Month: July 2016

Categories
Life Lessons

Your Journey To Your First $100

This post was inspired by Fritz’ How To Turn Your P50K to P1Million in less than a year. While it’s certainly possible to earn your first million in less than a year, more often than not, those who are able to achieve the feat have had years or decades of preparation. It only seems like the success was overnight, but just like what the Pokemon Go creator said, it took 20 years to create an overnight success. 🙂

The vast majority of people who are exploring for ways to earn apart from their jobs are just starting out, clueless to the options out there, afraid to try and fail. I know, because I was once in a similar situation.

Growing up I was always a busy kid. I worked hard earning extra money, taking care of pigs, chickens, planting vegetables on our backyard, going with my mom and dad to harvest tobacco leaves as well as cleaning our neighbour’s house for a fee.  My idea of earning an income was tied to having a job. Around 2003, I read the famous book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. For the first time I was introduced to the world of entrepreneurship and the possibility to earn not just once from you hard work, but multiple times. I was surprised to learn about the concept of LEVERAGE and RESIDUAL INCOME.

That kicked-off my journey towards searching for ways to earn extra income apart from my job. I have tried to setup businesses after that but it was all a one-man show. At the end of each business, all I had to show for were BIG eyebags from lack of sleep, bruised ego and empty wallet. That’s when I realized, if I was every going to make it I’d better learn how to build a TEAM. As they say, business is a TEAM sport. Teamwork is very important.

After working abroad for more than 2 years, I finally came back to the Philippines for good. It was at this time that I was able to save enough money to be able to invest in different things. I dived into stocks investing, real-estate investing, bonds, insurance, mutual funds and other paper assets. While everything was fine with me, part of me was still AFRAID. I knew deep down that in reality I really didn’t have CONTROL over how my investments would turn out. I longed to be able to learn how to BUILD A BUSINESS that I can CONTROL. This is important for me because when I was abroad I witnessed how a recession can turn a seemingly comfortable life upside down. There were tense moments where every day a few of my colleagues were being let go. Every day I was worrying whether today is going to be my turn. Fortunately, I was able to wither the storm as they would say. I was not let go, but that experience taught me a great lesson on being prepared. People say, if cars have spare tires, why not you? Aren’t you more valuable than the car?

Over the years, I have read hundreds of books and videos online or from the bookstores. If you see me at the mall I only visit two stores – the bookstore and the sports store. 🙂 When I came back, I attended lots of seminars from Bo Sanchez and other experts in business and marketing. That’s when I tried to make a goal to earn my first $100 through this blog. It took me around 1 year and 6 months to do it. I’m not sure if anyone is still using Google Adsense, but it was a fun time to be learning about internet marketing then. I was able to cash out the $100 and I was so happy. That proved to me that it was really possible to earn online.

My second attempt was in creating my first ebook Rich Money Habits – 8 Ways to Shift Your Money Habits and Be Rich. That ebook was sold for around $9.95 and all the orders combined after a few  months amounted to $605, of which the first $100 was earned in its first week after launch. The experience taught me a lot of things. Today, I have stopped selling the ebook and decided to GIVE IT AWAY INSTEAD FOR FREE! Simply visit my website at http://www.allaninocente.com/ and enter your email to download your free copy.

In 2011, one of my friends in real-estate shared me another opportunity that would multiply my earnings from $100 a week to $1000 or more in a week. She became my business mentor. She has been featured in Kerygma magazine as a former SM saleslady turned Millionaire missionary. Her inspiring rags-to-riches story has been featured twice in a TV show Asenso Pinoy shown in Studio 23. Through her mentoring, my results eventually improved…and the rest as they say is history.

results with annotation

It initially started out as a part time thing, until it surpassed my one week income from my job after 6 months. That’s when I decided to give it more time and quit my 9-year IT career to earn full-time US dollar income to support my family. In the last 5 years, my wife and I had the best times of our lives: We were able to buy our first car, a Chevrolet Cruze, and another family car, a brand-new Chevrolet Trailblazer. We also got our 2-bedroom condominum unit in a Resort Style Residential Development by DMCI properties. My wife and I experienced all-expense paid Asian Cruise travel twice: the first one to Hong Kong, Sanya China and Vietnam via Star Cruises, and another one, a 7 days 6 nights unforgettable experience via Royal Caribbean Cruise to China and Korea. There are other travels to El Nido Palawan, to Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Beijing China, and many many more.

galanight

In the process of building our business, I have had a chance to mentor other people to achieve the same results as well. Some of them are Engineers, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), IT professionals, and more. Most of them have also been working in the corporate world, but eventually realized that it is not enough. You can learn more about them and their stories here.

In the end, this is simply my story and other stories of people who were just looking to earn an extra $100. Life had offered so much more for those who were willing to learn, be coachable, work hard, and dream big for their families.

TODAY, it’s your turn to WRITE YOUR OWN STORY ON HOW YOU EARNED YOUR FIRST $100.

Here’s my good news for you. I am currently expanding and building my 6th business center…and in the middle of building a 10-man team. There are only 10 slots available. Bad news is, 4 slots have already been taken. There are only 6 slots left. I receive 15 – 20 inquiries in a day so it’s possible all 6 slots can be taken by end of this week. If you would like to work with me, and allow me to help you earn your first $100 this week, simply go to my website now at http://www.allaninocente.com/ and FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS listed to take the first step. I’m very excited to be working with you and make your initial $100 goal come true. Cheers!

Categories
Life Lessons

5 Common Fears you need to Conquer in Starting a Business

This article is a featured guest post from Louren of Powepinoys.com. I have come to know Louren’s work and realised that we share a lot of things in common; one of which is to share to our readers the value of starting a business! Today, he is going to share the 5 Common Fears you Need to Conquer in Starting a Business. Read on and enjoy!

It has been a common topic of conversation for people in the corporate world to talk about what business are they going to put up for their retirement. Many people get excited when they talk about these things especially the idea of having a money that works for you. Exciting as it may seem, still, not all people are exerting efforts to actually put their business ideas to life. Why? That’s what we’ll be talking about in this post.

5 Common Fears you need to Conquer in Starting a Business

One of the major reasons that holds people back to start running their own businesses is the Fear. In this article, we’ll talk about the fears people have and the things we can do in order to overcome them.

A lot of people perceive fear as something bad or negative, well, not really. Fear is a natural thing not just in us humans but in animals as well. It is a way to protect ourselves from dangers. Without fear, we will do dangerous things without any caution at all. So basically, fear, in its nature is good. In starting a business, there are fears that you are going to encounter but you need to overcome these fears in order to progress.

1. Fear of taking risks. In many business, there is always risk involved. Whatever business you are in, whether it be as simple as selling ice candy or franchising, joining network marketing, or any other investment schemes, there’s always risk involved.

You might ask “So what can I do now”?

Since we cannot really eliminate the risk involved in any business, what we can do is to manage the risk. There are actions you can take in order to minimize the risk in your business. You can do some research and feasibility studies then create your short-term and long-term plans. Don’t just dive into things you don’t even know how to handle. There’s a big chance of failing in the business if you’re not able to create any plans. Just like what many other successful people say, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Another good thing you can do to lessen the risk is to do partnerships with other people or search for investors who are willing to fund your business. You can also protect your business from unexpected accidents, loss, or damages by applying for an insurance program.

2. Fear of not being good enough.A lot of people oftentimes don’t take actions because they think they’re not good enough yet. A lot of them wanted to have the perfect plan, perfect tools, perfect people, and perfect everything before they will actually dive into the real thing. To tell you honestly, it doesn’t work that way. There are a lot of people who wanted to start their businesses get stuck in that kind of mindset. Most of them end up doing nothing so beware.

You don’t need to strive for perfection, aim for improvement! You might start with little knowledge at first but as you keep on running your business, your skills get better, your strategies get finer and you’ll learn many things along the way. Again, don’t waste your time perfecting your plans.

Just create a plan you can execute immediately and from there, you’ll be able to develop the skills you need in running the business. Just test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.

3. Fear of failing in the business.I hate how this fear has been planted in people’s minds because I strongly believe it’s so wrong to fear failure. Many people think that when you fail, it’s the end of the story, you’re a loser, and you can’t do anything about it. Wrong, wrong, WRONG!

“I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 things that do not work.” – Thomas Edison

Repeat reading this and put this into your mind: Through failures, we learn. Failure is a vital part in the process of achieving our goals. Failure should not be feared, it should be understood. You need to understand why you fail and find resolutions for your next attempt. Failure is needed for continuous progress and without it, we cannot enjoy the best of the technologies we’re enjoying right now.

You gotta love failure. Period.

4. Not knowing where to start. People get scared because they do not know where to start. This shouldn’t be a big problem. You need to take care to not just simply imitate somebody else’s business who’s already out there and get lost along the way. If you’re just starting out on your business, focus on your strengths. List down the things you’re good at and assess which one can become your business.

You can also search and list down the businesses that you think you’ll be able to love for long term and do some elimination process. Once you’ve picked one, from there, start doing your research and planning then execute.

5. Fear of being different and being rejected. One of the things people fear about is getting rejected by their friends and even their families. Since most of the people are accustomed to go to school and do employment, the idea of running a business seemed to be disregarded.

One of the greatest hindrances in pursuing your business are your parents. They cannot easily grasp the ideas and opportunities businesses can give compared to staying in corporate world. My sister and I took the courage to not listen to our parents to pursue what we want. Our parents want us to stay in the companies because what they want is “stable income”. Good thing, just less than a year, we’re able to earn more than what we had from our previous jobs.

So that’s it. I hope through this article, I’m able to help you conquering your fears in starting your business. If you find this helpful, share it to your friends, co-workers, and loved ones!

About the author:
Louren is the founder and the publisher of PowerPinoys where he writes about finance, entrepreneurship, business, and other topics related. He is a web developer who focuses on real estate and e-commerce websites.

Categories
Life Lessons

What is a SIMPLE and COMFORTABLE Life?

A few days ago, I came across this recent NEDA survey saying that most Filipinos want a simple and comfortable life. What was curious for me is that in the survey, they tried to put a specific amount to what is SIMPLE & COMFORTABLE. Would you like to find out what’s the amount too? Here’s the answer: for a family of four, this means having a monthly gross income of ₱120,000 and enough money for day-to-day needs. You can go to cnn.ph/28ZLOjU to watch the video and learn the rest of the survey.

simple and comfortable life

 

While thinking about it, I remembered another survey a few months back about the HIGHEST PAYING JOBS in the Philippines.  I think it was in a Jobstreet survey where they indicated that IT people had the highest paying jobs in the Philippines. Their monthly salaries ranged from P38,000 to P86,550.

It does not take a mathematician to figure out that the P86,550 income from the HIGHEST PAYING job, CANNOT cover the P120,000 needed for someone to live a SIMPLE & COMFORTABLE life.

One thing is definitely clear from the numbers: everyone needs additional income apart from their jobs to provide a simple and comfortable lifestyle for their families.

I’m curious what part-time opportunities have you tried so far to add on to your income from your job? How did it go? What did you learn? I’d like to get to know your stories and experiences. Feel free to email them to me, or comment below. Who knows you may even be featured in my future posts in this blog.

Here’s the good news. In my next post, I will be sharing you some ideas I picked up from my good friend Fritz @ Ready To Be Rich on the ways on how you can add another stream of income on top of your job. Watch out for it. Cheers!