#wise planning

You know, I've been in similar situations before over the years. Many times, have I wanted to start my own business from home, even with a small capital that I gathered from the salary of my day job. However, on so many occasions, I failed at it. Well, I not afraid to admit that I have failed more times than I have succeeded, but I can also tell you that each time I failed at it, I actually learnt something new. I've learnt how to do it better, and how to make wiser decisions each time. It wasn't easy, trust me, for any of you who has ever thought about starting your own business, or have already had one, you will know how challenging it was to start a home based business while having to juggle the responsibilities of doing well at your day job. So, I've learnt from the past of working on a freelance basis, as well as starting a home based business. And this is my personal take on this.

I want to share what I feel and what I've come to learn about how to take the first step to starting your own business if you do not have any capital, or you are running on a very tight budget. I'm not afraid to tell you that when I've started this blog, and now that I am doing freelancing, I'm living on a very tight budget of just S$10/day, or US$8/day. Enough to pay for a meal, I try not to travel out too often unless I really need to meet a potential client. I follow a tight budget, and I have to train myself to be disciplined with self-control. It requires a lot of character, and I can't say that I'm already good with it, I can only say tat I am still learning.

If you are like me, starting out on a tight budget. The best thing you can do is to start freelancing. You might not be able to do it full time for a start, as you need to maintain your main responsibility at your day job, but its a start. Yes, I know the question on your mind, you must be saying, "Doesn't that mean that I will have to sacrifice time on the weekday nights and weekends???"

My answer is simple, "Yes". And no, it will not be easy to do. I know it was not easy for me. My fiancee & I have just filed for our Notice of Marriage, and we will be getting married in 3 months time. I have not bought our wedding bands yet, and I'm seriously committed to following my dreams. I've always wanted to start my own business, just like my father did when we were still kids. But I also want to be a loving husband to be. 

You see, its hard to find balance in everything. At some point in time, you will need to make time for work, for your freelance commitment, and your family. Only you can decide which one is more important. For me, work, earning more money to provide for my fiancee, and being there for her is extremely important to me.

I'm not exactly sure about the western culture, but I know for people like us in the East (Chinese, Singaporeans), we tend to be more practical and realistic. As much as I desire to quit my job and do freelancing full-time, I have to be down-to-earth, and plan wisely, knowing that I will soon have a wife who needs to depend on me (eventhough she'll still be working). No matter how tempted I have to leave my day job and pursue my dream and passion, I have to do things step by step. That is just the way life is.