Pinoy Business Coach

Written by Free Enterprise / George S. Chua
Tuesday, 07 April 2009 18:57

TO MOST people, being an entrepreneur would not even have crossed their minds. After all, who in their right minds would rather come up with the money to give a payroll than to be in it?

This is particularly more so in our society where being a paid professional in a large company is looked upon with much higher regard than just being self-employed. Our government, both local and national, and government agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the labor department, Social Security System, Pag-Ibig and PhilHealth also make it difficult for an aspiring entrepreneur to go through the process of securing all the permits and licenses to start a business and even more so in complying with the regular reportorial requirements, making regular payments and meeting all the deadlines, not to mention being subjected to all kinds of examinations by a myriad of agencies.

Of course, there are a host of other hurdles in being an entrepreneur. Most people do not even have the money or cannot raise the money to be able to start and run a business. Being an entrepreneur also requires a certain level of management skill, which, again, not everyone has or can be trained for.

An employee works for eight hours and has sick and vacation leave entitlements. An entrepreneur works as long as it needs to get it done even when he is sick, and a vacation is a luxury most start-up entrepreneurs will not be able to afford for a while. Is it any wonder that few dare consider being an entrepreneur?

However, having said all that, should we totally turn our backs to becoming an entrepreneur? Perhaps not, if the conditions are right.

In the Philippines, most entrepreneurs are self-employed individuals without any emplo-yees and this is not what I have in mind. I am talking about setting up a business that has the potential not only to provide you with a livelihood, but a real opportunity in employing a lot of other people and making yourself truly wealthy in the process. If you can do this, you will have truly become a free man, where you work for no one but yourself.

What are the right conditions that would make it worthwhile for someone to consider being an entrepreneur? These are the idea, investment funding, incentive and an inside track. Starting a business means that you need to have an idea of what you want to go into. Of course, this idea must be sound and has a fighting chance to succeed. It would also be nice if the business you are planning to go into is something that interests you, as well.

Investment funding either by using your own capital or sourcing funds from other equity sources or loans is needed to get the business off the ground. Without the capital to start the business, this is just a dream. Hopefully, you would have been smart and fortunate enough to have saved some money for an opportunity like this.

Knowing where and how to get additional funds by attracting people to the viability of your business idea is critical when you have limited funds to start up the business.

Going into your own business with the right idea and funding will only happen if you have the right incentive to do it. Among the most popular incentives for people to go into their own business is dissatisfaction with their salaried jobs. Dissatisfaction could stem from not liking their work, office mates, boss or too much work, too much pressure or simply just burnout.

Of course, losing your job will also force you to take a closer look at taking things into your own hands. Pressure to earn more, family considerations, dreams of greatness and thoughts of mortality could push people out of their comfort zone and into entrepreneurship.

Having an inside track or an advantageous competitive position could be the final push needed to cross the line. This inside track could be due to your training, work experience, circle of friends, family ties or just an amazing opportunity that happens to come your way. With this additional edge, your chance to be a successful entrepreneur could be greatly enhanced, reducing the risk you will have to take to an acceptable level that you would be foolish not to take it.

Waiting for a great opportunity to come your way may leave you waiting forever, which is why, sometimes, we have to make our own opportunities. There is nothing wrong with being an employee, you can have pretty much everything if you end up with the right job for you. Enough money to buy an elegant home, have nice cars, send your kids to the best schools, live and travel well, and have more than enough to retire on.

However, sometimes the desire to be and do more overwhelms us and this is when it might be the right time to visit entrepreneurship. For the Philippines to move up economically, more people will need to become businessmen, maybe you can be the next hero our country needs.

*There is a theory that says that difficult things upon initiation have a great tendency to become EASY in the long run while doing easy things usually end up become DIFFICULT in the long run. Take the case of the Entrepreneur who suffers quite a bit in the setting up of a good business plan and later becomes successful in all aspect. It will be worth it!