by Myrna Rodriguez Co
My stats may be shot. But it seems to me, from conversations I’ve had online and off, almost every other person has in mind going into business of one type or another, now or sometime in the future.
Are you one of them? Yes? Way to go. The rewards of going into business are huge, including some that successful entrepreneurs may not be aware of.
Business (on) your mind
On these premises, we have put up a new section in the Philippine Online Chronicles’ “Pera-isipan” channel called “Mind your own business” which may well be “Business your own mind” for those who might find the first somewhat overused.
Whatever its name, the months-old section represents our advocacy of helping build an enterprising culture in our country direly in need of economic heroes.
You would be interested to read “Mind your own business” if you are:
- About to retire or quit your job – but still productive, energetic and skilled – are looking for a hedge against the fears of post-retirement, a sense of worthlessness or simply boredom.
- A graduate hard put to find a suitable job or simply averse to the 8-5 routine.
- An overseas worker who has saved up a tidy sum, would like to come home for good, and do more than buy and ply a taxi, pedicab or passenger jeepney.
- A housewife looking for an outlet for her talent and creativity.
- Someone holding a job but has grown wary of working for another person (and making that person rich) and now wants, for a change to run his own shop, call the shots, make money commensurate to effort (and possibly get rich himself).
- A school dropout – who missed the bus of a conventional education – who would like to make it through sheer luck and pluck.
- A successful person who would like to give back to the larger society, the enterprising way.
What is in it for you?
Entrepreneurial motivations vary, as an analysis of 25 case stories featured in “Dreamers, Doers, Risk-takers – Part 1 (published by the Small Enterprises Research and Development Foundation and UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries) show.
To be sure, money is a strong driving force. You must have heard: Necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity also gives birth to enterprise.
A woman, traumatized by the abandonment of an irresponsible husband, wanted to demonstrate she could fend for herself and her children. Another, shaking off grief and loneliness, had to pick up the pieces of her deceased husband’s business in order to provide for her orphaned children. Still another was hard pressed to make ends meet when her husband was laid off from work and felt she had to do something fast. All these three women ended up going into business and doing well in it.
For two men, putting up an enterprise was a natural response to opportunities that came knocking on their doors. Among several women, business was a way of expressing their creative and artistic talents.
For a few among the well-off, the business was handed to them on a silver platter – as a legacy from parents or, in the case of a ceramic manufacturer, as a wedding anniversary gift from a doting husband.
One asserted that he wanted to be an entrepreneur “… and nothing but …” all his life. To him the big bucks are incidental but it is rather the sense of independence and psychic fulfillment that provided the spark plug to pursue an entrepreneurial career.
Whatever your own personal motivations are – money, self-fulfillment, prestige, power, recognition – the rewards of going into business transcend self interest, whether you like it or not.
What’s in it for the larger society?
In a very real sense, going into business is an act of patriotism, one of the best things you can do for your country,