Growing Pains

One of the things I like about running your own business is that you are your own boss. Success of your business depends entirely on your decisions or lack thereof. One of my computer shop’s first major project was the LAN installation of UPLB Foundation, Inc. (UPLBFI). Back then, I have been repairing computers for various offices at UPLB and when I worked on one of the PCs at UPLBFI, the current Director confessed that they were trying to network the computers but were not successful. They bought the materials, albeit some of them are redundant and unusable so I guessed that they really have not much experience in networking. My shop was just starting out but I have the reputation of getting things done. My brother was a computer engineer (a system administrator, actually) at a top government IT institution and he helped me out and showed me the ropes in networking. UPLBFI had to buy a couple of lan cards and another box of cables since we decided to install their switch in a different location. They were impressed with our speedy work which included a general orientation/training of all the staff on network security and resources sharing. The Director later asked me if we could computerize the UPLBFI accounting system. His term as Director was nearly over and he wanted to leave this as legacy for the succeeding Director. Furthermore, this would ease up the workload of the staff who are still manually processing most of the transactions / encodings. We met a couple of times with their accounting consultant to draw up a flowchart of their system and determine the extent of the work to be done. When we have ascertained the work load and estimated the programming costs, we came up with a fair figure. Honestly, my brother said that we are charging very cheap since he has a team of programmers way back and he has an idea on how much customized programs generally cost. The Director invited me upstairs (rooftop actually) and offered me refreshments, pizza, drinks, etc… I knew then that we’re going to talk about the deal. After eating a bit, he talked seriously about the computerization project. He said our price was high, he can only offer about 25% of what we were asking. I knew first hand that what he’s offering does not even begin to cover the programming cost. He was really haggling to the hilt. I said that it was impossible to do the work with only that much compensation. He argued that UPLBFI is the 2nd largest (or was it richest) foundation in the Philippines. And our work would increase my business reputation tremendously since I was just starting out without a name to speak of. I said I can’t afford to work on charity yet and know for a fact that they have budget allocation for the computerization
project.

I was wondering then, “Bakit ako nito kinukuripot?”

I attended one of their staff celebrations a few days back because they have received another
management project that would pour in 10% commission from a multi million peso project at BIOTECH. With some insights on the nature of the work that we’re about to do for them, I have a general idea of how much money the Foundation was making. I did not reveal any of that knowledge to anybody but I talked frankly because I could not understand why the Director was driving me a hard bargain. Apparently, he was talking to another company based in Manila and both of us have more or less the same asking price. He said that this company has a bit more experience and assured him that they can do the job. I countered that I have a pool of programmers who are also experienced in this kind of thing and I am merely the channel for this project. To cut the long story short, I did not get the contract. Well, I’ve learned these important lessons:

1. Don’t be overoptimistic about an upcoming deal because you can’t possibly keep all the bases covered. There are circumstances beyond one’s control that can foil even the most carefully laid plan.

2. Know your worth and don’t sell yourself short.

3. Free services given will lead to expectations for more free services. (I made a mistake of repairing some PCs without charging, hoping to be seen more favorably for more contracts).

4. Experience is still the best teacher and lack of experience can be disastrous, BUT the biggest
mistake of all is to avoid situations in which you might make a mistake. But then you can't learn fly if you don't have the nerve to jump off your nest.

There may have been other lessons that I have unconsciously gained from my first years in the
business. I know those experiences have influenced my decisions in the past and will still help me make better decisions in the future. Failures will always be a part in any business, but if you look at it in another way, no man really fails if he does his best.