We go through life differently. Some were born with a silver spoon in their mouths while others would turn their nights into days just to be able to provide the basic needs for their families.
Coping with life is a challenge that we all need to face. But how does an ordinary person make his dreams come true?
All of us have dreams. When you ask people what their dreams are, you won’t get the same reactions. Some are very enthusiastic, while some are reluctant to talk about it.
They seem to be too embarrassed to let people hear what they have to say. These kinds of people may have limited themselves in such a way that they feel that they may not be capable of making that dream happen. They are afraid of being laughed at, unsure if they are too ambitious or not having such incredible dream to start with. Being too afraid to talk about it, how would he know what will happen next?
A young lady from Romblon who took up computer programming dreamed of being able to be different– such ambition for a 22-year- old to be unfazed with life’s bumps and holes.
Riza May Veneracion was determined to make a change in her life. She may not be born from a wealthy family but it did not stop her from trying to achieve better things in life. Working her way up may have not been as easy but she believes that successful people had to learn it the hard way in order to become the best in their respective fields. She has never ceased dreaming for her family and for her future. If she did, what would have become of her?
A dream will remain a dream if we do not make necessary steps. Why do we dream, anyway?
Isn’t it because we want to change how things are today? How do we make things differently?
Veneracion is such a strong woman that she took life’s challenge with open arms and wanted to share how she took each step to make things happen:
- If you dream of something, no matter how big or small it is, dream of the possibilities on how you can make things happen for you and for your family. Never entertain negative thoughts to discourage you from taking that small step.
- Believe that you are capable of doing it no matter how hard you may go through because there will be people who can help you strengthen your will to do it. For example, you dream of building a business that will let you earn $1 million dollars is believable. But of course, that won’t happen without you taking heed of how you can really make it happen.
- Envision yourself in that big picture with your dream taking place. Focus your thoughts on how it could be and think of the ways on how to achieve your dream.
- A dream should not just be in your thoughts. If we don’t do anything about it nothing will change with how you are today. If we share our dreams with others, it boosts our confidence and makes us believe more than it can truly happen. Sometimes, just by sharing our thoughts with others, they may be able to share some ideas which can be helpful for us.
- In every dream, you need to make a plan. Write down the possible steps which you think will be helpful in making you reach your goal. Plan out a strategy and think things through. Break the plan into small workable pieces so you can have a full picture of what you are trying to achieve.
- To become successful, we need to make extra effort in wanting to work it out. Successful people always make time to think and re-think on how he can make it better. It is tiring but with full determination, achieving the goal is all worth all the time and effort.
- Once you have achieved your goal, enjoy it. When you are living the dream, enjoy but never stop learning on how to improve your business. Continue to learn and adopt it.
Overwhelming success awaits you. You can only stay on top if you keep your feet grounded despite everything that has happened. Learn to thank the people who have helped you achieve your dreams and this time, it’s your turn to give back.
At 22, Veneracion opened a small salon business. Things were doing well at first. After nine months of operation, the business was discontinued because of some problems that came along.
It was a heartbreaking experience but it did not deter her from starting anew. Her passion is in making people look beautiful and to feel good about how they look. She underwent training at the Center for Aesthetic Studies (Frank Provost).
Her family in her thoughts, she wanted to start all over again and this time, more strong-willed to make it better.
In December 2015, she opened a new business. Her passion led her to put up the same kind of business but in a different level.
Serendipity Elite Salon, a high-end salon and wellness center located at the ground floor of Victoria Towers in Timog Avenue, Quezon City, gave her a new hope in achieving her dreams.
She is a very hands-on business owner, hard-working and knows how to handle her employees well.
It is a challenge to be having the salon along others with the same kind of business in the area but what makes her salon stand out is the elegant ambiance and excellent service that she can provide to her customers.
It is never too easy starting up any kind of business. In fact, there are so many challenges that young entrepreneurs face. Veneracion was disapproved by the building owner the first time she approached them when she wanted to lease and put up a business. But this challenge become her gauge on how much better she can achieve her goals with regards to the business that she wanted to put up. It did not stop her from convincing the building owners that she has the means of paying the lease.
Young entrepreneurs alike face different challenges. Sometimes, it is all in the attitude of these young entrepreneurs on how they deal with the business.
- Young entrepreneurs almost always want instantaneous success. Now that we are living in a fast-paced world, they want positive results just as soon as they have started their business. To succeed in any business, it should be realized that it will take time.
- Money is important in starting up a business. However, money is not everything for a business to succeed. Along with having a business established is to continuously put in ideas that will help the business succeed. Strategic planning should always be done on how to elevate the level of service to be given to clients/consumers. The business thrives because the people that work for it continuously pool in their ideas in making their business to work out.
- Thinking that starting huge would mean speeding up success is just not the right attitude in starting up a business. It is a huge risk to invest a large amount of money, most especially if you lack the necessary skills and knowledge about the business. Taking smaller steps may one day just surprise you. Sometimes starting small increases the chance of making it big in a shorter period of time.
- In connection with the previously stated points, young entrepreneurs who wanted to start with a huge capital may not be able to raise the necessary funds on their own– unless they are sons or daughters of a multi-billionaire businessmen, of course. So their option is to look for investors who are willing to take the risk of putting the business. With this, all the more that these young entrepreneurs should strive and ensure that they are capable of sustaining the business because there are other people involved if the business fails. So this is why young entrepreneurs should start small to avoid taking too much risk. Apart from the possibility of losing money is the broken relationship among investors.
- When starting up a business, it must be kept in mind that the business owner has full knowledge of what he is going start with. Unwillingness to learn more will absolutely hinder him from becoming successful. Putting up a business needs knowledge and skills to be able to sustain it. Attending seminars, workshops, and talking to people who have also been into the same business will be a great help. It is also best to seek for the right mentor to help him in getting rid of the barriers that is constricting him with other possibilities and one who can provide him with better methods or approach in handling the business.
- Young entrepreneurs fear getting in debt. That is why they would rather choose to start up with investors instead of them shouldering all the funds in putting up the business.
However, if an entrepreneur thinks that the business that he wanted to start with has a potential of becoming successful, taking in consideration several factors: enough knowledge about the business, having the right people to work for you, being on the right location, knowing the right target market, then there should be no fear about having to get a loan to start up. - When you are in a business, your communication skills should be at hand. You must be able to learn to talk to people on how you can sell your products and services. There should be a high standard of people skills because you need to establish trust and confidence so that customers will avail of whatever it is you are offering. If you think that you do not have the right communication skills, never have second thoughts on taking a public speaking course to help build your confidence in order to help your business become profitable.
- Some young entrepreneurs think that they are already experts with the business that they have started that they refuse to bend things a little to make a difference. Sometimes, thinking out of the box may mean more chances of being noticed than others.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What do I want to achieve?
- Am I capable of making things happen?
- Why should I pursue the dream?
- Do I accept "no" for an answer or wait until the answer is a "yes"?
- These are just basic questions to guide you in helping you to take the challenge of becoming better. When you get yourself into this state of mind that you can only do certain things, you are missing a lot of opportunities ahead of you. There will be people who will continuously be putting you down, but that should not stop you in proving yourself that you can make a difference. And with all efforts, success is just within your reach.
- And for Veneracion, this is what she wants to impart to fellow young entrepreneurs: “Be daring, be passionate and persistently pursue your dreams.”
- She has not stopped dreaming because this time, she is dreaming for the future of her own family– the dream of putting up several more branches of Serendipity Elite Salon, a nail salon and a restaurant.
- Reaching for success is like stepping on stones, carefully taking each step, with the vision of achieving our goals. There should really be no stopping in making your dreams. After all, if you believe in your dreams, you can make it happen.
(Armando Bartolome is a business mentor to numerous micro entrepreneurs who are now themselves big names in the industry. This article was previously published on the author’s The BusinessMentor column posted by ABS-CBN News. For questions and more information, you may contact Armando "Butz" Bartolome by email:philfranchiseguru@gmail.com or on Twitter @philfranguru. His website is www.gmb.com.ph)
