Chapter 8 - To build a tower, you must first place a strong foundation.

I've learned so many new things when I started my online selling business in the internet. I discovered, much to my surprise, that I have a talent in sales. It's easy for me to do "Sales Talk" with complete strangers and sell different kinds of stuff to them. You just need to be courteous, respectful, patient, and honest with your potential customers and you'll surely gain their trust.

I always feel so happy and thrilled whenever I make a successful sale. Earning money on your own, using your "own" skills and strength is such a wonderful feeling. It gave a much needed boost to my morale and self-confidence.

One may be wondering, "Transportation is expensive and you don't have the money to take the bus, so how do you deliver your goods?" Well, "if there's a will, there's a way", so I used my bike. It would take me hours of pedalling just to get to the nearest courier service but it's all worth it. If I can make one happy and satisfied customer, and if my honest efforts would build a good name for me in the online market, that's already an achievement for me. Besides, I do need the exercise. My tummy has become fat due to my lack of physical activity. :)

As I have said, I've learned so many valuable lessons in online selling like, in order to have potential customers, you must take many pictures of the product you're selling. The customers always want to know the condition and the quality of a product and you must be honest and give that vital information to them.

It might be cliche, but this old saying stands true and is one of the proven keys to business success - Honesty is the best policy.

Integrity, eagerness, enthusiasm in business, industriousness, giving discounts and freebies, giving more value to the customer's money, selling good quality stuff, always being kind, courteous, and respectful whenever communicating with them, I did all of this and more in my online selling. After three months, I've sold all the stuff I posted in the free social media platforms and earned a few thousand pesos.

And I must say, I'm quite proud of it. :)

Oh... It's been such a long time since I achieved something good...

Now, I don't want to make the same mistake I did back when I was in highschool. So I set aside 10% of everything I've earned as savings and put it in a coinbank.

I would love to open a savings account in a bank but, my money is really not that big so, a coinbank would suffice.

Saving, I've learned in the hardest way, is one of the most important principle to busines success. It is so easy to say, but so hard to do because it is so easily forgotten. I must save money, even if it's just a small amount. I must never be reckless and think that "Ah, if I spend all my money, it's okay! I have a business now! I'll earn it all back again!" No! That's not true! I can never be sure if I'll always have my business and earn money. Calamity may strike (it already did, actually) again and all of it will be gone. And If I have no savings, what then? I'll be back to zero.

I must save the money I've worked hard for. Save! Save! Save! I told myself repeatedly, for it's very tempting to buy new, unnecessary stuff again. I need to be frugal and do proper financial management.

So, three long months have passed. I practically sold everything I owned, and earned some good amount of cash. But now I face a new dilemna - I have no more stuff to sell.

I can't use the money I've earned to buy new products because, I live in the province. The selection of saleable products here are very limited. That's not all, the capital, the shipping cost, and all the labor I need to put into it is way too high.

It's just not worth the effort.

In short, I've reached a dead end.

I'm mentally paralyzed. I have no idea what to do. Yeah, sure, I have some money now, but I can't recklessly invest it. I must calculate the risk. The lower the risk, the higher the chance of success.

I don't wanna lose all my money and be broke again.

I stared at my empty room and started to think...

"What can I possibly sell or do to create a new source of income...?"

Minutes passed and I came out with nothing.

"Nah... This won't do. I need to walk."

I went outside and wandered aimlessly around our lot.

"What can I sell here online?"

I've looked at the vegetables and the chickens.

"Nah... I can't sell those. That's our food source. And besides, I don't own them. Mom and Dad will be so angry if they all suddenly went missing."

I went to our backyard and saw an antique -

It's a very old, hand-cranked water pump.

It's a manually-operated mechanical device, about 4 feet tall, and is deeply placed into the ground. There's a long, horizontal, metal tube lever in it where you place both of your hands and pull it up and down to get fresh water from a deep well.

I stared at it for a long time.

Can't believe something like this still exists in our current digital age.

I can't sell it because it's permanently installed in the ground. I can't disassemble it because I don't have any tools to do that. And even if I successfully dismamtled it, I can't sell its steel parts because it's too heavy, the value of metal is too cheap, and it's a waste of time and effort.

It's a total lost cause. Who would buy an antique water pump anyway? It's outdated! It's obsolete! Nobody uses this thing anymore! Everything's automatic now!

Sigh...

Out of frustration and silly curiousity, I tried to operate the water pump if it's still working...

It did, and fresh, clean water came gushing out from it.

"Great!" I said sarcastically. "I have a new, free source of water!"

I cranked the water pump again and touched the water...

That can't be right... It's warm...

I cranked it again many times and touched the water once more...

It's really warm...

A light bulb went on in my head.

"If you can't sell a product, offer and sell a service!"