Why I Became An Entrepreneur

Though I was fortunate to go to the best schools in the country, I was never an achiever in terms of academics. In grade school, I was happy-go-lucky and was always finding ways to enjoy my childhood to the fullest. My mom would always find me playing in the streets of our village instead of burying myself in textbooks. I would wonder why my two older brothers would study more than two hours a day, while I’d be up to something else.  But then, I guess it was no wonder why they were both in the honors class of Ateneo and I was always in a regular class. High school and college were no different… those were the “good time” years and I lived them like there was no tomorrow.

They say necessity is the mother of taking chances. My decision to become an entrepreneur was borne out of the fact that I did not have the credentials to climb the corporate ladder… nor the patience to climb it. I reached a conscious decision that if I was going to work hard, then I was going to do it for myself and not for anybody else. It just didn’t make sense to me to work hard and make others (i.e. my employers) enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I also assumed that being an entrepreneur meant having the freedom to choose when to work. That assumption though quickly faded as I started my first business. An entrepreneur is 24x7 profession. Owning your business requires you to be on top of everything especially during the start up years. You need to be ready to wear different hats and perform all the roles needed to get the business going. You need to be ready to have sleepless nights when collections aren’t good and cash flow is slow. It’s only when the business is established and you’ve hired good people when you truly enjoy the fruits of your labor. At Sysgen and Sysgen Outsource, I have been fortunate enough to work with the best managers in the business… managers who are entrepreneurs in their own way.

The morale of the story is that anybody can be an entrepreneur as long as they put their heart and mind into it. Having good grades in school is not a prerequisite to setting up your own business, though being knowledgeable is a definite plus.

By the way, it always helps to have a family that supports you all the way.