Archive for December, 2006

It takes more than just tech skills

Tuesday, December 19th, 2006

The way I see it, in the tech world, there are three career paths to choose: either you remain as a techie for the rest of your life, move up to the management, or as an entrepreneur.  If you’re a filthy rich, dang, you can start with earning big bucks as long as you have good business concepts. But wait, that’s not the end of the story.  You can still attend your regular day time job while working on your freelance or other tasks to earn extra decent income.

Yes, reamining as a techie may not save your ass.  To firmly establish your career and obtain financial security, you need more than just tech skills.

Yes, I’ve gone through a lot of odd jobs.  Working as a part-time instructor at night, maintaining two internet cafes as network administrator and pc technician, doing freelance website designing with my team and recently jumping to a new venture on Food Business Consultancy with an old friend whom I believe is a great potential as a biz partner.

With my new job as IT Security Monitoring Engineer, I have three to four days as my day-off.  I admit that there are times that I complain because I easily get bored or let’s say I need more challenging job.  But instead of complaining, I make most of my time as productive as possible in my work.  And yes, I got a good tap on my shoulder from my boss for a job well done.  I like that compliment because it helps to motivate me.  Having three to four days as my day-off at work help me to attend my other tasks and one of which is to work on my other freelance jobs and finalizing my other venture on Food Business Consultancy.

Below are some "soft-skills" that will help you one way or another:

a) Communication - You know how to talk in layman’s term. Your idea is useless  if you don’t know how to convey your message across to your boss, ordinary users or to your customers.

b) Teamwork - I admit I like to work all by myself but it’s not a good idea.  I need my team to deliver the goods.  I need to trust them that they are capable of doing things at the right time and at the right place. I need people whom I can considered as a team. Oh boy, sometimes, I need to use any forms of divination (Tarot Cards, Runes, Astrology) to investigate an individual if he’s worth as a team member.  Believe it or not, I did this a couple of times and it worked. LOL.

c) Leadership - Your ability to motivate others to excel and reach their goal. You work with them and supervise. Win-win solution.

d) Organization - If you know how to organize your working table and your room, then you’re a good organizer. LOL.  The same analogy.  If you know how to put things in order then you can work with your team and finish things fast.

One may ask of how I got to know these people who became my partners? The answer is easy, you go out and network with friends.

All the best for 2007!

Initial Cravings

Wednesday, December 6th, 2006

Okay, just registered www.initialcravings.com more updates coming soon. Still looking for investors for our food business concept and we’ll act as their consultants. Glenn Lavarro (my partner) is back! =)

If you want to soar with the eagles, don’t hang out with the chickens

Monday, December 4th, 2006

"If you want to soar with the eagles, don’t hang out with the chickens" - Anonymous

I read that quote from another site as I was surfing the Internet and post my ad about the food concept that my friend and I was preparing. I think that’s a good sign when I came across that quote.  Don’t you think? Coincidence? LOL.

I stopped my part time teaching at night because it’s not giving me good monetary value.  So right there and then, I came to a decision to try another one, aside from my freelance job (website designing and network administration of two internet cafes).

I still have my regular day time job as an IT Security Monitoring Engineer from an American firm.  What I was referring here is extra income thru my freelance job.  But heck, with my regular sched at work, I have 3 to 4 times day-off in a week.  So I have enough time to do other stuffs during my day-off, aight?

Yes, everyone gets tired of what they’re doing at some point in their career.  If you are like me, you get tired of the routine and completely fed up and wanted to try something new.  When you get these feelings, you have to do something about it.  And in most cases, what you should do is change.

It’s normal to doubt yourself when your business career doesn’t meet your expectations.  It’s especially frustrating when factors are beyond your control and devastate your progress.

Simply put, I approach this as a last-chance, do-or-die situation.  But if the market in food business is as strong as I predicted, and if I do things that I need to know - I’m sure my partner and I will succeed!

So far, I have 3 interested individuals who inquired about our proposal (two foreigners and one pinoy).  If things will go smoothly, then it will spell SUCCESS!

All the best for 2007 and in the years to come!