Atty. Christian Gerona, the CEO of Manship, a ship and manning company, is a pinchhitter for a guest entrepreneneur who did not make it. Good thing, Arlene Gerona, she was able to call in her husband for this talk. Atty Christian is a blue blooded Atenean from Grade school up to law but is a entrepreneur by heart.
>At the age of 6, when given a passbook by his grandmother, he stroved very hard to add something to he pass book.
>At the elem school he gathered softdrink bottles to redeem the 25 cents deposits;
>In high school, he borrowed comics books from a relative, rented the same to dorm mates.
>In college:
he made money on siopao from his his car;
made money on Isaw from UP; <bought them l peso at UP, sold for 3 pesos at the dorm)
even set a gambling joint.
he became a millionaire while in college, dealing in Motorola micro tac. Unfortunately, the fortunes changed when telco went digital.
His advice:
l. Be shameless (in order to remove boundaries)
2. Be opportunitistic. Think of earning, think of making money. Think of "ano ba raket natin?"
3. Be bold be brave. Make a leap of faith that the venture will make money.
4. Be frugal. Separate personal and business account; pay yourself a salary;
Expenses must always be less than sales. Cut costs at all costs.
5. Be patient; wait for the opportune time; making money takes time; do not fall for get rich quick scheme. You must know that you could be one of the fatalalities of brutal game of business
6. Be pragmatic. Know when to quit when losses mount.
7. Be thirsty for knowledge. Atty still buys one book a month, despite the fact that he knows a lot all ready. When meeting people, rather than boasting, he tries to know more from the person he is conversing with. <He made this 7th advice as he drank when he was thirsty>
He is now into shipping and manning of maritime industry because he was able to help a lot of people in their cases. He specialized in maritime and admiralty laws. His company, Manship has over l,500 staff and manages over a 100 ships. His Master earns an average of $30,000 per month.
