In all my talks, I always tell people that the first step to achieving financial peace is to increase cash flow. We do that by making more money and spending less money. In some cases, cash problems arise not because of too much spending — there are many cases that cash flow is restricted because of limited income.

Let me talk on how to increase income for this blog. I have a 2 point attack on how to earn more money — investing on yourself (building competency) and being entrepreneurial and the later will be the focus of this blog.

Have you considered being an entrepreneur? Many people think that entrepreneurship is not for everyone and I do agree. I subscribe to the belief that not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. It is unfortunate whenever someone goes into business and end up losing money, I guess that’s par for the course. Here’s my big ‘however’… I think many of us think that those of us who can’t go into business is way too over-stated. I’d like to believe that many more Filipinos can go into enterprise. My many runs with Go Negosyo and the Association of Filipino Franchisers (AFFI) made me realize that many of us have to potential to be in business and actually make it big. If we have an open mind, we can try and become an entrepreneur – with God’s grace, you just might make it.

I need to note however, that we must go into business prepared and not blindly. Learn about the business you want to get into, read about it, research, talk to people, observe the market, prepare a written business plan, check on your finance and all that. There are many books on being an entrepreneur – Go Negosyo published many books that are easy to understand and yet detailed enough for you to start with. My friend Paulo Tibig also wrote a very helpful book entitled “Strategies of a Champion Entrepreneur” – a highly recommendable book for those who would to venture into business.

Being entrepreneurial doesn’t mean you need to start a big corporation at once – try some basic buy and sell first or do some commission selling. I am sure there are many opportunities abound for those earnestly seeking. The stories of the many successful entrepreneurs in the country are very encouraging because nearly all of them started very small and have very humble beginnings. Any form of additional income from being entrepreneurial will do wonders to augment your cash flow and that’s when the fun begins.

I once heard Francis Kong say in a seminar, “If you can’t be an entrepreneur, have an entrepreneurial mindset” — wise words to live by indeed.

The day after Christmas. We see a lot of wrappers, boxes and loads and loads of toys. Then we notice that our kids have more and more toys — so much more than what they can play with. This is an opportune time for us to teach our kids about generosity and what we should put value on.

Prior to Christmas, we have taught our kids that Christmas is not about receiving or even giving presents, its about a testament of God’s love by sending Jesus into our lives. Christmas is really about Christ and as parents we felt we needed to constantly remind them.

Jesus is the Lord of generosity too and I believe that whenever we are generous, it is an act of worship. We can teach kids to start being truly generous at an early age and after Christmas is a great way to do it. Usually, we teach our kids to give away old toys, stuff they don’t like to play with and after sometime of doing it, our kids find joy in giving away their old toys. Sometime ago, we slowly tried to teach them about sacrificial giving… generosity is not just about giving away things you don’t want anymore. We encouraged them start giving even new and unopened toys to bless others.

This morning, I got an sms from my mentor and dear friend Cito Beltran who is currently in Cagayan de Oro helping with relief operations. Cito asked me to create awareness in the viral world on sending toys and crafts to help relieve the affected children from a lot of stress. With a few text messages, posts in Facebook and Twitter, it was a joy to see people already responding. A short text message to my good buddy Paulo Tibig of V Cargo resulted to them agreeing to pick up and bring the toys and crafts to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan for Free!

Here’s what me and my kids got busy with earlier. We sorted out their new toys, mostly unopened still and I asked them the pray and seek what the Lord is telling them — if they want to give new toys and which of their new toys. My wife and I was overwhelmed when they wanted to give more than half of their new gifts. We also asked them to check their toys and start deciding which to give away. Again, we were delighted that our kids decided to give even toys they like to play with. At ages 9 and 6, it is such a blessing for parents like us to see how Jesus has touched their hearts and move in the spirit of generosity.

My boys story was picked up by Gerald Dela Pena of TV 5 and you can catch their short feature tomorrow (tuesday) at TV 5, 11:30am.

If you would like to move in generosity along with your children, please do so and send toys and crafts to the children of CDO and Iligan. Again, may we reiterate to send toys that are in good condition, not those that demean the dignity of our brothers and sisters. We suggest that you consolidate toys and crafts from your friends and family and V Cargo will pick them up for delivery to CDO and Iligan, free of charge. To arrange for pick up, please call or sms Nerz of V Cargo at 0927-7008059.

God bless you.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” – Matthew 19:14, NIV

Two recent engagements of mine made me realize how hungry for knowledge people are especially outside Manila.

A few weeks ago, I was part of a 1 day seminar called Mastering Wealth in Davao where I shared the stage with my esteemed colleagues and closest friends Paulo Tibig and Cito Beltran with Dennis Poliquit (Big Daddy Jake) as host. There were about 150 participants in the event and you can really sense that they have a lot of questions in their minds about many issues they are going through with. It’s a money seminar and we tried our best to be able to go beyond inspiring them, we tried to instruct them. Cito Beltran challenged the crowd into thinking strategically and that with the right perspective and coaxing, they themselves can find the answers to their questions. In typical Cito Beltran fashion, he was very bold and objective in pointing out how ineffective some of our actions are and provided practical solutions to overcome such. Cito harped on finding value in what we do and who we are. Cito Beltran narrated that “if manure has value (as an effective fertilizer) everything else in this planet has value”.   More of quotes I picked up from Cito Beltran during the event:

–          “Strategic mind is being purpose driven.”

–          “God is not whimsical, He is purpose-driven. God is the #1 strategist”.

–          “Not all opportunities are an obvious advantage, but some problems could create an advantage.”

–          “If you can’t take harsh criticism, you will never become good.”

–          “Evolution or Extinction: Repackage, Reinvent or Regret?”

–          “Redefine your roles, redefine your leadership.”

After Cito Beltran, my good friend and former co-worker Paulo Tibig educated the crowd on what an Entrepreneur should be doing. Paulo Tibig is the CEO of VCargo, one of the country’s largest logistics and cargo companies.  Paulo is also the current President of the Franchise Association (AFFI) among many of his other endeavors. Paulo was an employee that became an employer and has been tagged an ‘Entrep Champ’. A poster boy for Globe business, Paulo wowed the crowd with his practical steps to achieving success in business. There are 2 points that really struck me in Paulo Tibig’s lecture – 1) Expand on surplus and 2) Lifestyle check. He argued that many businessmen fail in this area causing their businesses and their lives a lot of ruin. Paulo inspired the crowd too by giving examples on how to convert crisis into cash. Paulo Tibig’s lecture was grounded on sound business theories and yet backed up by real personal experiences. After listening to Paulo, I was so inspired to jump into full-time entrepreneur mode… but no, we all have our places in the sun.

The Davao experience reinforced our desires to be able to empower as many Filipinos as we can, in the way we best can. Up next is my experience in Bacolod in part 2 of this blog.

* Special thanks to Joseph & Mike Doce, our partners in Davao.