Getting Started

It was in mid-1987 when I was first exposed to entrepreneurship. I was a junior at university and my mom asked each of her 5 children who among us would be interested in investing the small amount received from a property sale into a small manufacturing business. At that time, my older brother had just left a venture company that was involved in manufacturing bags and caps for corporate giveaways. He believed he could do a better job at it and so he sold the idea of setting up his own to our mom.

The premium item industry was very young then with lots of room to grow. Companies were just beginning to use premium gifts as a marketing tool to increase the sales of their products and for brand recognition. A couple of us were convinced to join this business since we saw the potential and we felt that we had the basic requirements to make it work. We had a good idea, the technical know-how for a business that showed a lot of potential, and it only required very little capital to start. The critical ingredient to this whole equation was the sales and marketing of our products and services.

So what is entrepreneurship? How does one become an entrepreneur? Well, the word entrepreneur refers to a person who takes more than normal risks to set up a business or businesses. Thus, entrepreneurship would refer to the bandwagon of individuals who will get into private enterprise.

Eighteen years later, our small manufacturing business is now a trading firm. Our mom helped us start out by approaching her friends and offered our bags, t-shirts, caps, and umbrellas for their christmas giveaways. Today, we are also servicing the reqional requirements of a multinational company. The business has evolved with the times and remains to be a modest endeavor.

Looking back, there were a lot of opportunities for the business to have grown and expanded to something bigger. Admittedly, the fault rests on those of us who handled the reins and did not take to heart the responsibilities of owning a business. We did not make the most of all the opportunities that came our way. Although we are now into importing and exporting products, we did not aggressively pursue this line of work earlier. We did not want to be tied down by the business.We waited for customers to ask us what we can offer as opposed to going around and offering our products and services.

Starting a new business is like deciding to have a baby. One does not get into it because one is bored, seeking new challenges in life, has the money to start it, a good idea or product to sell, and a market to sell it to. It is important to know and always remember that one should have all these things plus passion, commitment, dedication, and persistence to make it work.

[Christine B. Zialcita is a businesswoman and a Placement Consultant of Jobsdb Phils Inc. She is also an instructor and partner of The English Chatroom, an English-language training center for professionals. Christine may be reached at Christine.z@jobsdb.com.ph.]