The Challenges that Make up A Dream

We go through life differently. Some were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, while others would turn their nights into days just to provide for the basic needs of their families. Coping with life is a challenge that we all need to face. But how does an ordinary person make his dreams come true?

All of us have a dream. But when you ask people what their goals are, you won’t get the same reactions.  Some are very enthusiastic about describing their plans, while some are reluctant to provide details and talk about them. They seem to be too embarrassed to let people hear what they have to say. These kinds of people may have limited themselves to feel that they may not be capable of making that dream happen. They are afraid of being laughed at, unsure if they are too ambitious or not having such an incredible dream to start with. Being too scared to talk about it, how would he know what would happen next? All the what if’s follow next and then the feeling of remorse from not making a step to make things work.

A young lady from Romblon who took up Computer Programming dreamed of being different….such ambition for a 22-year-old to be unfazed with life’s bumps and holes. Riza May Veneracion was determined to make a change in her life. She may not have been born into a wealthy family, but it did not become an obstacle to achieving a better life. Working her way up may not have been as easy. Still, she believes that successful people had to learn it hard to become one of the best people in their respective fields. She has never ceased dreaming for her family and for her future. If she did, what would have become of her?

 

A dream will remain a dream if we do not take the necessary steps. Why do we dream, anyway? Isn’t it because we want to change how things are today?  How do we make things differently? Ms. Veneracion is such a strong woman that she took life’s challenge with open arms and wanted to share how she took each step to make things happen:

• If you dream of something, no matter how big or small, it is the dream of the possibilities on how you can make things happen for you and for your family. Never entertain negative thoughts to discourage you from taking that small step.
• Believe that you can do it no matter how hard you may go through because people can help you strengthen your will to do it. For example, your dream of building a business that will let you earn 1 Million dollars is believable. But of course, that won’t happen without you considering how you can really make it happen.
• Envision yourself to be in that big picture with your dream taking place. Immerse your thoughts on how it could be and think of how to achieve your goal.
• A dream should not just be in your thoughts. If we don’t do anything about it, nothing will change with how you are today. If we share our dreams with others, it boosts our confidence and makes us believe more than it can indeed happen. Sometimes, just by sharing our thoughts with others, they may be able to share some ideas which can be helpful for us.
• In every dream, you need to make a plan. Write down the possible steps which you think will help make you reach your goal. Plan out a strategy and think things through. Break the program into small workable pieces to have a complete picture of what you are trying to achieve.
• To become successful, we need to make the extra effort in wanting to work it out. Successful people always make time to think and re-think how they can make it better. It is tiring but with complete determination, achieving the goal is all worth all the time and effort.
• Once you have achieved your goal, enjoy it! When you are living the dream, enjoy but never stop learning how to make improvements with the kind of business you have put up. Continue to learn and adopt it. Overwhelming success awaits you. You can only stay on top if you keep your feet grounded despite everything that has happened. Learn to thank the people who have helped you achieve your dreams, and this time, it’s your turn to give back.

At 22, she opened up a small salon business. Things were doing well at first. After 9 months of operation, the company was discontinued because of some problems that came along. It was a heartbreaking experience, but it did not deter her from starting anew. Her passion is in making people look beautiful and feel good about how they look. She underwent training at the Center for Aesthetic Studies (Frank Provost). The kind of training that she had for four months became her arm in pushing herself to untiringly dream of becoming successful one day. Her family in her thoughts, she wanted to start all over again and this time, more strong-willed to make it better.

In December 2015, she opened a new business. Her passion led her to put up the same kind of business but on a different level. Serendipity Elite Salon, a high-end salon and wellness center located at the Ground Floor level of Victoria Towers in Timog Avenue, Quezon City, gave her new hope in achieving her dreams. She is a very hands-on business owner, hard-working, and knows how to handle her employees well. It is a challenge to have the salon and others with the same kind of business in the area, but what makes her salon stand out is the elegant ambiance and excellent service that she can provide to her customers.

It is never too easy starting up any kind of business. In fact, there are so many challenges that young entrepreneurs face. Ms. Ricel was disapproved by the building owner the first time she approached them when she wanted to lease and put up a business. But this challenge became her gauge on how much better she could achieve her goals regarding the company she tried to put up.  It did not stop her from convincing the building owners that she had the means of paying the lease. Young entrepreneurs alike face different challenges. Sometimes it is all in the attitude of these young entrepreneurs on how they deal with the business.

• Young entrepreneurs almost always want instantaneous success. Now that we live in a fast-paced world, they want positive results just as soon as they have started their business.  To succeed in any business, you should realize that it will take time.
• Money is essential in starting up a business. However, money is not everything for a company to succeed. Along with having a business established is to continuously put in ideas that will help the business grow. Strategic planning should always be done on how to elevate the level of service to be given to clients/consumers. The company thrives because the people who work for it continuously pool their ideas to make their business work out.
• Thinking that starting massive would mean speeding up success is not the right attitude in starting up a business. It is a considerable risk to invest a large amount of money, especially if you lack the necessary skills and knowledge about the company. Taking smaller steps may one day just surprise you. Sometimes starting small increases the chance of making it big in a shorter time.
• In connection with the previously stated points, young entrepreneurs who want to start with considerable capital may not raise the necessary funds on their own. (unless they are sons or daughters of multi-billionaire businessmen, of course). So their option is to look for investors who are willing to take the risk of putting the business. With this, all the more that these young entrepreneurs should strive and ensure that they can sustain the company because there are other people involved in the business that fails. So this is why young entrepreneurs should start small to avoid taking too much risk. Apart from the possibility of losing money is the broken relationship among investors.
• When starting up a business, it must be kept in mind that the business owner has full knowledge of what he will start with. Unwillingness to learn more will absolutely hinder him from becoming successful. Putting up a business needs knowledge and skills to be able to sustain it. Attending seminars, workshops, and talking to people who have also been in the same company will be a great help. It is also best to seek the right mentor to help him get rid of the barriers that constrain him with other possibilities and provide him with better methods or approaches in handling the business.
• Young entrepreneurs fear getting into debt. That is why they would rather choose to start up with investors instead of shouldering all the funds to put up the business. However, if an entrepreneur thinks that the company that he wanted to start with has the potential of becoming successful (taking into consideration several factors: enough knowledge about the business, having the right people to work for you, being on the right location, knowing the right target market..), then there should be no fear about having to loan to start up.
• When you are in a business, your communication skills should be at hand. You must learn to talk to people about how you can sell your products/services. There should be a high standard of people skills. You need to establish trust and confidence so that clients/customers will avail whatever you are offering. If you do not have the right communication skills, never have second thoughts about taking a public speaking course. To help build your confidence and help your business become profitable.
• Some young entrepreneurs think that they are already experts in the business. They have stated that they refuse to bend things a little to make a difference. Sometimes thinking out of the box may mean more chances of being noticed than others.

Ask yourself these questions:

     1.  What do I want to achieve?

     2.  Am I capable of making things happen?

     3.  Why should I pursue the dream?

     4.  Do I accept a No for an answer or wait till the answer is a YES?

These are just basic questions to guide you in helping you to take the challenge of becoming better. When you get yourself into this state of mind that you can only do certain things, you are missing many opportunities ahead of you. People will continuously be putting you down, but that should not stop you from proving to yourself that you can make a difference. And with all efforts, success is just within your reach. And for Ms. Ricel, this is what she wants to impart to fellow young entrepreneurs, “Be daring, be passionate and persistently pursue your dreams.” She has not stopped dreaming because she is longing for the future of her own family this time. The dream of putting up several more Serendipity Elite Salon branches, a nail salon, and a restaurant.

Success is like stepping through stones, carefully taking each step, with the vision of achieving our goals. There should really be no stopping in making your dreams. After all, if you believe in your dreams, you can make them happen.

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You may contact Armando “Butz” Bartolome for questions and more information.

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