We all get that itch periodically to chuck our day jobs and do something crazy and fun and risky with our lives. That “something crazy” can often be interpreted as going into entrepreneurship.

Our personal finance article today gives good advice on a to-do list for people who have taken concrete steps to follow this entrepreneurial craving.

1. Assess how much savings you have. Since most business owners source most of their capital from their personal savings, we assume that you will do the same. Sit down and write how much savings you have. Look not just at your bank accounts, but holdings in mutual funds or unit investment trust funds, or even equities. Are these enough for your share in the starting capital of your business. If not, then you may be thinking that you will earn through the business anyway and will be able to put in additional capital. We caution you against this thinking, as the business may or may not grow as expected in the timeline projected. It would be better to ensure that you personally have enough in your savings to meet capital needs even before you start your business operations [Read the rest of this entry »]

Hi guys! Thank you for your lively comments about my post Migrate vs stay. I will reply to those comments in a bit. Meanwhile, let me cross-post an announcement for Open For Business. Those who want free help to bring your business to the next level may still send in their applications until Thursday. Let your friends and family know about it. Next week, I am going to begin planning an initial plenary session for the lucky entrepreneurs, so don’t miss the deadline. Good luck!

Business mentor to give free advice to business startups

MANILA, Philippines — MARKETING professional Willy E. Arcilla has agreed to help eight readers of INQUIRER.net who need guidance to grow their start-up businesses in a business-mentoring activity for the publication’s entrepreneurship blog called Open For Business.

Arcilla will meet with ten selected readers once a month for 12 months, and help them with their strategies in positioning and marketing their products. The progress of these businesses for the duration of the exercise will be published in Open For Business so that other entrepreneurs can benefit from them.

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This just out on Forbes’ Rich List in the Philippines:

Factory worker’s son joins Philippine billionaires

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 03:36pm (Mla time) 10/18/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Andrew Tan, the son of a poor immigrant factory worker from China, has reportedly become the newest addition in more than a decade to the ranks of billionaires in the Philippines.

After restructuring his holding company Alliance Global, Tan’s net worth more than doubled to $1.1 billion from $480 million, Forbes Asia magazine said in its 2007 Philippine Rich List published Thursday.

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Pinoy Investor asked a very incisive question:

We used to have funds for education, retirement and cost of living. But I used them up for our businesses. They became fixed assets, inventories and working capital. Our personal and business assets got mixed. Good or bad?

In one of my interviews with a financial planner, I learned that a common problem among Filipino entrepreneurs is a tendency to mix business and personal finances. Meaning, once a business takes off, the owner dips into the business moneybag to spend for personal stuff. By this time, his lifestyle has of course changed and he needs more grease to fuel his spending and for a time, he will feel like everything is going okay.

It’s like putting a parasite inside the business, and pretty soon the business will suffer but the parasite grows. In extreme situations, when he needs to scale down or close shop, his lifestyle no longer adjusts.

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I’m playing catch-up with a grin on my face, seeing that this blog has been active despite my absence last week. What a magnificent thing it is to see people sharing experiences, knowledge, and skills unselfishly with each other. Thank you!

Last week, INQUIRER.net’s personal finance section featured an article on money lessons for children. Some of the advice may surprise parents. Instead of the traditional “teach children how to do with less”, the article talked about giving children extra allowance so they would learn to budget their extra money. It talked about teaching children the importance of saving, investing, keeping good records, of being content with what they have, of being good stewards of their belongings, of learning how to give to others and enjoying the fruits of their labors so they will not turn out to be misers.

Good, basic advice. Unfortunately, they will all be useless without consistent practice. Let me explain.

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Talk is cheap. Cash is not.

We can talk till we’re blue in the face about taking the plunge, going after our dreams to start or expand our own business, or making our money work for us by being our own boss.

Unless we walk the talk, however, all that planning will not count for anything. Margie Quimpo-Espino, one of Inquirer’s business editors asked me pointblank during an interview, “So, have you started your own business? Hey, you have to walk the talk!”

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I had fun taking this wealth test by the late Larry Waschka (author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Rich). I’m sure it’s not a “scientific” test but it could give you a picture of where you are right now and what adjustments you need to take.

It could tell you if you have what it takes to be a millionaire and if you already are, to be a gazillionaire

Here ya go. Tweaked it a bit to give a hint of Filipino flavor.
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How would you like to hear a 9-year old kid talk about marketing strategies, loan agreements, supplies, wages, taxes and…uh…thinking out of the box?

Henry Ong, president of RFP (Phils) Institute has cooked up another project — this time to teach children how to be entrepreneurs. No, they won’t be asked to listen to lectures or even interactive classroom discussions. They will actually be asked to think of a business and run it for a day.

Cool, huh? Read all about it here. Before I even mention something in MoneySmarts, I go through it, test it, see if it works. There’s too much at stake and no, I am not being paid to advertise it. So there. Nothing can be more precious than integrity.

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