What is your business and how does it work?

I currently have a convenience store at the ground level of an apartment complex. It was a product of my earnings working for a call center job, which was what was available when I started looking for jobs. I wanted to start earning and there weren't many jobs available in my field without prior training.

The business is small and I don't think I would want it to grow into a large company as of the moment. It's a business that's both convenient for me and convenient for the people in the area (pun intended). I basically get the things I sell delivered, and on weekends, I look for other things that people want in my store. We've developed a good camaraderie with our clients so that they could ask us to get things for them. We would of course try as much as possible to get these things to retain the customers. I think that's important for good customer satisfaction.

There is a lot of inventory involved, very basic accounting is essential and my role was more of starting it and establishing a system on how things would run. Now, my mom is managing it for me and I just more or less do the decision-making.

What did you learn?

IT'S SO HARD TO LOOK FOR GOOD EMPLOYEES. During the first 6 months of my business, I had to quit my job and concentrate on establishing a system, ensuring everything was running smoothly and overseeing things in it. Still, there were problems of employees not telling me they broke some bottles of this and that, employees letting their friends get some goods with the promise to pay for them on a later date. Of course, these friends of theirs never really paid for anything. I lost two times of the capital I put in on my first 6 months of operation. I'm only glad that we gained it back slowly.

Did you find it hard to be taken seriously as a young entrepreneur?

In terms of the clientele, it actually didn't matter if I was young. And then, I actually had a good landlord and she was so helpful and lowered the rent when she knew the store was having problems. I think part of it is because I was young and she saw my determination to be self-sufficient. I also had a very supportive mom who knew of my plans.

The hard part was I could not borrow money from any institution. Mainly this is because I had just been employed for a year and then I quit my job to start this enterprise. I had no credit history. I also did not want to borrow money from banks who would charge me a lifetime's worth of interest rates. Back then, micro-finance institutions are not as youth friendly as they are today. Today, the Philippine Youth Employment Network's (YES-Philippines) micro-finance institutions partners are open to working with young people and giving them loans to start up their businesses.

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?

First, do something realistic and doable. Jobs are not always in abundance, particularly in developing countries and so we all have to use our resources to look for ways and means to start earning a living. I started the convenience store with the aim of putting up 5 businesses. The store was just a way for me to generate more funds so I could start the other businesses I want.

Second and always tell this to the people I meet, make three-year plans along with your long term plans. I learned that from my former boss, Raul C. Hernandez, a great man. The first year, you have to concretize your plans (select what's doable and what's not and do away with the latter). The second year you have to do it! The third year you have to start making another three-year plan.

Third, always think of what you can do for your community. As young people we have more energy, more ideas and we're more idealistic. Never give up the idealism for money. Everything we do has an impact on society and if we want to make a change, now is the time. If it can only be done later, put a Post-it on your desk to remind you of it and throw it out only when it's done. It's always good to look back on where you came from see if you have done what you had set out to do. It keeps you focused on what more you have to achieve and what more you can do. One of the important things to do to gain respect as a young person is to be true to your word. Make sure to live up to your promises, particularly when it involves your commitment on making your community better because whatever you give to your community, it comes back to you three or four times over.

Lastly, put into context what is happening in the world in your own locality. Technology has made it possible for us to know what's happening in the globalized world in real time. We know the programs, politics, economic issues, youth issues, employment issues and other issues of the globalized economy. It's a matter of analyzing these issues and putting them into the context of the local programs we do in the Philippines, again working only on what's doable and realistic

What are the advantages of being an entrepreneur rather than working for someone else?

I am still working for someone else. I think until business ventures could be more than sufficient as to pay for your own salary then one should keep on working. As of the moment, to generate more profit for further development of the business, I am only paying the employees. Technically, there's a salary for me, but I don't get it. I want it to go into further development of the business.

The advantage, though, is I could confidently say that my work now does not determine my being. I know a lot of people go to work to earn for a living. This is not bad. However, my work is not my bread and butter. I don't just go to work for the money. I go to work to learn management skills, learn how to deal with my own employees, learn how to deal with my co-workers which is essential for my own business. I go there to learn how a business is run. I'm just another employee so I know what the employee in my business feels like and it keeps me on the ground. It's a training ground for me.

Have you or your ideas been discouraged by anyone? How did you overcome that?

I had a professor who thinks highly only of people in academia. I had that nagging concern that I studied the social sciences only to end up like that. Plus I used to have that notion that businessmen are all about profit making.

It wasn't until later on that I realized that money IS essential because without money, I cannot help people and I cannot be self-sufficient. I think it's just a matter of changing one's outlook and being practical about it.

I guess that with time I just realized that money is not bad, by itself. I realized that without money, I could not be independent. And at the same time, it takes money to run PYEN. For me, it was experience and time that helped me change my perception and overcome the ideas I grew up with.