By Oliver Kuy as told to Excel V. Dyquiangco

In a corporate structure, time and effort is actually limited but when you are involved in a home technology set-up, just like I am, the rate of speed and flexibility is much better since I am working within the confines of a familiar zone. Besides, going virtual allows me not only to respond to the needs of the client much faster but with this type of work, I can also choose the life that I want.

When Kuydigital Design Consultancy first started to gain ground more than six years ago, it was actually both a very rewarding and convenient experience for me. It was rewarding in the sense that I had very low overhead expenses and convenient, because I can work anywhere and anytime I want.

I actually started my online business with a mission, and that is to provide companies and individuals through effective and innovative multimedia. One of my sterling goals is just to provide clients with the most innovative and pioneering way of expressing their ideas in print (advertising, editorial, or packaging) and interactive media (Web or e-learning).

And since I just spend most of my time working at home – the most, I leave the house at least three times a week for meetings with clients – I also need to get as much inspiration as possible. However, that is not likely to happen when you are just in the confines of your home. So what I do is that I also have to travel a lot – be it within the country or outside – and be exposed to several cultures and then come up with new ideas. That is why I need to be mobile and I need to be connected all the time.

The path to digital design
The road to digital design, especially when it’s your own company, hasn’t been fairly easy at first. I took up industrial design back in college but I never got to practice it in a corporate setting. So, I just decided to put up my own virtual business, so to speak, being the president and creative director for Kuydigital Design Consultancy. I started with just a few equipment – a high-end computer, a printer, and licensed software. My investment for the business was roughly around sixty thousand.

When I first started out, just like any other company or business, I also faced a few setbacks. One of them is that I need to get my company registered, which I did myself to overcome system struggles. I also had difficulty being mobile and being connected to the Internet so what I did was just to plan my travels and trips ahead of time and to anticipate the requirements of my clients.

Since a virtual office also needs to thrive in the cyber world each day, I also spent years in creating and restructuring my Website (www.kuydigital.com) so that the online functions would adhere to the needs of the client, and I also need my Web site to be listed in as many search engines as possible so that it would be accessible to potential clients. And the thing about my Web site is that it is not yet done even up to now; I am still reformatting and recreating some functions of the site, and updating it from time to time, and of course, uploading my current projects. But I am very much happy with the results as this Web site is able to reach possible clients, both local and foreign, every minute of every day, 24/7.

I just can’t believe how much people rely on the Internet for graphic designers. I sometimes get potential clients just through word of mouth – and the site has brought forth numerous dream jobs that I can add to my portfolio. What is more is that I can reach these clients without having to do some hard calling, and I can do everything just by the click of a keyboard and the mouse. All I needed to do is just to park my car at a Wi-Fi establishment, turn on my laptop and log on to the Internet, and do some wireless video conferencing or file transfer. Along with my laptop, my cellular phone also functions as an instant access to the Internet.

Aside from time savings and reduced effort, some of the benefits of going virtual is that it lessens the stress as working at the comfort of my own time and space gives me the creative juices and the inspiration for my designs. The only disadvantage of being virtual all the time is that I don’t get to meet a lot of people in person.

My home, my business
It’s such a humbling experience to see that Kuydigital Design Consultancy was able to reach out to clients through the power of the Internet. Our clients are big names from various industries – Total Philippines Corporation, Nike Philippines, Getz Pharma Philippines, Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and C2 Communications in New York, USA, among others.

Being able to work with such bigwig companies doesn’t mean that I can already sit back and relax. Oh no. This is just the stepping stone to a productive and fruitful endeavor. I still work hands-on even if I’m the president and even if I have several people under my direct supervision. I make sure that my clients get what they want. I do handle the conceptualization and creative direction but aside from that, I also do a lot of thinking and idea generation and I still do production work and project management.

The thing that needs to be remembered in working with such companies is that you really need to take care of them and to handle them in the right and proper manner. In fact, we just deal with our clients like our co-workers or teammates, and as part of the team. We are just one big and happy family.

Virtual learnings
As a businessman, I have learned a lot from doing online business – from treating my clients with the right perspective to submitting the projects just in time. In fact, what really sets us apart from other competitors is that our turnaround for every project is very fast and that we work round the clock. Kuydigital also offers a cost-effective retainer-based arrangement for our clients.

This business has also embedded in me three essential characteristics that would make any endeavor a success – the 3 Ps – you should be prudent, patient, and persistent for any effort that you plan to undertake. And to really have a rewarding lifestyle on the business, every time you make a thousand pesos, spend only a hundred and the rest, you get to save.

For those who would want to be involved with online business, or just putting up a business in these trying times, I would like to offer you several tips on what to consider and how to start-up: they should think of their overhead or monthly expenses and consider knowing how to maximize inexpensive resources that can generate good quality products or services, thus, resulting to profit. Make sure that you’re always connected – you can do this by planning ahead, ensuring that you have the right online tools and resources to run your business, and take your business online.

The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers
By Keith R. McFarland
Think of this book as “Good to Great” for mid-sized companies, given that author Keith McFarland was prodded by management guru Jim Collins to answer his own question about how companies are able to break through their initial stages while others struggle under similar circumstances. Using Collins’ own research methodology, McFarland and his team analyzed more than 7,000 companies, conducted a thorough field study over five years, and came up with nine firms that exemplify breakthrough companies. The key findings: crown the organization, up the ante by placing big bets, build true company character, sustain small company advantages, build and maximize networks, nurture “insultants,” and tackle tough times head on. These are not exactly breakthrough insights, but the findings are nevertheless substantial as they are based on solid research.

Readability: 4 out of 5
Usefulness: 5 out of 5

Available at NBS Best Sellers

Businesswoman talks about the trade in children’s wear
By Trinidad Ramos as told to Excel V. Dyquiangco

Passion is the keyword for success in any endeavor. I have so much passion for children’s clothing because I love kids and seeing them smile. I felt heaven in our midst. It was my mom who inspired me to enter the clothing business. She said: people will walk hungry but not naked so I will always have business. Besides, I love seeing kids smile wearing their favorite Ka-BOOSH outfit.

And since the Philippines is known for children’s wear, my friend and I decided to put up Ka-BOOSH Kids. The idea behind the business was conceptualized by my British friend Geoffrey Wood (Bradley Carter UK Ltd) during one of our meetings in 1994 when we attended the Kind & Jugen Fair in Cologne, Germany. We agreed that he will register and distribute the brand in whole of Europe while Ka-BOOSH Philippines, Inc. will register and distribute the brand outside Europe.

We started as a manufacturer and exporter of high quality children’s wear and we export our products to many countries abroad – the US, Africa, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and our main market in Europe, the UK and Germany.

Children’s wear is the strength of our country at the time we started the business. We have so many skilled workers doing intricate hand smocking and embroideries so we capitalized on our greatest skills.

European challenges
We first put up our store in Ayala Center in Cebu. We made it our test market because many said that the Cebuanos are wise spenders. When you succeed in this market, you can succeed anywhere in the Philippines.

Our first month in the business was very challenging. Our products before were European-inspired while the domestic counterparts were more of the American style. It is good that we easily captured the discriminating taste of our customers who value unique and high quality workmanship as well as good fabrication.

One of the challenges we faced was the lack of capital or no capital to start with as manufacturing is labor and capital intensive. During those times, the government had very good livelihood programs and they helped us with this problem. They had People’s Livelihood Enterprise Inc. (PLEI) which later became Technology & Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC). They gave startup capital to aspiring entrepreneurs and they gave machineries and other support technologies.

We also had cancellation of orders last 1997 due to late arrival of fabrics from Korea. When the Asian financial crisis hit our country, we lost so much money. It was our great downfall in the export business. We had lots of stocks and we could no longer finance our export business so we tried the domestic market.

Even now, we face many challenges. Cheap Chinese products are flooding our market. Also we do not have a textile industry so we just rely on those coming from Korea and China. But we have a very good team that is well-motivated to produce unique and high quality products that differentiate us from what is common in the market.

The mission
You must have a well-defined reason why you will enter a certain business. In our case it is our mission to provide a decent means of livelihood to many of our Filipino countrymen so even when we were losing money, just the thought that so many people are gaining from the business, we just have to go on. You must also love what you are doing. Our mission is to make a contribution to society in my small way, to make a better future for all the people working in our company, and to make difference to people’s lives.

There are also four characteristics that a good business person should possess. One is good attitude. In business or any other endeavor one must have a positive attitude at all times and treat everyone the way you want others to treat you. Love what you are doing, as the saying goes. Do what you love and the money will follow. Focus on your goal. Our company’s mission is to create more employment and give decent livelihood to our people. Despite all odds we have to go on. If not for our mission, when we lost a tremendous amount of money last 1997 we could have given up. Finally, one should have faith in God and people. It is our unwavering faith in God that unite us with our people and overcome all adversity. We believe that God will never abandon nor forsake us. God is good all the time!

Plan and save
We started in 1988 with P20,000 plus 15 machines borrowed from PLEI. Now we have two manufacturing plants run by our 200 loyal and efficient people. We have seven stand-alone boutiques: Ayala Center-Cebu, Market! Market!, Festival Mall Alabang, SM Dasmariñas Cavite; SM Sta. Rosa Laguna, SM Lipa, and SM Fairview. We have 32 concession outlets in various selected department stores nationwide.

Right now, we have many requests from our loyal customers to make teen wear and moms’ clothing. We are considering these areas of expansion to satisfy our loyal clients.

As the business is still growing, saving money is an important factor. We have learned to delay gratification, and to buy only what is necessary. It is also best to just live simply and be a good steward to God’s abundant blessings.

For anyone who would want to venture into business, you should do and make good in whatever you are doing right now. Learn the business you want to get into and always have a positive attitude in dealing with everybody. Stay focused on what you want to be. You should have big dreams and put all these dreams into action.

Illac Diaz

By Illac Diaz, Social Entrepreneur

Reaching rock bottom
My tip comes from being down at the deep end and clutching my way back. I had fallen prey to the media of the immediate, that everything could be had here and now, and to make it worse, I had too much spending power for my own good.

The breakthrough
Never again should it be about making financial decisions based on buying things that would make me look good and being at the right place with the right crowd because often I find out that my buddies are juggling enormous balances of payables. I prefer to live with a credit card debt of zero. When we need to meet a shortfall, it is intoxicatingly easy to borrow from our future income to meet current needs. Money is good only when it is spent for good things.

Cash in and out
First thing I did was to come to terms with how much money I could spend by calculating my “Cash In” or what I earn on a monthly stipend and income from other small business investments. Then I look at “Cash Out” that I definitely had to spend on, like my living space, food, gasoline, and other regular expenses. What is left is what I regard as “Spending Cash”. This balance is the money I have a choice over.

Funding goals
What I do now is a system of “Funding” which is saving up for the things that I want to have and do by putting away specified amounts into specified future expenditures. I have a funding account separate from my savings account as commingling the two is like mixing business and personal money.

I list down the big ticket items I want and slowly work back how much I have to set aside every week to afford the expenses on their due dates, and then chart them out as if they were payables that I had to put in the funding account every Friday of the week.

This is also a way for me to judge how much money I had for the less important things in my life, like going out or some things I could do without. Now there are moments when I would get sudden income when I get hosting gigs, commercial jobs, or consultancy work. I would allocate the extra cash to months when I would have a shortfall and add it to my Friday disposable money. This could also shorten the time I have to wait till I get my, say, expensive television.

This may look simplistic, but definitely it does not have to be a straightjacket experience. I cook at home for friends to save on restaurants, and I could delay the dates a bit for major expenses to build up more cash. It’s a rudimentary model but it tempers my trigger purchasing finger.

It’s a choice
There is some discipline about what I can do based on my resources and this earning before purchasing model somehow makes working towards acquiring things more fulfilling. It also applies the principle of living within one’s means and not letting the future be damned. Certainly it’s a choice: I can find myself one day under crushing debt with a lot of purchases that I thought I wanted, or I can have zero credit card debt and achieve the important things in life.

By Karen Galarpe

If you’re tired of the rat race in the corporate world and want to be your own boss, consider putting up your own business. Here are a few tips to make your first business venture a success.

1. Find your passion. What is it that you are crazy about? If it’s cross-stitching or scrapbooking, you may want to put up a store offering materials for these hobbies. Or if you love to bake, then supply baked goods to coffee shops or put up your own dessert kiosk in the mall. Jay de Leon, president of Bombproof Gear Designs and Stoke Inc., loves the outdoors and directed that passion into a business manufacturing and selling outdoor clothing and gear.

2. Study the market. Find out what products or services are being offered in the market in the industry you’re looking at. See what unique selling point you can offer.

3. Ask for advice. Seek a mentor who has successfully put up his own business and ask for tips on how you can achieve similar success. Ask for hard lessons learned too, and aim to avoid making similar mistakes.

4. Fine-tune your business plan. Put everything on paper and see if you have covered every aspect of the business. Not only should this cover your financials (working capital requirements), it should also detail your marketing plan.

5. Be fearless. It takes guts to go out there and show your stuff. Don’t dillydally. The more you do so, the chances are higher that someone will beat you to it.