon Hill
Books by
Donald Trump and kiyosaki
C. Entrepreneur magasine
THE MASTERS TOUCH
By definition, a mentor
is anyone who’s seasoned enough to look after you and monitor the progress of
your work. “You know everything he or she says is valid kasi they have experienced everything
first-hand,”Moldez explains. Keep moving.
A coach focuses on performance to
help you with a specific task; a mentor focuses on you as an individual to
improve your life.
IS IT WISE TO FRANCHISE?
The mutual benefits all
sounds good- free training, tried-and-tested business system, virtually free
advertising. The Philippine Franchise Association even assures: “A franchised
business is three times more likely to succeed as compared to one put up from
square one.
BUSINESS – TRENDS
TREND SPITING
However, be weary about
jumping on the bandwagon. ”Most pinoys go with the trend – kung ano yung uso,
yun din yung gagawin nila,”observes Moldez. “There’s nothing wrong with that,
but they should study these business
trends first. May trend naming profitable naman talaga like health and
wellness, real estate, and apartment rentals.” Reading the business news and
keeping the steady eye on the market before investing in anything should do the trick.
Carefully study your
prospects – compare the return of investment (ROI) and rate of success,” says
Moldez. “Its not wise idea to invest in something that has less than 50 percent
ROI in a year.
HEAD ON TO dti.gov.ph,
entrepreneur.com, or Philippinefranchise association.com for a comprehensive list of franchise opportunities.
Move on one step
forward if your already keeping an eye on a franchise deal or starting your own
business.
SUREFIRE ENTERPRISES
Product distribution
and apartment rentals business, no matter how lola sounding they are, rake in the mega – bucks, and give
you the time and financial freedom to do other things.
120,000 – The monthly
household income needed for a family with two kids to live comfortably with
cars and a house.
“People really pay for
the system,” says Moldez. “Kahit gaano pa kasarap yung burger mo,if it takes an
hour to have it served, that will lead to failure.
BE A PROBLEM SOLVER!
“What entrepreneurs do
is solve problems,” stresses Moldez. “If you think the business you are getting
into will solve people’s problems, then go for it. But if your main purpose is
just to make money, you wont succeed.” Leap to the finish line if you’ve
devised a failsafe system for your business.
You’ve just earned your
first million, which they say is the hardest to make. Your next millions will
be easier to earn now. Feel free to do whatever you want – use them to expand
your business.
Rolando Reroma