Pinoy Business Coach

The first thing that I would do is Congratulate you for having 10,000 pesos saved up in your account, not many Filipinos are keen savers of their hard earned money.

The first thing that one usually thinks of when there is spare cash (be it 1,000 , 10,000 or 100,000 for that matter) is "Magnenegosyo ako!" Going out the first time, our hero tries to find where to invest his money. Be it a Sari-sari Store, a Lotto outlet, a tapsilogan or a carenderia, we are all interested whether the money does come back with a little interest called profit.

What our hero does not realize is : 9 out of 10 start-up businesses fail in the first year. Sa Tagalog, "Mga Siyam sa loob ng Sampung negosyo na nagsisimula palang ay nasasara o nalulugi sa unang taon ng pagnenegosyo!" (I hope my Filipino teacher is not reading this)

Why do they fail on the first year? It is because of various reasons. Some may blame it on lack of capital, some on management. What our hero does not know is that Setting up and Running a Business is a SKILL. It is what we call na "kakayahan", something that needs to be learned, developed and practiced with appropriate mentors.

It is like riding a bicycle. You would not want to ride a bicycle in EDSA without first practicing intensively now would you? But most of our brothers and sisters, do exactly the same when opening a business. They think the capital will make them smarter when in truth, money is just money and does not have power in itself whatsoever.

Adequate preparation, learning what makes a good business run, understanding Cash Flow and basic accounting procedures and knowing the ins and outs of the business will make one join the 10% that do succeed in the world of business and investing.