Allow me to share what I tell my friends when they ask me about this leap from a very secure and rewarding career in Smart to becoming an entrepreneur – my own boss, the captain of my ship.

ka edong in flight

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed my work a whole lot at Smart. I was involved in developing products and services around mobile internet. My work required a lot of collaboration with international companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo. We did a lot of contract reviews, service descriptions and product testing. These were all right along my alley and I enjoyed doing these.

Some would ask: “If you enjoyed what you were doing, then why did you resign?”

I sum it up this way: “I just want to have my time back.” I just want to have 100% control of my time. There were times during my employment when I had to choose to forego some opportunities for growth, or opportunities to spend time with family and friends because I had obligations at work. By leaving Smart and becoming an entrepreneur, I have full control of how I spend my time, where I spend my time. That, in itself, is precious and liberating.

For the past 5 years, I’ve been preparing to leave employment. Thus, I’ve been developing myself and building up various streams of income. My streams of income have reached a point where I am now willing to let go of the security of employment. By letting go of my day-job, I definitely will have less cash coming in. But with the time freed-up, I’ll be able to create more value and more income which, at a certain point in the future, will be more than what I make at Smart. This day will come and I’m working towards it.

Q: What will you do after Smart?

A: I’ll be managing my businesses. Unknown to many of my friends and officemates, I’ve been building up my businesses for the past 5 years. I have three primary businesses.

I have a blogging business, from which I earn a significant income monthly despite the limited number of articles I’ve been writing the past year. With more time in my hands, I’ll be able to write more often and grow my blogging business further. I’ll also be managing a blog where I’ll be farming out article writing to freelance bloggers. Interested? Contact me directly ;-) .

Visit my blogs:

• www.technobiography.com
• www.eOFW.Net
• www.edwinsoriano.com

I also have a real estate business. I buy foreclosed properties, renovate them and put them up for sale via rent-to-own. It’s a very good use of time. We set up the property for 1-2 months (bank purchase, refurbishing, marketing), then when we find a buyer, we’re able to earn passive income for the next 15 years. Nice, huh! Most of what I do in real estate was learned through Larry Gamboa’s books “Think Rich Pinoy!” and “Grow Rich Pinoy!” When a couple of my friends discovered that I’m into this business, they’ve asked me to teach them. So now I have a real-estate business mentoring relationship with some of my friends. My brother and I recently purchased two houses in Cavite and we’ll be remodeling them in June. Anybody want to rent-to-own a house in Crystal Aire, Gen. Trias, Cavite?

Last, but definitely not the least, I have an online start-up that caters to the needs of runners. The company is called “Runners’ Runner” (www.RunnersRunner.com) . We provide online registration, online payment and race kit delivery for runners. Typically, runners will need to go to a sports store at the mall to handwrite on a paper form, pay a fee and maybe even come back 2 weeks later to get the race kit (containing the race number and singlet aka sando). Runners’ Runner makes this process worry-free for runners by offering the service completely online.

We have an upcoming run, the PTAA Run Run for Children’s Fun 2. Registered runners have a chance to win roundtrip tickets to Australia, Hawaii or domestic flights and hotel accommodations. There are limited slots so you better register quickly before race kits run out. Bilis, register na! :-) Click here to register: http://www.runnersrunner.com/store/events/run-run-for-childrens-fun-2.html

Those are my businesses.

Q: So, what is it like moving in from Smart to being an entrepreneur?

Oh, it’s been very exciting! I hit the the road running by immediately staffing for the PSI Youth Camp the day after my last day at Smart. It was an awesome weekend with very energetic Teens at Subic, Olongapo. (More on that in another article). Even more exciting was my personal retreat at Batanes. I joined the Awesome Batanes culinary and heritage tour by Anton and Ivan. It was a 3-day tour, then I stayed on at Batanes for two more days on my own. Take a look at some of my favorite photos and get a glimpse of the beauty of Batanes. (link to FB photos).

I haven’t really been “working” full-time on my businesses. That starts on Monday, June 7.

The Grateful Ed

As I take this step forward in my life and career, I’d like to thank the friends and colleagues I gained in the past 1.5 years that made my stay at Smart all worthwhile. Thank you Jim and Jerome for the opportunities you made available for me. Thank you Sir Polly for the one-on-one conversations we had – truly among the highlights of my stint at Smart. Thank you to the VADS team, the Internet Partnerships team, friends at Marketing and Public Affairs. Thank you for the friendship and the good work that we did together.

I am now definitely a better person than when I joined Smart in December 1, 2008.
I pray that I leave this company better off than when I joined the company.
And I pray that I have touched people’s lives through the work I did at Smart, be it the subscribers who used our services, or my friends and colleagues with whom we created some good stuff.

Mabuhay!

Edwin “Ka Edong” Soriano
www.edwinsoriano.com

Hi friends,

Some of your colleagues may be interested in the openings below.
Feel free to forward.  Contact info at the bottom.

Thanks!
Edwin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edwin “ka edong” Soriano
www.edwinsoriano.com

Technology Blog: www.technobiography.com
eOFW: www.eofw.net
Join my professional network: www.linkedin.com/in/kaedong

“I don’t believe in circumstance.
The people who get on in the world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want
and if they can’t find them, make them”.
- George Bernard Shaw

MARKETING

Project Officers for Sports Marketing**

1. Project Management (partnerships, tie-ups with establishments, sports associations, etc)

2. Events Management (handling preparations and logistics for sports-related events)

Product Officers for the following:

Broadband, Brand Equity & Mobile Advertising

1. Product Development

2. Brand Management thru above the line advertising

SALES SUPPORT

Executive Secretary

1. Provide clerical support to the Sales Support Department Head

Roving Cash and Inventory Officers

1. field-based Cash and Inventory Officers (nationwide assignments)

Information Management Specialist

1. Web Developer to assist in the automation of Sales and Distribution processes and project enhancements

2. should be an Information Technology graduate, must be proficient in the following programming languages: asp.net, C#, SQL Server Database Management

SALES**

Area Managers for Retail Merchandising

1. Responsible for handling all retail merchandising operations and ensure SMART’s presence in the area via posters, mobiles, streamers etc.

2. Handles all retail merchandising operations

3. Ensures SMART’s presence in the area via posters, mobiles, streamers etc.

4. Plan and execute merchandising projects in the area

5. Supervises and develops contractual merchandisers

Distributor Business Managers

1. Manage the distribution network and the profitability of the assigned distributor in the territory

2. Ensure availability of SMART products and services at the retailer level

3. Train Distributors, Operations Manager and Salesmen about Products & Services, Selling Skills and Negotiation Skills

Broadband Sales Coordinators

1. Sell Smart Broadband products

2. Recruitment and training of agents

3. Coordinate and establish activities for agents such as demos and blitzes

Consumer Sales Officers

1. Generate Sales from walk-in Clients/ answers inquiries accurately

2. Phone/ SIM Demo

3. Inventory Management

4. Assist during branch Sales/blitzes/event and process

SALES & BUSINESS DEVT

Trade Marketing Supervisors

1. Plans, operates and controls trade marketing programs implemented nationwide

2. Coordinate with field sales, events and other departments regarding promotional activities

3. Consolidate promo ideas and ensures a strong business case for each activity

4. Develops and expands existing market base

Product Development Supervisor (w/VOIP background)

1. Develop new revenue streams utilizing new technologies (involves tech research and marketing/environmental scanning)

2. Conceptualize product strategy as aligned with relevant consumer insights

3. Lead cross-functional product development and technical testing team including UAT development

INFINITY**

Infinity Management Officers/Infinity Account Specialists

1. In-charge of both sales and aftersales transactions for Infinity Business

CORPORATE BUSINESS GROUP

Credit Analysts**

Product Development Specialist for Wireless Marketing

1. Generate new products and improve existing products/solutions

2. Ensure availability of wireless convergent products to the Product Management Group

3. Develop and design business models/studies

GLOBAL ACCESS**

Logistics Coordinator

1. Materials management (requisition, distribution) of Global Access and Smart Link

2. Provide weekly/monthly reports for materials movement/consumption/distribution

Sales Coordinator

1. Single point of contact between PLDT and Smart re payphone provisioning-related concerns

2. Customer management with actual site visits of all Payphone Minis in GMA

3. Sales reports preparation and analysis

LIA B. BALAGOT

HR Associate-Recruitment

Human Resources Mgt & Devt Group

SMART Communications, Inc.

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DL: 5112499

SU: 09183371863

EMAIL: MBBalagot@smart.com.ph