Businesses start in different ways. There are some that begin from well-thought out business plans complete with market surveys, strategies and projections. Others are offshoots of the entrepreneurs’ previous careers. Some develop from a hobby or a passion. For others like Raquel “Kelly” Boncan, business started by chance – through a series of fortunate events.

• Second of a series

Some entrepreneurs are born, others are made. Vicki Belo is a natural-born entrepreneur. At age 15, she was already baking cakes and pastries and selling them to relatives, friends and neighbors. This natural acumen has propelled her to the top of the beauty industry heap even though she had no formal training in business.

Nature has imbued its creatures with instinct and the ability to survive. Being the only creature that has free will and the freedom to make mistakes, man can learn a thing or two from these lower forms of life. The ant and the bee, for instance, are good models in learning about financial literacy.

By: Caren Resurreccion
Nowadays, women are starting their own business at twice the rate men do. It has been reported that everyday, 420 women go out and start their own businesses and most of them are growing revenues, profits and creating more jobs than the businesses itself. But being a woman entrepreneur is a challenge on its own - the assertion of identity and proposal of stability underlying a character of fragile sensibility - present issues that are thankfully less divisive now that it may have been in the latter years.

By: Myrna Salanguit
You may be asking the difference between saving money and investing money. Saving is putting money aside for a projected expense – to pay for a child’s college education, for a rainy day, or for a down payment on a house or car. Or probably you want to be sure you have six months’ wages saved in case of a dire emergency.