My Million Peso Quest

Business matters

millionpesoquest — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:19:13 +0000

Experts call it a global crisis, economies are collapsing left and right, people losing jobs and businesses, no matter how big or small, are choosing to close their doors for good. If you were the type of person who looks at the glass half empty, then you would think it was the end of the world. But as a person like me who sees the glass as half full, I smell opportunity. Because you see, it’s like going back to the World War II era, where everyone had nothing and all was equal. Suffice to say, now is the time to think about going into business.

The first business I went into was becoming a local distributor for computer accessories, at first everything was going well but eventually the business flopped. I guess what happened was that I aimed a little to high for something a little too big. Business is not a magical solution that will make you rich overnight, you have to work hard to make it prosper, and believe me when I say hard. Even getting into the business is hard on its own, since there are a lot of questions that you should be asking yourself, like:

What kind of business should I establish?

What products or services should I offer?

What about pricing?

What about marketing?

What’s my target market?

What what what indeed. These are but some of the questions you need to answer first before even thinking of starting your own business. Maybe this time around I’ll try to aim for something smaller and more manageable like little kiosks.

Big things begin from small things as the saying goes.

The CIAI Rule

millionpesoquest — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:16:13 +0000

Before I begin this post, just an update that I’ve added a new page. You can view it at:

http://millionpesoquest.wordpress.com/wicw/

WICW, which stands for What I’m Currently Worth, will update you dear reader on my total cash assets as I take on my quest to a million pesos thru hard work alone. I’ll also be updating my blog every other day but not more than three (3) times a week.

In order to get where I am now, I had to be frugal with my purchases, from necessities to luxuries. But we all know how hard it is to save especially when companies keep spitting out the latest gadgets, new restaurants are opening and you’re dying to try out the food or that one thing you’ve wanted since childhood that you simply can’t live without. Because of life’s temptations, I had to come up with a plan that will help me set aside money for my future but not jeopardize my happiness. This is when I developed the CIAI rule.

Simply put, CIAI stands for Can I Afford It. But there’s more to the rule rather than just asking yourself if you can afford something, most often you can, but can you afford it in the long run? Long run is the keyword for this rule. Think of it as setting milestones in your savings. For instance if you’ve saved up Php 12,000 then Php 10,000 would be your milestone, never let your account go below Php 10,000 ever again. As for the excess Php 2,000, you are free to use that however you wish. You see where I’m getting at? You are saving but at the same time you are never depriving yourself either. If you had a total saving of Php 15,000 and saw an item that you must have but it’s pegged at Php 7,000, you must ask yourself “Can I afford this in the long run?”. Since you reached the milestone of Php 10,000 then you only have Php 5,000 in excess so therefore, the answer would be no, you cannot afford it at the moment but you can always buy it some other time or maybe when it’s cheaper, never give in to temptation. The next thing you know, you’d be saving up not just Php 10,000 but then 20, 30, 40 and the boundary is limitless.

It feels depressing knowing that you can’t have something that you want right away but it’s reassuring that you will have it eventually.

And so it begins..

millionpesoquest — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:37:42 +0000

I was inspired by this blog http://myfirstonemillionpesos.wordpress.com so I decided to make my own version.

First off, I just want to make things clear, I’m not here to ask for donations, sympathy, help or any other form of charity. I do not believe in gambling or the lottery. My single motto in life and something I am desperate to prove is this:

“Thru hard work and dedication, even an honest man can succeed in life.”

Many people will tell you that you have to cheat, lie, bribe and claw your way thru life just to get rich, well that’s what I’ve always been told anyway and sadly find it to be the truth. But somehow at that moment in time, when my mother told me that you can’t get rich without doing something deliciously evil, I made it my life’s quest to prove her wrong.

So here I am, proud to say that I haven’t done anything evil..yet, and suddenly thought that I would like chronicle my life. So I’m just here to write because writing is what I do best. I’m naturally shy in person but somehow express myself better on paper, or in this case, digital paper.

Some backgrounder on me for starters to bring you readers up to speed, I originally came from a well-off family, we weren’t exactly super rich but we had enough to enjoy luxuries. We had a good business and life was grand, you couldn’t ask for anything more. But then it happened, approx. 9 years ago, a group of con artists duped our family of its wealth, leaving us with heavy debts. We had no choice but to sell almost everything we had just to pay them off. Nothing was practically left except for our house and life has been a cruel and steep climb back to the top. That’s when I promised myself to get us out of the hole that has been dug, while still being honest to myself and to others.

Going forward 4 years from that incident, there I was, fresh out of college. I had nothing to my name except my determination to make something out of myself. I was able to get a job and started off with a small salary of Php 8,000.

Fast forwarding 9 years into the future and unto present time, I’m now 27 years old. I hold a Bachelor’s degree and now work as a Software Engineer. And yes..I still live with my parents.

This is me..and this is my story..