Serving Two Masters at the Same Time

Keeping my nearly eight – year old night job and my business that requires me to be up all day is NOT easy. If you peep to my mobile inbox it is filled with unnamed numbers from clients with their text messages and call logs, my email Yahoo inbox has dozens of thread emails from clients and partners and Google drive filled with scanned documents of transaction receipts,  hotel rates etc. If ever there is a way to see through my mind, por favor don’t ask me what’s inside! At least I have given you clues already. 

The online searching habit of Filipinos peak from 8AM TO 12NOON and a little less onwards in the afternoon until it declines when the night comes. How come I was able to say this? Well my shift is 10PM – 7AM,  I take a breakfast right away and sleeps until 1PM. Now my sleep has become literally like hell because my mobile phone would ring nonstop from 8AM until I wake up. Now my sleeping habit has been compromised but this is never gonna be the reason I am going to quit.

Sulit.com.ph, a bedroom project

Last March 28^th I joined Entrepreneur Magazine’s Networking Night of successful entrepreneurs and the one that I really paid attention is the founder of Sulit.com.ph – RJ David. According to Alexa’s analytics this website which is a local version of eBay is currently the most popular website in the Philippines. He inspires me so much because our businesses depend on the online platform. Unlike Google which was created in a garage and Facebook in a dormitory room, his is a bedroom project which made the crowd laugh. He made this with his then-girlfriend now wife, co-founder and who really started the idea Arianne in his bedroom. He talked about the hardships they went through like the mistake of naming their domain Sulit.com.ph and there‘s another website also benefitting their traffic the Sulit.com, they were once penalized by Google for keyword strategy and currently the biggest challenges they are facing are the new entrants: ayosdito.ph,  sigena.ph etc… He said it does not mean that they are the number one they have to be confident that they will remain so that is why they are spending ads and TV commercials so that their brand is retained to the public’s memory.

Glories and risks of owning a business

Owning a business has some glories like money acquired is unlimited (can go lower or higher than expected), you are your own boss and creativity is everywhere (designs, tactics, marketing, sales etc). However the risks are:  possibility of failure, long hours of work, unpredictable business condition and responsibility.  These risks hinder many people who have great ideas because they are afraid to fail or suffer the negative consequence. These risks are exactly the ones getting on my way right now that can in one click stop fulfilling my dream of a location independent lifestyle. But the more I get sleepless and tired the more I remind myself I will die if I remain doing monotonous things I have been doing for years. So long as I still have the strength to keep going and going against the odds I will continue until I reach this Ramen profitability-  meaning when a new business now makes just enough to pay the founders' living expenses and can now give up their current occupation.

Struggles

From my blog’s byline and eventually the name of my business – I have been thinking so hard what will really make impact to the readers, I used to swear that I will make this blog Facebook Fan page less but I realized it’s like I am pouring water to a glass with a hole. I am also thinking some content topics that will generate more traffic blah, blah…

I have been spending a lot online learning the ropes of in – betweens and the more I try to understand the more I see it is going complicated. These potential clients are reaching to me at no specific time: eating at lunch, walking in the streets and even I am in the comfort romm! It’s freakin crazy really! I am trying to see myself few years from now will I do this full – time or this will just be one of the many stuffs I wanted to be involved online. Serving two masters at the same time is something I won’t recommend. Whenever I would read profiles of people on social media or introducing themselves as Jack-of-all-trades, all I can say is that’s crap.  I know the feeling! Though I think there are a few that is good at it, hats off to all of you! And yeah I think time will come I will have to choose which of these I have to give up and which I have to keep. I have a feeling this will happen soon. How many people I knew personally who are not happy because of the monotony of their life’s routines – imprisoned in the same place and same time, only doing it all because of money. I want to be different…

To my fellow entrepreneurs – aspiring and wannabees who know what I am talking about, what do you advice?