The Hardest Decision of My Life: Choosing Between Employment and Entrepreneurship

The year was 2007.

I had been working in the BPO industry since 2005. Back then, for someone like me — a college dropout — BPO work was the most practical choice. The industry paid well, accepted people without degrees, and gave us a shot at financial stability.

But after a couple of years, reality hit me: I was stuck.

I wasn’t the kind of guy who would kiss ass just to climb the corporate ladder. And let’s face it — in any corporate setting, skills can only take you so far. Connections, office politics, and “playing the game” often mattered more than competence.

One night, I told my live-in partner at the time:

“Gusto kong mag-resign. I want to do more. I want to become more.”

But here’s the truth: I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that staying where I was felt like a dead-end.

And so, I resigned.

What followed was a period of uncertainty. Wala akong trabaho, wala akong plano, and honestly, naging palamunin ako ng partner ko for a while. I didn’t feel proud of it, but that period became the foundation of everything I know today about taking risks, reinventing myself, and trusting my instincts.

Discovering the Online Gold Rush

Fast forward to 2008.

I stumbled upon a TV segment featuring Filipinos earning money online — mostly through blogging. That caught my attention. I did more research and discovered the Google AdSense Program. The concept was simple:

• Build a website
• Google shows ads on it
• You earn money whenever someone clicks the ads

Problem was, I didn’t know anything about building websites.

But I liked the idea of making money online, so I decided to teach myself. Using borrowed equipment and sleepless nights, I learned how to create my first website — focused on the trending topic of that time: how to earn money online.

When I finally applied for Google AdSense, I waited anxiously for approval. The day Google approved me, sobrang saya ko. It felt like I unlocked a whole new world of possibilities.

But there was one big challenge:

“Okay, Paul. May website ka na. Pero… paano mo papupuntahin yung tao dito?”

That’s when I discovered SEO (Search Engine Optimization) — the science of putting your website on top of search engine results so people could find it. I devoured every article I could find about it.

But SEO was a long game, and I needed results fast.

My First $0.02

One day, I had a crazy idea.

What if I text people the link to my website? At that time, unlimited texting promos had just been introduced by local telcos in the Philippines. Walang restrictions pa noon on sending links via SMS.

So I manually sent out text invites to everyone in my phonebook.

The next day, I checked my AdSense dashboard.

$0.02.

Tuwang-tuwa ako!

Not because of the amount, but because:

1. It proved that my Google AdSense account was working.
2. It gave me an idea — text marketing works.

If I could invite more people, I could potentially earn more. That moment changed everything.

Cracking the Code

I became obsessed with figuring out how to send text invites faster.

I spent sleepless nights researching until I discovered a software called SMSCaster, which could send bulk SMS automatically. But when I checked the price — in US dollars — naloka ako. I had no income, and around this time, naghiwalay na rin kami ng partner ko.

Still, I didn’t give up.

I reached out directly to the software developer, who was based in Hong Kong, and proposed something bold:

“Can I pay in installments while using your software?”

To my surprise, he agreed.

That was my first international business deal — sealed through trust. No contracts, no lawyers. Just persistence and faith.

Next problem: I needed hardware.

In 2008, USB dongles were popular for connecting to 3.5G HSDPA networks. I asked the developer if I could use them for sending texts via his software. He hadn’t tested those models, so I volunteered to help him experiment.

I borrowed money from my ex-partner to buy one of these dongles, got a SIM card, and registered for an unlimited texting promo.

The moment of truth came when I clicked “Send” on the software.

It worked.

For the first time, I could send thousands of SMS invites automatically. That single breakthrough became the foundation of my early success.

From Two Cents to Ten Dollars

But I had one more problem: where to get numbers.

I figured out that local telcos followed certain mobile numbering patterns, especially for postpaid users. Since unlimited texting promos were restricted within the same network at that time, I focused on generating random postpaid numbers using Excel and fed them into the system.

In just one hour, I was sending 3,000+ text messages.

The next day, I logged into my Google AdSense account.

Almost $10 in 24 hours.

From $0.02 to $10 overnight.

That was the moment I knew I cracked the code.

When I received my first Google payout, I treated myself to a burger at McDonald’s. It felt like the sweetest reward after more than a year of being unemployed.

I scaled up my system — buying more dongles, SIM cards, and credits — until I was earning up to $50 a day. Over the next eight months, I was making 4x–5x more than my BPO salary.

For a 25-year-old Filipino, it felt like I was living the dream.

The Fear Factor

But one morning, a thought hit me.

“What if people eventually stop clicking on ads?”

I realized that online behavior changes fast. People would eventually become blind to banners, ignoring ads entirely.

I felt that familiar uneasiness creeping back — the same feeling I had before I resigned from my job:

“Paul, you’re in a comfort zone again. And you hate comfort zones.”

I knew I couldn’t rely on Google AdSense forever.

The Leap Into Business

I started asking myself:

“What if I use this same SMS method to help local businesses promote their products and services?”

That thought became the seed of my entrepreneurial journey.

I didn’t know where to start, but I knew one thing: I had a working system, and I could commercialize it.

And that’s when the idea of building my first marketing service was born — the very foundation that would later lead to ePasuyo, NabuaSys, and ultimately Vulcan Holdings Inc.

Landing Echanted Kingdom

With my SMS setup finally running, I started putting myself out there. I blasted ads about my service via text, hoping someone—anyone—would see the potential. Back then, SMS marketing was unheard of. Most businesses didn’t get it. Some laughed at the idea, some ignored me completely, but I kept pushing forward.

Then one day, my phone rang.

It was Enchanted Kingdom.

Apparently, one of my SMS ads had reached their marketing team, and they were curious about what I was doing. At first, I thought it was a prank—imagine, a nationally recognized theme park reaching out to a college dropout like me. But it was real.

I went to their office for the meeting. No fancy slides, no corporate deck—just me, my voice, and my vision. I sat in a room with their entire marketing team, and for over an hour, I explained how SMS could drive more visitors to the park, increase ticket sales, and build engagement.

It was nerve-racking, pero I believed in what I was offering. I talked about possibilities, not just features. I showed them how direct-to-customer communication could be a game-changer in an era when email and social media weren’t as big yet.

When they finally said yes, it hit me—I had just landed Enchanted Kingdom as my very first client.

I walked out of that office feeling ten feet tall. That single deal validated my decision to choose entrepreneurship over employment. It proved that what I was building had real value, and more importantly, that I could actually make it.

For the first time in my life, I felt unstoppable.

One Decision Changed Everything

Choosing between employment and entrepreneurship was the hardest decision I ever made.

I left stability for uncertainty. I traded a paycheck for possibility. And I bet everything on myself.

Looking back, that decision set me on a path I’m still walking today — one that’s bigger than Google AdSense, bigger than SMS marketing, bigger than any single venture I’ve built.

It taught me that:

• Sometimes, being desperate pushes you to innovate.
• Opportunities rarely come twice — grab them when they do.
• Comfort zones are dangerous.
• And most importantly: you have to believe in yourself long before anyone else does.

If I had stayed in the BPO industry, I’d probably still be there today — safe, but unfulfilled.

Instead, I chose to leap. And that leap changed my life.