Every week, as my column comes out, we get a lot of feedback from readers through email and my Facebook. I get compliments, inquiries, as well as constructive criticisms. To help out some of the readers who have sent their interesting negosyo questions, we asked our negosyo gurus and experts to share their thoughts.

Let me share some of the inquiries as well as our experts’ advice.

“I have been harboring a secret dream to be my own boss and own a business someday. However, I couldn’t help but notice that most entrepreneurs credit much of their success from their childhood inclinations/experiences. Do you think that this is a factor to becoming a successful entrepreneur? I didn’t have the same inclinations growing up, even if I was exposed to an entrepreneurial family, with my parents owning a garments business. Should this be a factor?”
– Jacqui Evangelista

This is an interesting inquiry from Jacqui, which we forwarded to esteemed motivational speaker and bestselling author Francis Kong. In our Go Negosyo summits and seminars, Francis has also been an active Angelpreneur, inspiring countless of Filipinos achieve a positive mindset.

“Going into business is and being successful at it involves a lot of variables. But the basic concept is that you have something to provide that the market needs. You make that product/service available and earn a little something in the process. Experience is important but childhood inclinations, experiences, educational background, wise words of counsel and all other factors should lead to one essential ingredient you need to have in running your business and this is BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE. This is central. Other factors like resilience, ability to absorb and learn, getting the right resources are all important too but they are peripherals. And when all things are in place, right execution is the major key in putting the business together. I hope this helps.”

Here is another aspiring entrepreneur who caught our attention.

“As an OFW I always wanted and dreamed to have my own business in our country. While I’m still here in the Middle East, I am starting to save money and thinking of a business. Please help me and give me some advice or tips on how to get things done. One of my ideas is to establish a design and construction firm, which I am also working in right now.”

For Kim Jasper’s case, we only had one mentor in our minds – Dean Pax Lapid. Aside from being a Go Negosyo Angelpreneur, Dean Pax is also the Dean of the Entrepreneurs School of Asia, a Professor at the Asian Institute of Management and a very successful entrepreneur with multiple ventures. He is very much active in his advocacy of mentoring aspiring and starting entrepreneurs. In fact, he even gave a case name to Kim Jasper’s inquiry. Dean Pax called it “the case of the dreaming OFW designer”.

Here are words of wisdom from Dean Pax: “PATOK ang mindset mo into DREAMING & SAVING for a business when you return. However, your dilemma is that you want a business in the Philippines but you are still in the Middle East. What do you do? In our Go Negosyo YELLOW book – 21 Steps on How to Start Your Own Business – you can both be an entrepreneur and an employee. I would like to add that a business need not be managed or run by you alone. USE OPT which means Other People’s Time. How do you know if you are a BUSINESSMAN or SELF-EMPLOYED? What is the difference? Answer: If your business does not earn or get sales, especially when you are sick or on long holiday or you are just tamad, then you are SELF-EMPLOYED. I have a doctor cousin who thought that having three

clinics will triple his earnings. His day schedule works like this: 9-11 a.m. in his QC clinic, 12-3 p.m. in his Mega clinic then 4-7 p.m. in his Global clinic. It did not triple his earnings, but it multiplied his white hairs. My advice for you is to be an expert in your design/construction company. Be a real expert. Outliers’ and Gladwell’s bestselling book says that you need 10,000 hours (this is approx 5.25 years) doing the job eight hours/day at five days/ week for the whole year. GOOD LUCK & GOD BLESS YOU MORE!”

Thank you to Francis Kong and Dean Pax Lapid. We are proud to have you as Go Negosyo Angelpreneurs. Thank you also to Jacqui and Kim. We encourage every aspiring or starting entrepreneur out there to send us your queries, and we will gladly share our words of wisdom.

Congratulations to one of Go Negosyo’s major partners, Smart Communications, for their new campaign! Led by Doy Vea and Bong Mojica, who are entrepreneur-mentors and strong advocates of Go Negosyo, Smart’s new campaign will take the company to the next level in making lives extraordinary. Going beyond commercial objectives, the campaign’s primary objective is aimed at helping Filipinos in every way through wireless technology.

In a recent gathering, Smart intensified its exposure to various groups who are helping other people. Go Negosyo Executive Director Ramon Lopez and Go Negosyo advocates: Agri-entrepreneur Desiree Duran (who was a fishball vendor, has attended Go Negosyo seminars, and has put up her own institute that provides agri-business training); Hapinoy Co-Founder Bam Aquino; and Entrepreneurs School of Asia Founder and Chairperson Vivienne Tan shared their respective advocacies in changing the lives of Filipinos.

Contact me:n _blankfeedback@gonegosyo.net or Joey Concepcion Facebook account. Visit n _blankwww.gonegosyo.net. Watch the top rating entrep show GO NEGOSYO: Kaya Mo! on GMA News TV, Saturday and Sunday 8-8:30 a.m. Get daily Go Negosyo Text Tips in your mobile phone by sending GONEGO to 2910. – Francis Kong, Kim Jasper Alviar