The last two weeks, we have been hopping around city to city ( Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC,  New York, and last stop is Vancouver) on a business mission trying to sell our city to prospective investors.   I am doing this as a consultant to our city investment promotions office for which I am paid 1 peso a year ( an equivalent of 2 US cents in salary per year).  I also have to spend for my own travel expenses so it really is not a very well paying  job.  The actual payout is the experience, the satisfaction of doing something for your city, plus of course, I also have an opportunity to meet  lots of businessmen to pitch our company and its services as well.

It is always good business to participate in community projects. The goodwill and the experience are things that you cannot get elsewhere.

One of the things I have gained considerably the last two years is being comfortable with our business.  We have passed the days when we used to grow triple digits and high double digits, and more or less have become more stable.   There is not much high growth, but that is OK.  The perk is that once you accept that,  you also get more to accept yourself.

One of the things ( after talking to over a hundred business people) is that many of them express appreciation that our mission ( including my companions) are all straight talkers.  We promote, but we answer the questions in a straightforward, no nonsense manner.  If there are problems, we say so.  And that is I believe one of the greatest perks of success - that you don’t have to BS to get projects or customers, and you are not under heavy pressure to accept business ventures that intuitively you feel is not the right partnership.  You have a good track record to show, and you let it do the talking.

On introspection, I found out that many of the problems we have had as a business the last few years was trying to force yourself to accept projects that you feel starts off with the wrong expectations of the customers or is not really the prime focus of your business. However, because at that time, you were under pressure to generate business, so even if your gut feel does not feel right, you plunge into it anyway, and make promises that you may be unlikely to keep or fulfill. 

Many times, that really boomerangs, and end up causing more damage than benefit.  I think the best way for business to grow on the long term is to be healthy - as they say, don’t marry for the sake of marrying. It pays to take time first to nurture, and make sure first because both sides can be hurt if both plunge into it with rose colored eyes or false pretenses and expectations.

One of the turning points of my life was two years ago when I received the Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Cebu Chamber of commerce for ICT.  The award was given by the President of the Philippines and during that same night, the chamber of commerce also honored three of the top businessmen of the country.

These people, Andrew Gotianun, John Gokongwei, and Lucio Tan had three things in common - they were Taipans , they were billionaires, and they were all in their seventies. Each of them have probably a dozen or so companies on average, each probably larger than mine.

I was seated just a few feet from them, and it was always great to take in who they are and what they represent.  They were successful, but they were getting old, and had trouble even walking.  One thought occured in my mind - when they looked at me - maybe thirty five years younger and a hundred times poorer, would they willingly switch places with me?

The answer, I reckon, is yes. Who wouldn’t give all his wealth to be 35 years younger?  And , if they were willing to be me - then why was I working so hard to be like them?  Wasn’t the path I taking leading me to where they are now — that is working so hard so that thirty five years from now, I would be like them - rich and reverred but old, and maybe too frail to enjoy the wealth and life itself?

Is that a worthwhile goal, - miss enjoying life and family so that you could accumulate wealth, and finding it too late that your health does not allow you to enjoy even a fraction of it anymore?