If you’ve never been on the other side of a payroll cycle, let me share with you how it feels and the thoughts that goes through the mind of an entrepreneur who has got paychecks to issue at the start of every month!

Yes! Its the time of the month! When I was on a payroll, this day seemed to be coming so slowly! But now that I’m the one doing the payroll, this day seems to be coming too fast too quickly! Just when you think you’d issued the previous payroll, the next one is here again! Why didn’t I feel that days were passing so quickly when I’m waiting for my paycheck in the past?

Its scary to see the stream going in just one direction. No income but with monthly recurring expenses. The paychecks, the rental and the monthly necessities! I’m very used to looking at my own bank account going red, but for a company, this is a 101% NO! NO! So how can one ensure that the numbers never go red in the book?

Few tips from this panda entrepreneur…

• Ensure sufficient cash in bank. The amount should at least meet the basic expenses for the next six months.
• Remember to send out your invoices in time! No business partners nor clients will remind you for this one. So if you are doing all your invoicing too, make sure they go out on time. Chase for payment if you have to. In business world, there’s nothing as “shy”.
• Make friends with your suppliers and vendors. If possible, the best scenario is to get supply/ job done first and pay later or better still, pay them only when your client pays you. Only very good friends/partners will allow this. So be nice and build that relationship.
• Treat your team like your family. When times are tight, they will understand when the pay check comes in late. Treating them like family also makes working more fun and motivating.

Now… back to crunching those numbers in the accounts.

If you’re wondering what’s happening to Claudia lately, than this post is for you!

Before I share my story, let me introduce a new banner (section) to the already messy blog…

Yap! That’s right! This is where I will share about my experience, pain, sorrow, excitement, journey, happiness, story and so on with you (whoever you are). Since I’m only a couple of months into my journey as an entrepreneur, I’m sure this section will be an extensive collection of experiences and stories that perhaps one day, someone somewhere might be keen to help me publish it into a book! Than I might become the next Guy Kawasaki? *blank stare at myself*

Right, so why is Claudia, the already panda, becoming even more like a panda with double punch on the eyes? That’s because starting up is NOT easy! If you read anywhere telling you how easy it is to start your own business, its all bull shitake (ref to @guykawasaki)! Especially the part where you start forming your team, getting your developers and the non-developers in sync to work on the big picture, setting up the accounts, settling down in the office, building up your leads, meeting people, pitching ideals, sending that first service order and so much more!!

That’s what I’d been doing for the past one month, almost 24hours 7 days a week! That causes me to lose my radiance and adding more darkness to my already dark panda eyes. As witnessed by my team who are seeing me turn more and more chao lao as the days passes! I think I might look like this even before I’m 60!

But I’ve to admit, no other job will ever beat the kind of excitement and rush one gets for starting up on its own! And I’m very grateful to have a great team to work with. And also am very blessed to have met the many angels and saints that I’ve befriend. All your support and encouragement means a lot to me and my team.

If you’re interested to find out the real life experience of an entrepreneur who’s thirsty for survival and hunger for success, than come back for more from Claud the Entrepreneur (aka CTE!! How interesting!). The journey on CTE is never a smooth going one. There might be breakdowns along the way, jam that goes on and on during peak hours, the occasional slow moving traffic and time at night where you see speeding cabs and vehicles dashing to who-knows-where for who-knows-what.

I will be back (whenever I can) to share bite size stories with you. Till than, look out for a few to-be-typed and published reviews. Hope I can squeeze time out between work and rest over the weekend to get these reviews out.