Updated: October 24, 2008
In this edition of Reader Mail, I feature a computer engineer who wants to explore freelance software development as a stepping stone to starting his own company. Furthermore, there’s a letter from a corporate slave who dreams of achieving financial freedom someday. There is also an inquiry from a new blogger about PayPal and an inquiry from a jail officer.
I tried to answer these inquiries as best as I can. Please be guided that I am not a trained financial adviser and my answers simply come from the lessons I learned in my own experience of pursuing financial freedom. This is the reason why I encourage you, my readers, to also share your thoughts and give your advise regarding these concerns.
Let’s now take a look at some of the emails I got from my inbox. Names have been excluded and email content have been edited for brevity.
From Mr. E:
Hi Fitz, I’m just a newbie 24 years old software engineer. I’ve been with this job for a few months only. My previous job is a college instructor for two semesters. I’ve just graduated last year from computer engineering. I do have lots of ideas and I know I have the talent. I’m also quite ambitious and my goal in the future is to build my own software company. The problem is that I don’t know where to start and I don’t know where to find the right people, etc.
My plan is to start my company from scratch. I want to create a software that will serve as the flagship product of my company. But that will be for the future as I’m still learning/studying things like the business logic of the software that I’m going to make, the potential clients, etc. For now, I just want to have a freelance job in software development to earn extra income and at the same time learning and gaining experience, and maybe raise some starting capital also.
When I read your articles, it inspired and gave me motivation again to strive hard to gain what you called “financial freedom”. I hope that you could share with me your insights.
Hi. It’s good to know that you have the passion and determination to achieve your dreams because everything starts from there. As for your plans of starting your own company, I definitely agree that doing some freelance software development is one of the best ways to jumpstart your journey. This is also how I started myself – by developing custom applications for small companies.
Indeed, it would help if you could come up with your flagship product. Do some market research and discover your niche. In the meantime, don’t be afraid to offer your services as a freelance programmer to companies and businesses. Outsourcing small software development projects has become common practice for enterprises nowadays. I encourage you to catch this business trend.
From T:
hi, i chanced upon your website and found that it had very informative and helpful articles. I am trying my best to lay down foundations so that I too can stop being a corporate slave and start my own business. Ive always believed that you dont get rich with working for others but rather you get financial freedom for being an entrepreneur. Thank you for your website.
Hello, I think that you already have the proper mindset to pursue financial freedom, all you need is to focus, have a plan and be patient. Believe in yourself and remember that nothing is impossible. Thanks for taking the time to send me an email. Good luck and all the best.
From Ms. H:
Hi Fitz, I recently started a blog because like you, I wanted to earn money online. Anyway, I have a question regarding Paypal. What if I don’t have a credit card. Does this mean I cannot use Paypal? And how do I get the money I received? Thanks and hope the hear from you soon.
Having a credit card is not really a requirement for having a PayPal account. You can alternatively use a debit card instead. Ask your bank if they offer this service and enroll yourself in one. Furthermore, you can get your money by simply using the Withdraw Funds function in Paypal. After you put in the details of your bank, the funds will automatically be deposited to your account within 5 to 7 working days. Read more about PayPal here. Happy blogging!
From Mr. R:
Hi Fitz, I am a jail officer who is looking for a feasibility study on lotion making as our project for inmate livelihood. Hope you can help me with this, asap. Thank you very much.
Hi. As much as I want to help, I cannot because there are many things to consider when doing a feasibility study. I would however, suggest that you simply contact an institution that offers training for this livelihood program to get the necessary information and the help that you need. You might want to check out this directory of Philippine Livelihood Training Centers as your initial reference. Thank you.
This concludes another edition of Reader Mail. Keep yourself up to date with the latest posts here by subscribing to Ready To Be Rich.
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Photo courtesy of hungrytiger11
