The Hyundai Challenge: Something for the Would-be Entrepreneur to REALLY THINK ABOUT.

As I looked out the window of the bus I was riding just as it passed the Robinsons Galleria Mall in Quezon City (Central of Metro Manila), I noticed this stunning white car with the shiny black top and swooping lines. 

At first I could not tell what car was it but when it moved forward, I was surprised to find out it is the new Hyundai Sonata (a car that is set-up to go against the likes of market leaders Toyota Camry and Honda Accord).



Hello????  An upstart car made in Korea going against the established Giants Toyota and Honda.

For some facts, during the global car crisis that saw General Motors file for bankruptcy and Toyota to show its first loss in ages, Hyundai was the only one to show growth in sales (albeit not so big but a growth nevertheless when others showed negative sales).  In the Philippines, Hyundai has beaten terribly Honda and is now NUMERO TRES after Toyota and Mitsubishi.  I am sure they will soon be NUMERO UNO.  I see Hyundai Tucson with its beautiful flowing lines (fluidic in Hyundai speak) everywhere when there used to be CRVs and RAV4s before.  There seems to be more Starex vans than Hi-Aces.  They even have a sports car that looks mouth-watering WIDE & LOW-SLUNG, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe with Brembo brakes and 2.0 Turbo or V6 engine (to replace the forgettable Tiburon with the forgettable name).  On the taxi front, it's still Toyota Vios but watch out, the Number One Taxi company group, MGE and R & E, are now trying out 80 units or more of the Hyundai Accent Diesel which is reportedly to have better acceleration than a LPG-converted Vios (who knows about the detrimental health risk associated with LPG conversion kits and the fact that  quite a few LPG Vios have suffered warped cylinder heads as LPG makes the engine overheat versus gasoline). And the scary part is that Toyota will LOSE BY DEFAULT as they do not sell a small diesel car in Manila.

Hey Hoy Hay. . . what has Hyundai got to do with the would-be entrepreneur?  Simply this, EVEN IF YOU ARE THE NEW KID IN THE BLOCK (your the Hyundai kid) entering a well-established industry (the Toyotas and Hondas), YOU HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE TO BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME.

If you want to request for further information, send me a message or comment on the above post, please kindly click the "comment" button below this post.

As a NEW FEATURE ON MY NEW BLOG, I am conducting a Reader Survey on "What You Think Is The Hottest Small Business in Manila today". On the Top Right part of this blog is my Survey Poll. Please click your choice as the Best Small Business in Manila and then click "Vote" button.

To see the results of the survey todate, just click the “Show Result” button

Reader Survey: Let Me Know What You Think Is The Hottest Small Business Now. Join OUR POLL NOW!!

To my dear Readers:

I am doing a Survey on What Is the Hottest Small Business in Manila.

On the right side of my blog is the Poll. Just click on Your Choice of the Hottest Small Business and then click the VOTE BUTTON. And that's it!

For Today's results todate, just click on SHOW RESULTS.

Let us be heard by the FRANCHISORS. Click Your Choice.

Just Got Back from Entrepreneurial Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Right Smack into the Aftermath of a Bungled Hostage Drama in Manila! . . . How We Seem to Always Screw Ourselves Up Bigtime and On TV . . . . . . Will Keep You Posted on What I Learned in Saigon. Stay Tuned.

(Manila, where else??? pic courtesy of sify.com)


(ho chi minh city pic courtesy of terragalleria.com)

Left last Sunday 1pm for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon for us oldies), Vietnam and got back Manila last Tuesday 1pm in time to read the shocking news about the Massacre of innocent tourists. Hay.

Is Earning a Net of P5,000/month Enough to Get A Franchise???

An ex-PAL stewardess but now a small business owner herself who is into making Premium Cakes for Corporate Accounts related this talk with a crewmember of a Native Delicacy franchise in a mall in Manila:

1. Average daily sales is only P3,000/day or P90,000/month

2. Rent is about P35,000/month

3. Assume Food cost is 30% or P27,000/month (which is on the low side of estimates

4. Salary of at least 2 crewmembers

5. Franchise package maybe about P350 to 500,000

6. Net Income is about P5,000/month.

According to the crew, the owner knows the income is low but gets it back by having several outlets.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS APPROACH TO FRANCHISING IS SOUND BUSINESS-WISE?

What is the Product of the Lotto Outlet and Why I Think It is Here to Stay!!

Is it the Lotto ticket?

Is it the PCSO Scratch It card?

Is it 6/49. 6/45. 6/55 or the EZ2 Lotto games?

It is none of the above.

The product of a Lotto Outlet is HOPE.

During the early days of my Lotto outlet, I used to interview my Lotto customers as I wanted to know more about them and my first question is "How long have you been playing the Lotto" and "Why play the Lotto". One elderly Office employee told me he has been playing the Lotto since it started in 1995 and he believes at his age and lowly position in the company, NOBODY WILL GIVE HIM A CHANCE TO A BETTER LIFE.

For as long as opportunities are hard to come by unless you are born rich, this is the reason why I think the Lotto is here to stay.

Some may say these Losers want the easy way out. Let me ask you, I keep on attending Expos, Franchise exhibits and other negosyo fairs and to get a good franchise, you need upwards of P200,000 if you factor in the franchise package, rent, CUSA, working capital for 8 months and capital expenditures for equipment. Now, how many of the Pinoy populace can afford P200,000????

When is The Best Time to Start A Small Business??????

(Image courtesy of fotosearch.com)

Here are some answers from friends and not-so-friends:

1. When all my kids have finished school.

2. When I have retired.

3. When I have enough capital already.

4. When my OFW wife comes back from her overseas job.

5. When I have the guts.

6. When I see a sign from above.

7. When the economy improves.

8. When the global crisis ends.

And many, many more reasons.



The best time to start a business is NOW.

A Small Business Owner's Nightmare: Yikes!!! My Landlord Did Not Renew My Lease. He Wants My Business!!!!

When my friend decided to set-up his own PCSO Lotto Outlet somewhere East of Manila, he did not think there would be any problems when he rented a space in the house of his landlord.

After all, for the past 2 years relations with his landlord were quiet though the business was not really doing well. Then, business started to pick-up and when the Lotto Jackpot hit P347 Million about a year ago, lines started to form outside his small Lotto outlet. It was a time to rejoice but little did he know this was the start of his problems.

You see, when it came time to renew his lease, he was surprised when his landlord told him he will not be renewind the Lease as he needed the space. Then, my friend discovered that the very same landlord applied with the PCSO for a Lotto outlet at the very spot where he was located and he hit the ceiling!!

The good thing is that my friend holds the Contract of Agency for the Lotto Outlet in that area and nobody can set-up another Lotto Outlet unless he cancels his Contract.

To cut the story short, my friend still has his lotto outlet but now pays a higher rent. A Happy Ending but not exactly.

For all small business owners, how often do we feel that we at the mercy of our landlords???? One Lotto customer told me that the only to do business is to own the land where your business sits on but WHAT IF WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY THE LAND?

Got Disappointed with a Business Mag

I just bought the Latest Franchise issue of the Entrepreneur Philippines magazine as I was largely attracted by the cover suggesting it to be the definitive guide to all the franchises out there. When I got to the article itself specifically the Food Cart section (where I presume most readers would go to me included as I am looking for a franchise to start with), it was very shallow, no coverage on the market leaders and maybe the researchers assigned where out of their element about the franchise industry.

I would have wanted something mentioned about small business franchises that are affordable to most small business owners like us (SeaOil Gas Station was mentioned and is good but it will take millions to set one up):

1. Scrambles (Icebreaker Scramble that will now reach 40 outlets in about a little over 11months)



2. Donuts (Dunkin, Mister Donut, Hapi House)
Note: Hapi House start at about P20,000 franchise



3. Steamed Siomai (They are everywhere!!!! Siomai House of Berna Best and Master Siomai; P250k thereabouts)

4. Ice Cream (Milko. Mr. Softy, Snowpie are also everywhere)



5. Perfume Scents (Aficionado - pricey at P500m to P1.2Million but so many outlets including the Lawton underpass)

6. Hot dogs (Smokey's, Tender Juicy) cheap as not a franchise but more of a dealership and so fees are not high at all



7. Bargain items ( Everything P20, vente)

8. Kikay items (Broadway Gems, pink box)

Am sure many can come up with a much longer list than I have but my point is: If you are coming up with a Franchise issue, come with an article that is representative of what is out there. Many of us small small business owners are relying on any help we can get.

Trip to DizzyLand Looking for a Small Business

Today, I went to SM North EDSA Mall to check-out Snowpy and IceBreaker Scramble and I was walking I noticed :

1. So many look-alike food carts like Potato Corner, Potato Madness or Icebreaker and the many other Scramble-clones THAT A SMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR WOULD WORRY HOW TO STAND OUT;

2. Icebreaker was not even in the foodcourt but was just off to the side on the corridor to the foodcourt and they were doing good business. NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A WELL=THOUGHT OUT PRODUCT;

3. Majority are into foods (for obvious reasons) but is that a good idea?

4. There was a cluster of 4 with Zagu and Miguelito Ice cream there. Who do you think sells more?

5. Another cluster is the service karts like Stamp Attack (rubber stamps), Foto Tipid (ID pics), Scent station etc.

6. KingCorn seems to be the only one selling corn. But what seems to sell is the corn on the cob and not so much the other products like popcorn.

7. There's Buko Joe juice and there is this stall that displays fresh coconut nuts and they break it in front of you to get the buko juice. SO, WHOSE BUKO JUICE IS FRESHER???

8. With so many lookalikes, clones and GAYA=GAYAs (copycats), IS IT WISE TO STICK TO THE MARKET LEADER (that may not necessarily be the original or first to offer that)? IS IT WORTH PAYING FOR THE MARKET LEADER'S FRANCHISE FEES OR GO FOR THE LESSER=KNOWN BUT LOWER FEES?

For the small business owner on a limited budget, he will have to take his aspirin with the headache throbbing in his head.

Can Somebody Tell Me How to Tell If a Franchise Has Staying Power or Just a Fad???

I was just at the Blue Wave Macapagal Ave area and after my lunch meeting and on the way out, I noticed that the Ice Monster big kiosk was closed. I used to remember the long lines at the Greenbelt Foodcourt and how my daughter loved the product.

Scanning the Sulit Online ads, I now see a lot of ads for Ice Scramble specifically Scramble King and ILoveScramble and there are comments about who copied who. Icebreaker Scramble it seems is the Market Leader and first Scramble franchisor with 33 branches in the Top Malls in Manila. These seem to be a variation of the scramble I saw when I was in Tarlac selling for P5 a small dixie cup but the latter was just ice and some beans and syrups.

Ice Scramble is a lot cheaper than Ice Monster. Will Ice Scramble best Ice Monster?

And how about the soft serve ice cream? There were a lot of them before at P5/cone. I seem to remember seeing this Jungle something Soft-serve at Galeria with a Gorilla-like booth and there were long lines then.Now they are gone replaced by another foodcart. Its seems its just Snowpy and Miguelito as the more prominent brands left.

My concern is how to tell if the franchise you are buying is going to last the test of time like donuts????

Father Wants to Sell Profitable Business Because the Children Do Not Want to Run It Part 2

Here is what the father-founder can do assuming he has 3 kids:

1. Assess the management and talent skill sets of his children i.e. what are they good in;

2. Assign one to be the assistant of his General Manager so he gets an overview of the company & run the Production plant and lastly, do Corporate Planning & determine with his father in what direction to bring his company to;

3. Assign another to assist the Sales manager so he can learn the company's products and sales process, meet the company's Top Customers and lay the groundwork for future working relationship;

4. Assign another to head Quality Assurance and Research & Devt (R & D) and contact the company's top equipment supplier for his son to train with them for a year. The purpose is for the son to know all the products that can be developed using the supplier's machines. When the son has learned of new product lines that can be offered by the company in the short-term future, then the company can buy that equipment from that supplier who helped train his son.


Three sons and he has insured the future of the company.

Father Wants to Sell Profitable Business Because the Children Do Not Want to Run It

A dilemna facing any small business entrepreneur who started the business and has been running it for decades and now he is old, what does he do?

1. The business is profitable, demand is strong as it is a basic commodity and customers are in the Top 10 Supermarket chains in the country;

2. According to him, the Father-founder wants to sell it because his children do not want to run it;

3. According to the children, they are willing to run it but not with their father at the helm;

4. The children are intelligent and come from the country's best schools but their main complaint is that their father do not give them a freehand in running the business;

5. The father takes it that his children do not want to talk to him.

If this sounds familiar, I believe it is happening in many family businesses. Both have to compromise, to wit:

1. Children have to understand that the business is successful because of how their father run it'

2. Children have to accept that they will need to start from the bottom to learn the business;

3. Children have to realize that they have a treasure before them that they will inherit when the time comes;

4. The father has to realize that for the business to move forward and survive, it has to have new blood and learn new ways;

5. The father needs to let the children know that their "following orders" is a prelude to their assuming management of the company

6. The father needs to loosen some of his grip and allow his children to learn from their own mistakes and venture into new ideas

How Not to Do Business: The Business of Begging

1. I just picked-up my daughter when she was then in High School in Alabang ( south of Manila) and while waiting for the traffic light to change, I heard a tap-tapping on my car window.

I saw a small girl not more than 7 years old with her palm opened to me. I asked her why is she begging? She replied if she did not meet her day's quota, she will be chased out of the house of the man who maintains them (meaning more little boys and girls).

2. As my car approached the corner of Katipunan Ave and Santolan Road (East of Manila), I saw from afar a teenaged girl who noticed my car slowing down for the intersection. She then lifted a tiny girl (more like a baby) sitting too on the sidewalk and then, shockingly, dropped the baby on the pavement to make her cry. She then picked-up again the baby girl and approached my window to beg, telling me "it is for the baby girl who was crying in hunger". I WAS SHOCKED!!!!

3. Lenlen is a skinny girl (age 7 according to her but she looked too small for 7) and she would offer me sampaguita flowers as I gas-up at the Petron Gas Station in Don Antonio, Quezon City (north of Manila) at about 11:30pm.

She relates that she is part of a family of 8 kids ages 2 to 12. There father abandoned them and her mother is too sick to work. So, it is up to the kids to feed the family.

4. It was late at night and it was also raining very hard as I waited for the green light at the corner of Gil Puyat and Makati Avenues in Makati. Again I heard that familiar tap-tapping on my car window. I rolled it down a little as it was still raining so hard.

I nearly could not see her as the girl was so short. Her lips were white from the cold cold rain as she tried raising her trembling hand offering me flowers. She could hardly speak (more like mumble) from all that shaking from the cold.

5. In any traffic intersection, you will see so many beggars supposedly scurrying around stopped or slowly moving vehicles.

I was told by one beggar that the scurrying is organized and there is a hierarchy of begging. Example, by agreement, the beggars keep to their lane. There is sometimes a Big Boss which is usually the oldest among the beggars and he lords it over everyone.

The Management of Begging?

How Not to Do Business: The Business of Begging

1. I just picked-up my daughter when she was then in High School in Alabang ( south of Manila) and while waiting for the traffic light to change, I heard a tap-tapping on my car window.

I saw a small girl not more than 7 years old with her palm opened to me. I asked her why is she begging? She replied if she did not meet her day's quota, she will be chased out of the house of the man who maintains them (meaning more little boys and girls).

2. As my car approached the corner of Katipunan Ave and Santolan Road (East of Manila), I saw from afar a teenaged girl who noticed my car slowing down for the intersection. She then lifted a tiny girl (more like a baby) sitting too on the sidewalk and then, shockingly, dropped the baby on the pavement to make her cry. She then picked-up again the baby girl and approached my window to beg, telling me "it is for the baby girl who was crying in hunger". I WAS SHOCKED!!!!

3. Lenlen is a skinny girl (age 7 according to her but she looked too small for 7) and she would offer me sampaguita flowers as I gas-up at the Petron Gas Station in Don Antonio, Quezon City (north of Manila) at about 11:30pm.

She relates that she is part of a family of 8 kids ages 2 to 12. There father abandoned them and her mother is too sick to work. So, it is up to the kids to feed the family.

4. It was late at night and it was also raining very hard as I waited for the green light at the corner of Gil Puyat and Makati Avenues in Makati. Again I heard that familiar tap-tapping on my car window. I rolled it down a little as it was still raining so hard.

I nearly could not see her as the girl was so short. Her lips were white from the cold cold rain as she tried raising her trembling hand offering me flowers. She could hardly speak (more like mumble) from all that shaking from the cold.

5. In any traffic intersection, you will see so many beggars supposedly scurrying around stopped or slowly moving vehicles.

I was told by one beggar that the scurrying is organized and there is a hierarchy of begging. Example, by agreement, the beggars keep to their lane. There is sometimes a Big Boss which is usually the oldest among the beggars and he lords it over everyone.

The Management of Begging?

Do you mean Territorial Protection or Zoning Protection?

When we talk about getting a franchise, we talk about TERRITORIAL PROTECTION but what is it really and does it mean anything nowadays?

Territorial Protection is when the franchisor supposedly guarantees that they will not locate a similar franchisee near your site. In most cases, the franchisor does honor this but does it really mean anything when negotiating with a Mall Leasing Manager for space?

A more important Protection is Zoning Protection of the Mall, to wit:

1. At the SM annex basement, Mister Donut, Pianini (breads), a coffee shop and a waffle stall are all selling coffee and yet they are all within 5 steps of each other.

2. At the Ayala MRT station, the Siomai House (Number 1 siomai kiosk) and the Master Siomai (Number 2, maybe) are practically opposite each other.

3. In a Manila mall, Milko Ice cream (retail P12/cone) used to be the only ice cream dealer has now Mang Inasal BBQ chicken selling Pinoy Ice Cream at P10. That does not include the times when Selecta Ice Cream would promote their Ice Cream brand at P5/cone.
(Milko said that their sales has gone down by about 50% and they are the longest staying ice cream kiosk).

4. Sometimes having the best tasting, best quality, most unique flavors and best of everything is still not enough to do battle with the cheapest. An example is Gonuts Donuts (premium, expensive) versus Dunkin Donuts at P10/P12 a donut.

5. Don't worry so much about territorial protection as much as you should about what I call Zoning Protection!!!!

High-Speed Manila Public Buses Driven by Zombies????

If you think the Post Title is about a Sci-Fi story, think again. I can assure you it IS VERY REAL and HAPPENING EVERY DAY AS YOU TRAVEL ALONG MANILA's City Streets.



(I took the pic while seated behind the bus driver. The bus had to brake hard to avoid hitting the New Model Toyota Rav4 along EDSA opposite SM Annex Mall in Quezon City, north of Manila.)

There was this one time at about 11pm on my way home and we passengers all noticed that the bus was weaving left and right ever so slowly on the Expressway and we noticed that the driver's head has jerking up and down as the driver was fighting from falling asleep at the wheel.

Every day, I take a 2-hour ride from my home to my Lotto outlet north of Manila. Today, I took the same bus I always take and I was able to chat-up the conductor (the guy who issues the bus ticket) and I found out the following:

1. They make 3 round-trips a day (i.e. Laguna (a province south of Manila) to north of Manila and back)

2. Each round-trip takes about 6 to 8 hours depending on traffic or a total working hours on the road of about 22hours each day

3. On average, THE DRIVER AND CONDUCTOR SLEEP ONLY 1 TO 2 HOURS A DAY!!!!!

The driver and conductor need to do 3 or 4 trips to meet their QUOTA or risk losing their incentive allowance which is part of their daily pay. And that is the reason why drivers have to drive so fast to chase passengers and beat other buses doing the same thing.

It is so strange that everybody is concerned about the mechanical condition of the buses but nothing is said about the health conditions of the people driving the buses.

So, next time you see a bus speeding down your lane, do not attempt to maintain your right-of-way----- JUST GET OUT OF THE WAY AS THE HALF-DAZED DRIVER IS RUNNING AT BREAK-NECK SPEED TO MEET HIS QUOTA! ! !

How Do Your Customers Remember You?

Do your customers ever remember you at all?

Do they care to remember you at all other than when they need something or you are delayed in your delivery or your product does not work?

Let me tell you a short short story about my Lotto customers:


Last year, a group of holduppers with high-powered guns and grenades attempted to rob the Bank Of The Philippine Islands armored van that just made a pick-up at the mall where my Lotto Outlet was located in.

During the exchange of gunfire with the security guards, one of the holduppers lobbed an RPG (rocker-propelled grenade) at the doors of the armored van. The blast and smoke plus the ratatatat of M16s added to the pandemonium. People were rushing out of the mall.

At this point, the mall management decided to LOCKDOWN the whole mall (close all entrances) as the police believed the holduppers were still hiding inside. My crew got trapped inside as they decided first to shutdown the Lotto terminals and secure the day's sales proceeds.

I was on the way to my Lotto outlet and got a call from my sister saying that there is a shootgout in the mall where my Lotto is situated. After several unsuccessful tries, I managed to reach my supervisor on her cellphone and she was in fear and crying as gunfire and explosions were happening around them.

When finally I reach the mall, I could go as far as the entrance as the mall was still on LOCKDOWN. The touching is that I started receiving numerous text SMS messages from my Lotto customers inquiring how are my two girls (crew): are they safe? where are they? Were they able to get out? As I was among the growing crowd milling outside the mall along with the Press and Police, about 2 or 3 Lotto customers accosted me to ask if my Lotto crew was safe and again, if they made it out.

It was really so touching as I used to think my Lotto customers would only be concerned with betting. With their real concerns, I knew right them me, my crew and my beloved Lotto customers were FAMILY!!!!!!

It's our Independence Day But Do We Care?

I remembered when I was a kid (as in 7 or 8 years old way back when), June 12 was always a special day. Quezon Boulevard, a main artery in the capital, would be lined with big and small flags, almost all cars would have the Philippine flag mounted on their roofs, houses and stores would flag-draped and there was a general festive mood.


People would trek to the Luneta Park in central Manila to watch the military parade (the tanks and cannons were running then) and the various floats.


In the mall where my Lotto outlet is located, the day starts with the playing of the National Anthem and guess what? Except for a handful of people standing at attention, nobody seems to care as they still go on with what they are doing (walking, cleaning, browsing, chatting and doing anything) without any concern for the National Anthem.

In a Final Test, how many Filipinos can sing the National Anthem in its entirety?

Livelihood Training Grads with No Where To Go

A couple of weeks back I was talking with one of the senior Kagawad (Town Council Elder) of the Barangay (Town) where my Lotto outlet is located.

I told him that as part of the social projects of the local government, it seems so many livelihood projects are being offered churning out so many graduates and yet I do not seem to know of a program to hire these grads or make them small business entrepreneurs.

I would not be surprised if a number of these grads with newly-acquired skills end up as cleaners and menial workers rather than future small business owners.

Would it not be possible for the Government to come up with a Small Business Company with the following features:

1. Employees will only come from the graduates of Govt-run Livelihood programs (Hence, students will be guaranteed work after studies)

2. Funding will be provided by the government but after the initial funding, the Small Business Company must prove its viability

3. Since government is not good in managing enterprise, the Small Business Company will be ran by a Management Team from the private sector

4. Employees will be entitled to Dividends after serving tenure. Dividends will be based on salary-scale and number of shares offered to the employee.

5. To ensure viability, products to be produced must be products that the Government needs and will be covered by a Long-term Supply Contract that includes market-rate pricing

6. The government will save as you cut-off the middlemen.

7. Grads will have a Programmed Career Path i.e. front-line (foremen), Middle (supervisor, junior manager) and Top will be open to them. The rationale is to prepare them to be Entrepreneurs operating their own small businesses.

8. Employees will be encouraged to invest in a Stock Purchase Plan wherein they can purchase shares at par value that is affordable. (THE RATIONALE IS THAT IF THE EMPLOYEE HAS NO FINANCIAL STAKE IN THE SMALL BUSINESS, HE HAS NO INCENTIVE TO CARE FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE SMALL BUSINESS)

Help!!! I Can't Think of Any Business Idea to Start

Have we found ourselves in a situation when we tell ourselves "I CAN'T THINK OF ANY BUSINESS TO START" and how much we hate ourselves. Even now, I find myself ofter in that kind of a situation.

Here is a list of reasons why our mind is BLOCKED from thinking of any small business to start:

1. I don't have money to start a business.
(If you don't know what business, how can you say you don't have
enough money for it?)
2. I can't afford to risk my meager funds and I need a SURE THING.
(Except death and taxes, there is no such thing as a SURE THING)
3. I got burned (in Tagalog, napaso na ko) in my last business.
(Colonel Saunders failed more than a thousand times before KFC
Kentucky Fried Chicken was born)
4. I don't have time to think or am too tired to think of a small business.
(Time is the only thing we have control of. We just have to choose
what our priority is)
5. I don't anything about starting a business.
(Asking somebody is always FREE)
6. I miss the 15th and 30th safety of a regular salary.
(You are sure to get a salary every 15th/30th but you are also sure
that your salary will never be what you want to earn)

I do realize that when you are faced in a situation when you see hunger in the faces of your kids or you feel so depressed as you feel so helpless like the world is against you, your mind cannot think anymore and reasoning does not mean anything to you. Panic sets in.

I agree that people would say "That's easy for you to say because you are not in my situation. That is true but if we just give up, then let's just wait for the end to come.