Hey there, !

Over the past 5 years, I have:

• Experienced not knowing what I want to do in life
• To embarking on a journey of "being"
• And building 3 businesses I love doing in the process.

And all of these things have taught me a tremendous amount about what matters in life, and what doesn’t.

(PLOT TWIST: a lot of the things I used to care about, I don’t anymore. 🤷‍♂️ And things I used to not care very much about are now my top priorities.)

These are my new 5 lessons for living as a happy, free and fulfilled entrepreneur:

1 - All great things happen the moment you make a decision.

Even when I was an employee working a 9-5 job as a public accountant, I have started so many side hustles. On top of my day job, I was a ghost writer online, opened an online store selling novelty coffee beans, baked cakes and sold them online, even became a financial advisor.

During these times I was doing all these things, I was very sure that IF GIVEN the chance, and resources and responsibilities were not an issue, I would rather build businesses. 🤔

So, in the middle of the pandemic, I made a decision.

Even when I was so scared of making the wrong decision, I quit my not-so-high-paying job to do freelancing.

All great things happened after that one decision.

2 - You learn how to swim when you get thrown in the waters.

I personally believe that once I made that decision, 50% of the job is done. The other 50% is actually pushing through, acting on my decision and committing to it.

Even if it means doing things for the first time. Or doing things afraid.

When I started freelancing, doing calls with prospects (who are strangers!) as an introvert really made me so anxious. My thoughts: Is there a way that I can have clients pay me without getting on calls? 😥

But, knowing I already made the decision, I did what I needed to do. I did calls afraid. It was messy and awkward. But who cares? It's when you are afraid that you should do what you need to do.

I became so intently focused on the process of becoming good with calls rather than the results of those calls.

You don't learn how to swim just by reading a textbook. You jump into the waters and swim. 🏊

3 - Experiment, validate then iterate.

What makes entrepreneurship fun for me is the idea of freedom to test out my ideas. I tinker and experiment on concepts, business models and tools.

Some of our businesses' good offers were just a product of experimenting on things and validating a problem that needs to be solved. I put the offer out there for the world to be served and keep on iterating as we go.

I learned that the best products and services in the world are never finished. They are always changing and improving. ⤴️

4 - Embrace a vision bigger than yourself.

Doing business is hard, be it freelancing, an agency or running a tech startup.

But, what keeps me going (aside from the fact that I don't want to go back to 9-5) is that I am doing things for all the right reasons.

I want to build sustainable but growing businesses.

I want to solve real, meaningful problems.

I want to create more jobs.

I want to provide value.

Having a vision that is greater than just what can be found in my bank account makes this rollercoaster ride ALL WORTH IT. 🔥

5 - Mind your cash flow.

Setting aside bias that I am an accountant by profession, this is by far one of the greatest lessons I keep on learning and sharing to clients and other entrepreneurs.

Sales is overrated. Cash flow and profitability are super underrated. 😜

What's the point of planning for business growth if growing means your business will bleed cash?

Knowing my numbers has made our businesses sustainable, even during periods of slow growth.

So, remember:

1. All great things happen the moment you make a decision.
2. You learn how to swim when you get thrown in the waters.
3. Experiment, validate then iterate.
4. Embrace a vision bigger than yourself.
5. Mind your cash flow.

, whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Work 1:1 with me for your business finances here. (45+ clients helped)

2. Setup a business in the Philippines with my team's help here. (25+ new businesses setup)

3. We are building the finance stack for Filipino freelancers here. (580+ beta users)