After she graduated with her degree in Psychology in 2010, we hired Ofelia Linchangco in STORM to do HR analysis and consulting. What was pretty evident from the get-go was that she loved design-related work. She would always volunteer to do design work for STORM’s marketing materials and would tinker with the website design. While she would do good work with her HR-related responsibilities, her design work would always elicit oohs and ahs from everyone in the workplace. It was plain to see what her passion was.
A year and a half later, she resigned. Planning her leap, she read a lot of books and did a ton of research. Then, using the remnants of her last pay (around P8000.00), she put up a design studio, Rocket Concepts.
Nowadays, she is doing very well and always seems so…happy-busy. She works with contractors to keep up with the work demand. She is earning a very comfortable paycheck as her own boss. She is pursuing a passion.
Let’s recount. P8000.00 capital. No experience. No formal design education. Just a year’s experience in the workplace. She made it work.
You can, too.
Around a month ago in Starbucks Masinag, Estelle Osorio narrated to me how she and partner Ulysses Cruz took a leap, used a mere P20,000.00 in capital, and founded BizWhiz, a startup focused on business training.
2 years after, Biz Whiz is arranging profitable course after profitable course. They are now hiring. They are getting bigger and more profitable.
Let’s recount again. Estelle has no MBA, she graduated with a degree in Political Science. No outside money. She’s in her mid-20’s. She made it work.
You can, too.
In an example close to home, early this year I founded Stream Engine Studios with Gino Caparas. The initial concept was to create a digital marketing firm. Then it morphed into an online explainer video production house. We put up around P30,000.00 as initial capital. Then I managed to convince Gino to take a leap from his comfy corporate job.
There were some hairy moments, but ultimately, not a year into operations, we have recouped our initial investment many times over. We have hired more people to help us out. We can now do this sort of work.
Let’s recount. No MBA’s. No formal training in design or animation. No big outside money. Gino’s just making it work.
You can, too.
I can go on and on.
Karen Yao was a pre-school teacher-turned HR practitioner who parlayed her expertise into a successful freelance consulting career and ultimately, into startup Congruent Partnerships. No big capital investment.
Sophia Lucero was a computer science graduate who had a knack for front-end work. Since she graduated in 2006, she has never been a regular employee for any corporation. Instead, she pursues her passion as her very own startup: doing freelance web design, UI Consulting, writing, and even pursuing her personal advocacies, such as co-founding the Philippine Web Designers Organization.
August 29 speaker Howard Go resigned from his lucrative Telco job in 2010 to pursue a passion – designing games. His startup, Mochibits, has come up with hit app after hit app. No big capital investment.
No money. No experience. No fear.
YOU CAN, TOO!
(Let’s hear of even MORE examples from you guys! I enjoin you to bless and encourage others by posting your own bootstrap experience! Perhaps your story is the very example which can convince one other person of doing her own leap. Don’t be shy and tell your story by hitting the comments below! Let’s inspire a movement!)
JUAN GREAT LEAP 