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What’s your advice to budding entrepreneurs?
Venchito has a lot to say when it comes to starting a business. Primarily because now is the easiest time to start one. The first thing that he said was that it would be best if budding entrepreneurs go and collect experience first in their desired industry. He mentioned working for two to five years to collect both the work experience and technical knowledge.
The idea here is that these would-be entrepreneurs are given the means to save financially, while also learning and familiarizing themselves with the current processes of the industry.
Secondly, budding entrepreneurs must build up their network. Do it as much as you can because that is how important networks are. Attend seminars, learning events, and other activities that can help you meet new people.
Although you can’t necessarily use the network that you’ve built, there may come a time in which these networks, or relationships that you’ve built will become active and useful in your endeavors.
This is substantially important when it comes to referrals because it shows that your products and/or services are good enough for people to recommend you to someone else.
Lastly, entrepreneurs need to do their market research. So many times, people blindly enter the marketing industry and end up not knowing how to price their products—they don’t know who their competitors are, or what they’re going up against. You need to find your own unique proposition. Find out what separates you from your competitors and many other brands.
Why did you emphasize collecting work experience when you didn’t do that?
For Venchito, it depends on the person. It was just a coincidence that the industry that he chose focused more on self-study. It’s an industry that people can excel at while they’re still studying.
However, other industries are not exactly this easy to learn and flexible as well. There are many companies out there that need that experience and that forces you to work in a corporate setup.
Bear in mind that there are many different rules and regulations in the corporate set up. Work experience is supposed to help these budding entrepreneurs by building a strict sense of discipline in them.
Venchito admits that he struggled with discipline very early on in his career. There are a lot of distractions today. Most people think that by using social media, they’re marketing their business. However, some entrepreneurs fall into the trap of becoming busy but not exactly productive. Such is the effect of social media on most people.
What are the things that you do that allow you to reserve your time away from being a busy body and social media in being productive?
Venchito experimented by isolating himself from his social media accounts for a week. Although he failed in his endeavor, he realized that it boiled down to one question:
“Why do you have to spend a lot of your time on social media?”
Was it just because people wanted to be entertained? Or do you use it to educate yourself?
It’s up to the person at hand, whether they’re going to use it for entertainment, education, or marketing.
The problem nowadays is that people use it only for entertainment which is by far one of the least productive options.
Venchito mentioned one tip from Cal Newport’s book “Digital Minimalism”, and that is for people to find an activity outside of work that requires a lot of your time. It replaces the time you might spend on social media with the time you use up doing that activity. These activities should give a feeling of fulfillment instead of stagnancy while browsing social media.
Aside from John Maxwell, who are some of the people that you look up to and read?
Venchito mostly reads books from pastors that have high-end leadership capabilities. Two of which were Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley, which he looks up to. For more corporate readings I rely on Kouzes. He has books that talk about theories and, more importantly statistics and data. For more hardcore recommendations, Venchito mentioned books by Tom Peters and Peter Drucker.
If you could give advice to people who are struggling with anxiety and depression, what would it be?
Venchito thinks that people who are experiencing these conditions should aim to find their self-worth. Many people today value themselves depending on how much they have. For example, a businessperson would usually have a lot of properties and assets which some people use to measure their value.
It’s important to understand that what you have is not indicative of your self-worth. Even your appearance doesn’t matter as long as you know your self-worth.
Would you say that SEO is your passion?
Venchito’s passion is writing. SEO, in particular, is not something that Venchito is passionate about, even today. However, his skills and knowledge are all leaning towards SEO. There are times when he even admits that he no longer likes SEO and that he has no other choice but to do it.
Venchito stands by a quote that he heard before that states: “You don’t need to follow your passion; you need to follow your efforts”.
What he does love about SEO is that it coincides with another passion of Venchito’s which is learning. With SEO he always has something new to learn every day, and that is one of the things that makes him keep coming back.
How does your faith play into your daily routine and business?
Venchito considers his work and his business as his worship to God. Everything he does is his worship to God. With this mindset, Venchito can always give his very best at everything he does.
With this idea, he is able to trust the process, love the process, and ultimately hope that the outcome oozes excellence.
He doesn’t get his self-worth from the things that he does or from the clients that he impresses, rather Venchito is contented knowing that God will use him mightily to influence and encourage future entrepreneurs.
How do you prioritize your time and expenditure?
People must identify their priorities. Understand the things that you value the most. Another quote that Venchito mentioned is that “There is no such thing as time management”; “There’s only such a thing as Task management”.
The idea is that people can’t control their time, rather they can only manage the tasks that they do during those times. If the things that you do doesn’t have a positive effect on your personal and professional growth, then you should stop them.
For financial budgeting, Venchito uses an app called money lover. It’s a good financial tracker that reminds users of their current status. This can help out with identifying all of the expenses that you took that day. It also displays it by classifying where you spent your money.
Where can people find Venchito Tampon?
You can learn more about Venchito Tampon through his social media pages and personal website:
Facebook: facebook.com/venchitotampon
Twitter and Instagram: @venchito14
Personal website: venchitotampon.com
You can also visit his company website: https://sharprocket.com.ph/
You should also take a look at his most recent book: Career Crossover which can be found on his website.