The First Step
The hardest part of any journey is the first step. This is true in every aspect of life: Your baby’s first step; your first bike ride without anyone helping you; your first date; your first day in school. It is terrifying simply because of our fear of the unknown and more significantly our fear of failure. What if she does not like me? What if no one in school likes me? What if I fail? What if I cannot do it? What if I lose everything?
These fears are understandable. The first step in any journey is always filled with uncertainties and trepidation. This is especially true when you start your own business. It is terrifying to put it all out there in the hope that your business ideas will succeed. You are essentially gambling with your financial security. But the important thing to do is conquer that fear. Courage should not mean being reckless. As Nelson Mandela once said: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” To be afraid, after all, is but natural.
This is what new entrepreneurs face when they set out to build their own enterprise. That is why I have a lot of respect for those to take the plunge into entrepreneurship because I know what it takes to conquer that fear of making the first step.
When I was young, I was very ambitious and impatient. I wanted to go into business, become rich and help my family to live a comfortable life. As a kid, I admired Filipino Chinese traders in Divisoria who were very successful at what they do. I told my mother, Nanay Curing, that I want to build a business someday and make money so we would no longer be poor. Nanay Curing would smile and tell me: “Kaya mag-aral ka mabuti para matupad pangarap mo.” But I was a foolish little boy who thought that formal schooling was a waste of time. I wanted to become rich immediately. That was one of the lessons I learned from my mother — patience. Do your best, work hard, persevere and it will come.
And so I attended the University of the Philippines, studied Business Administration and accounting. But even when I was studying, I never lost sight of my dream — to become an entrepreneur. After I acquired an MBA I decided to take a nine-to-five job in the early 1970s at the prestigious SyCip, Gorres & Velayo (SGV). I resigned after a short while so I can pursue my dreams. I decided to venture into my own seafood delivery business where I would deliver seafood to restaurants servicing Makati business and buildings. I faced my first failure when one of the restaurants I was delivering stocks to did not pay me. So I persuaded the owner of the restaurant to pay by honoring the meal vouchers I would print out and sell at a discounted price to office workers. It took me one year to liquidate my receivables.
After this debacle, I became a financial analyst at the Private Development Corporation of the Philippines (PDCP). My job was to sell World Bank loans which was very difficult despite the attractive rates. I loved the people I worked with as well as my bosses and mentors, the late Wash Sycip in particular but my heart was really somewhere else.
And so in 1975, I took out a bank loan of ₱10,000, purchased two reconditioned trucks and started my own sand-and-gravel business in Las Piñas. From there, my vision was clear — to be the biggest homebuilder in the country. I was only 26 years old at the time. Was I afraid? I was terrified. But I was also determined. Looking back, what really helped me was the clarity of my vision and the words of my mother: “Sipag at tiyaga lang, Boy.”
That first step — leaving the corporate world and taking out a loan — was what gave me the opportunity to become successful. Once you have taken your first step, once you have taken the plunge, I promise you things will get better. It is that first step that paralyzes some people. But once you have conquered your fear then the possibilities are endless. It is not just my story but it is the story of all the successful entrepreneurs who built something not just for themselves and their families but for others.
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