What are your advantages?

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Your advantages are no longer about skills and abilities.  Training consultancy has diminished that and so with AI.

Your advantages as I have read in some publications are:

     1.   Integrity -   your character.  Are you trustworthy?

     2.   Credibility -  do your actions speak louder than words.  Do you walk the talk

     3.   Insight and vision -  to see things that are not and ask why not...  Its rare that you you would

           have no 2 if your mindset has been frozen into pay check to pay check mode

The third one is most difficult to acheive.  I think its either you are born with it or not.  Haivng a third eye or an intuition of what is going to be is not available to every one  Either you have it or you dont.

Or sometimes its the result of luck or lifes circumstances?

Had a wonderful meeting yesterday with a business protege: both material and spiritual

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Had a wonderful, spiritually filled meeting with a business protege, car sales executive, yesterday, Pentecost, a Sunday.

Had a PM meeting with a sales executive of an EV car company now the biggest in a the world, to consult about the problem of anothe protege with regards to marketing and cash flow reqs.  The day  before he demo the performance of one of their best sellers.

I still can not fully digest our discussion yesterday but these were the things I remembered

1.  He came early to the meeting because he saw the relevance of the project to his calling  ie the messenger of the Lord;  he seemed to share our thoughts on:  tithing, business principles, and spirituality.  He saw I am open the other party was open

There seem to be total trust among us.   His sister works as secretary of barangay in Mahabang Parang  (the protege used to be a barangay head)

2.  We held hands and prayed and thanked the Lord for bringing us together.

3.  He sees that the whole thing has happened beofe and it shall be one (an affirmation)

4.  He has among his connection:  two investors in his hometown;   several investors in province where the project is located.   and marketers

He was unlike the other whom we met who seemed to be not so interested and has other priorities.   The guy  gave us his priority even though it was a Sunday and very productive for a sales executive.  

A raw deal being proposed to us?

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Recently we got a proposal from a partner in Central Philippines   We would acquire the property for x amount:

     1    We advance the money for the purchase.

     2.   We retain the same sharing

     3.   The property will be land banked and developed when they are back in power

I am objecting to the deal.  However if we can flip by accepting reservation it is feasible

Consistency in curating articles on business/entrepreneurship over the years

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

A decade has passed since ending my academe years but this post continues to contribute to growth of information in the internet regarding entrepreneurship and business management.  Hotshot gurus and experts have come and gone and had impressed us but their presence never lasted long.  A year or two at most and lending knowlede on specific areas:  financia management, coding, marketing,

But may be its over a decade now that this post is posting keeping tru to its mission to be in the service of others and helping in nation building of this country and elsewhere.  

May we be all prosperous in the service and greater glory of the Lord.

Scaling for results rather than for time

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

If you sell for time you become a commodity as other consultants do the same.  If you however bill on the basis of results   you cant scale up your business consultants  (Not even with more clients)

If you charge on results you become one.   And you become unique.   

Billing scaling up for results

Strive to be the best you can be: your personality, the way you think and execute, the way you lead. BE A HALL OF FAMER

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

How do you move from zero to one, from nothing to something

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

You cant forever work hard.   You have to work smarter.

The other way is to have sponsor a backer...

The other way is through your own effort:  to build your own system;  rebuild structure  (capital later)

The Three Laws: Observation, Purpose, and Artifact

How to manage your time like a CEO, 3 2 1 rule, 3m

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Upping your productivity

3M

Determine your reality.  Where you are now?  Whats your zone

Maker - entrepreneur

Marker  Make process, system, delegate

Multiplier   managing the team, branches.     The most expensive router.  Recruiting,  Networking.  

Focus on the big picture.  

You do all good things to your people and this s..t happens

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Be careful in hiring 

Hiring can fail and you get bad people.  We are filing cases for at least 3 people who did horrible things to us... Despite noble mission of providing jobs.

Most steal time, dont work 100% and simply want to just stay and earn 8 to 5... How we wish

The billionaire mentality

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Why are some people lucky?   Why do they have all the ideas in the world?   How come we can only come up with mediocre dry ideas.

We often see posts about billionaire:

1.  Making suggestions on a  barbershop that is hardly breaking even.  He advises the chief barber owner to offer free hair cut.  It is a way of just getting customers in the store, generate traffic, creare the ambiance that people are rushing in.  Money is made in grooming kits, shaving kits and membership

2.  Making a suggestion to a coffee shop to make coffee free.  It would devastate the finances of the coffee shop .  But the billionaire suggest that money is to be made not on coffee but on other products:   sandwhich, coffee blend, mugs and the like.       Others would buy other stuff in the store.  The free always draw in the crowd

3.  The billiard hall that is empty.  Offer first 30 minutes free.

What can we offer as free or as a bait?  Free interment?    For so many number of plots

One businessman suggested that business is non only about economic transactions but about trust

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Economic transaction, buying and selling, having a deal can not proceed without TRUST.   Trust is essential.  Businessmen, entrepreneurs should really build their character and integrity to win TRUST.  GSB and other schools have emphasized skills and knowledge but not character and integrity.   

So the higher the tech or educ attainment, the more likely the guy is to be a scammer.  That is why many are scared of businessmen and entrepreneurs.  Govs are prosecuting businessman.  Many businessman are at the bottom of the respect trust totem pole

What business to avoid - an Arab advises.

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Arabs never buy even if given to them free:

1.   Restaurants;

2.   Hotels

3.   Retail fronts.   

But many are crazy about this   In our place there is boom of these 3 businesses

3 businesses Arabs never invest in

Dr Alfredo Bengzon former VP for Professional Schools Dean of AGSB joins the Lord at age 90

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

We worked with him for over a decade.   His services and leadership will be missed.  Vaya con Dios, Dr Arab.

He led the Faculty Conference for AGSB.  He ate dinner with me one time engaging me in  a deep conversation.  He interviewed me about my current business and made jokes for the plenary regarding me and another who heads a memorial plan company.  Beware if both me and Erniie come together ofering something spectacular.

I remember a lot about him when he made me ahead of everybody else at ER at TMC when I was involved in a bike accident.  He became my attending physician all o f a sudden.  It was of course pro bono   

When my mom was in the ICU and when security shooed us from sleeping  outside the ICU, I complained to him he made sure that we slept albeit on the floor near the ICU.  For him it was not wrong to be malakas esepcially if the malakas is member of the TMC or the AGSB family

I didnt know that he wore the Eagle costume everytime there was UAAP competition

Our sympathies to the family..

Dean Jet Memo to the AGSB community

How they train traders at Goldman Sach

Goldman Sachs could be the golden standard in investment banking before.  but nearly got toppled by the subprime mortgage debacle in 2008.  

The trader/IB relates importantinsights on how he was trained. (Sharran Srivastaa)

1.  How to earn $100,000 from nothing.  This is rather difficult and may border on scamming.

2.  Long term greed.  Find the long term value of the customer.  You dont have to withhold discounts from the customer now.  Give hiim a good deal.  He may buy

     from you again and again.

3.  Be responsive so that you can be trusted.  Keep your notifications CP on.  Be available when customers contact you    (Not as some of the sbus who will

    not answer phone calls or gmails.  Develop good communication habits  early on.  Respond to text, dm, 

4.  Be ready and fast and offer solutions when shit happens     Dont wait for the damage to get bigger.  (Avoid situations that will spell disaster for you.  ) Consult

     superiors and peers to avoid difficulties and anomalies

5   When you are with the best of the best, hard work is the only answer.   Find your hard, that will bring out the best in you.  

6.  Develop a investment x ray;  be a good adviser and authority.  In finance, your x ray are   capital presevation, tax efficiency, cash flow and growth.  

7.   Only a good brand can push your product/service to sell.     Not your best effort or your personality

8.  Share your network with others network.  It pays to work together as a team to work as one towards customer success and satisfaction.

9.  Show yourself as coachable so that you will have internal champions who will speak for you when you are not around

10  Help your company build a brand. It takes a lot of effort to do that.  But do work on that

What is essential is invisible to the naked eye; what makes you money in the business is not sometimes the main product

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Ray Kroc lost money on franchising burger sales;   somebody advised him that the real money is on the real estate -  choosing sites, leasing the same to the franchisee and thus can make money the moment a lease contract was signed. 

So if there are multiproduct offering, you can a price leader (loss product) so that you can entice the customers buy the more expensive product.

Or have a free product (a bait so that the profitable product can be sold bought)

Experts, pundits predict that more and more entrepreneurs will focus on strategic investment, rather than on start ups

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Gone will be the days when entrepreneurs want to build something new and build something from the ground up.  There will be more strategic investments.  Ie entrepreneurs with funds, or without partnering with other existing businesses or other entrepreneurs to grow synergistically, lesseniloss and worries.

We see this possibility all ready where our limis of growth have been reached and the only way to expand is via strategic partnerships/investment

Strategic Investment

Strategic Investment of Entrepreneurs

Nothing in this world is forever

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

It was observed that in this locality a local businessman engaged in steel distribution business acted as if he could be forever.  He bought two locations for two warehouses in a residential subdivision ignoring the restrictions and trucks crowded in the subdvision and pavements, sidewalks were broken.    He spent lavishly on fireworks, bought other locations right and left

But right now, there are plenty of competition,  There are more steel mills.  One has invested billions for two steel mills:   one in Sariaya and the other at Concepcion Tarlac

No progress and grwoth lasts forever. There are limits to growth.   Know when it is time to diversify and/or prepare for the future.

Does buying trucks, equipment, even plants make you a businessman

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Managing a system

In this video, a worker dreamt of buying his own tools and truck so that he becomes self employed.    But the billionaire saw him and advised him that doing so will limit his ability to become rich.  He is limited by his physical self and its better for him to think of system and management so that he can hire other contractors, not lift a hammer and earn more.  It is about managing a system, getting contracts, and getting the profits

So being technically minded knowing how to repair assemble does not make you businessman, but being able to organize all factors:  finance production, marketing can make you rich.

Tips by Chinese, KPI for business. So easy to remember

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

From FB

0 “BLOOD-AND-BONE” CALCULATIONS OF THE CHINESE BUSINESS MINDSET

Chinese business owners don’t rely on theory or gut feelings.

They rely on simple, brutally practical calculations to make sure they survive first — and profit later.

These are 10 numbers they calculate again and again every day

— and every serious business owner must memorize them.

 SURVIVAL CALCULATIONS

 Break-even Point

 “How many bowls, cups, or orders must I sell each day to start making money?”

This number decides whether a business lives or dies.

 Cash Flow

 “Is the cash on hand enough to pay rent, salaries, and suppliers next month?”

Chinese business owners are obsessed with cash flow.

Paper profits mean nothing without real cash in the drawer.

 PROFIT OPTIMIZATION CALCULATIONS

 Gross Profit Margin

 After raw materials, how much percentage is left?

Too low = prices too cheap or costs too high.

 Food Cost Percentage

 For F&B, the “golden range” is 25–35%.

Above that, profits are being eaten away.

 Labor Cost Percentage

 Should stay under 20–25% of revenue.

Go beyond that, and the system becomes bloated — profits disappear.

 MANAGEMENT CALCULATIONS

 Revenue per Square Meter

 Is your space generating money or just taking up rent?

 Table Turnover Rate

 How many customers does one table serve per day?

Higher turnover = higher efficiency.

 CUSTOMER-BASED CALCULATIONS

 Average Order Value (AOV)

 How much does each customer spend on average?

Increase AOV = higher profit without more customers.

 Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

 How much marketing money is needed to get one new customer?

 Customer Retention Rate

 What percentage of customers come back?

Chinese businesses treat repeat customers as living assets.

 CORE LESSON

Business is not emotional.

Behind the Chinese “owner mindset”

is an obsession with survival numbers.

No fancy degrees required —

just absolute mastery of these core calculations.

 Whoever controls the numbers, controls the fate of the business.

 THE PRACTICAL SOLUTION FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

All of these critical metrics are clearly explained in the book:

“10 Indexes That Determine the Fate of a Business”

 Simple, not academic

 No accounting background needed

 Designed for shop owners, cafés, small and growing businesses

 Learn more at: https://www.smartlifebooks.online/index?utm_source=a1

This book helps you:

Understand gross profit and net profit correctly

Know your real break-even point

Detect where money is leaking

Make decisions based on data, not intuition

 Many readers have escaped losses simply by understanding the right numbe

Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan, US largest bank was also fired just like Jobs and Musk from his job while at CITI

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

It seems that great CEO billionaires at one time or another was fired as   CEO in former job to mention Steve Jobs and Ellon Musk  (I too was fired by my siblings in company I founded)  Jamie Dimon was also fired by former boss Sandy Weill for not giving plum assignment to latter's daughter (nepotism)

The bitter lesson from the firing gives one 2x determination and clearer thinking to rise and go forward even harder.   It makes you stronger and grimmer and determined.  

Be a failure champion