Finding Work You Love

Lessons from launching my first business in my 20s

Starting a business is one of the best ways to create something meaningful in the world.

Since college, I’ve always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. I liked the idea of making money on my own terms, working whenever I wanted, and becoming my own boss. But I had always been scared of becoming someone who doesn’t care about the people he’s serving.

I thought that to be an entrepreneur, I’d have to go against my principles. I believed I’d have to lie for marketing and do work I’d hate every day.

But when I launched my first business two months ago, none of this happened at all.

I made ₱100,000 ($1770) in revenue—more than twice my monthly salary—and I did it while staying true to my core values. More importantly, I did work that I genuinely enjoyed. One that has even helped me find a new purpose in life.

If you’ve ever dreamed of earning money doing something you love, my hope is that my story gives you some insights on how to make it happen.

So, how did I get here?

I created a math review program to help students prepare for the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT). I playfully called it Level UP.

Every year, over 100,000 Filipino students take the UPCAT. The reason is simple: UP is one of the top universities in the Philippines and offers free tuition to all of its students.

This makes the entrance exam extremely competitive, with a passing rate of only 10-15%. That’s why many parents are willing to invest in review centers and tutorials to help their child pass the exam.

Being a math graduate from UP, I knew I had unfair advantages, so I believed a math review program could be profitable. But even with the odds in my favor, I still had a tough time getting to where I am today. 

Before launching Level UP, I had to:

• Try out three business ideas and earn nothing in five months.

• Restart the review program three times because I struggled to commit.

• Spend over 50 hours planning and overthinking every decision.

I almost gave up on the program, but I’m really glad I didn’t. Because it turned out to be the most meaningful project I’ve worked on this year.

Today, I want to share 5 lessons I learned from starting my first business:

1/ Start even when you haven’t figured things out yet.

A large part of why I was able to launch Level UP was that I had constraints that left me with no choice but to act.

I decided to start working on the program around two months before the UPCAT. Since it had to run for at least six weeks, that left me with only three weeks to prepare everything for the launch.

I worked from morning until night to make it happen. In those three weeks, I created Facebook posts, designed the curriculum, and crafted the first two practice tests. I even filed a leave from work to secure the venue from a local high school.

At this point, I still needed to create 16 practice tests and a 60-item final exam, which amounts to two weeks’ worth of work if I didn’t have a full-time job. There’s still much that needed to be done, but I launched the program anyway.

Usually, I make sure to be well-prepared before initiating any kind of project. But not this time. I had no other choice but to embrace the situation and just keep moving.

If this were me from many months ago, I would have stressed out over not having a perfect plan. But now, I can see that having time constraints actually helped make the program successful.

The downside was that I had to work extra hard 7 days a week. But because I was pressed for time, I didn’t have room to overthink my next steps. I could only afford to focus on what’s truly important. 

This helped me make decisions quickly and I learned along the way. I believe that’s how I got good results.

2/ The best opportunities come unexpectedly when you focus on being helpful.

A day before the registration deadline, I had only seven students signed up. 

Maybe it was because I only gave them 5 days to register? I’m not really sure. But I was aiming for at least 10, so I felt a bit disappointed.

As a last push for more sign-ups, I hosted a free mini-review session covering UPCAT tips and problem-solving techniques for math problems. I made it open to everyone because I also wanted to help those who couldn’t afford review programs.

The session went well, with around 20 students in attendance. I also had fun teaching, so even though I only had one additional sign-up, I felt quite satisfied with the outcome.

But later that day, a parent approached me saying her son enjoyed the free session and asked if I could run an online review for Philippine Science High School students. She even offered to connect me with other parents in their group chat and guaranteed at least 10 sign-ups.

I did not expect this development, but it was an opportunity for me to teach more students. Without much hesitation, I accepted the offer and we agreed to work together to form an online group for the UPCAT Review. Just three days later, a total of 20 students signed up, bringing my total to 28.

This one opportunity brought in ₱57,000 in revenue, which comprised 60% of my total earnings, but the benefits went beyond the money.

Because of the online group, I had the chance to experiment with different teaching strategies and observed how they worked in the online space versus in-person. This led me to find out that I prefer teaching online because I can use tools like meeting recordings and Google Forms for automated checking, which makes things more efficient.

Having more students also meant I could get better feedback. I met many students who shared useful tips, inspiring stories, and thoughtful messages that helped me remember why I wanted to be a teacher back in high school.

The whole experience reignited my passion for teaching. And today, I’m energized by the mission of offering better learning options to students across the Philippines—maybe even the world if I’m being ambitious.

If I hadn’t hosted that free session, I wouldn’t be enjoying these wonderful opportunities. All of this happened simply because I chose to be helpful to people.

3/ When you do hard things, don’t be afraid to seek support.

Everyone tells you starting a business is hard. But the weight of that statement could only really resonate once you’re already in the game.

In the middle of running the program, I started struggling to create practice tests on my own. Each one was taking me two days to create. Balancing this with my full-time job and all the extra work for the program put me on the edge of burnout. 

I wanted to quit and I almost did, but I told myself I couldn’t afford to fail—not with 28 students relying on me. I had to find a way to push through.

At the point of desperation, I decided to hire friends from my math org to handle the test creation. I paid them ₱13,500 for the service, an amount that’s more than I’d ever paid anyone before. But considering it took two weeks of work off my plate, I found it to be worth every peso.

Easily one of the best decisions I made, hands down.

4/ Start a business with a purpose greater than earning money.

It took me three tries over eight months to finally launch Level UP.  On the first two attempts, I couldn’t bring myself to commit because I was too focused on making money.

I find that having a strong purpose is important, especially when doing something as hard as launching a business. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” I had to learn that the hard way.

I finally committed to Level UP after I saw a Facebook post. The post showed the UPCAT passing rates for every region in the Philippines. I saw that Samar, my hometown, had an extremely low passing rate of 0.1%. This means that only 1 out of 1,000 students would pass the exam every year. 

It was a surprising data point, but I knew it made sense. Growing up, I saw firsthand how education in the provinces struggled to keep up with big cities like Manila.

Realizing this, I was led to a mission. I’d always wanted to make an impact in education, and I thought running my own test prep program would be the perfect way to do it.

When I compare this mission to my original goal of making money, it’s clear why I made the commitment only during the third attempt. Having a deeper purpose gave me enough strength to push through the toughest challenges.

But I won’t lie. It feels really good to earn money. It gave me financial security, freedom, and the ability to support myself and my family. 

So don’t get me wrong. Financial stability is important. It’s part of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, after all. But after gaining security, I didn’t feel the need to chase after money anymore.

In the program, I had one student who wasn’t able to pay on time, so he asked for an extension. I agreed although with a slight hesitation. In my mind, I was worried that I might not get paid, so I though I’d keep checking up on him to make sure he fulfills his promise. But I was surprised to see I didn’t do this at all.

It took him three weeks, but the student paid the full tuition a day before the program ended. As he handed over the payment, I jokingly told him I would have completely forgotten about it if he hadn’t approached me. 

At this point, money didn’t feel that much important to me anymore.

There’s something else that I wanted a lot more.

5/ Figure out what you enjoy doing, and do more of that even if it means doing more work.

Energy is a good signal. It’s always useful to pay attention to it.

Throughout the program, I tried to observe which parts about it energized me and which parts didn’t.

I noticed that I love seeing students get excited about learning something new. I enjoyed chatting with them about their student life and future career plans. And it was fun to ask them to spam the Google Meet with a handbag of reactions like hearts and party poppers—sometimes even sad reacts if the math problem was a bit too tough.

When students told me they gained a new perspective in solving problems or when they shared their unique solutions to the class, I felt fulfilled because this means they’re engaged in the learning process. 

In the latter half of the program, I added extra stuff in my classes like math puzzles, questions of the day, and mini-sessions on productivity and college life. These weren’t part of what I offered the students and their parents, but I did them anyway because they felt fun to do.

This is the most important lesson I’m taking away: figure out what you enjoy doing, and continue doing more of that even if it means doing more work.

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I believe we’re all on a journey of self-discovery. To understand who we are, what unique value we can offer the world, and how we can make a difference in the lives of others. 

I think entrepreneurship is one of the best ways to explore this.

In just two months, I learned more about my relationship with money than I ever did from finance books. I discovered how much I enjoy inspiring people and found new ways of doing that. I also realized how frustrated I am with our current education system, and I feel empowered to do something to improve the way we teach the next generation.

Because I started a business, I gained experiences that are shaping how I want to move forward in my life. And now, I’m more excited than ever to create new possibilities, both for myself and for other people.

I know it will be incredibly tough to fulfill this ambition. And yet, I am filled with determination.

When you find work worth suffering for, you move closer to finding meaning. And ultimately, I believe that’s what we’re all striving for in life.

🌻 Would you like to be a tutor?

I’m looking to help three people find tutoring opportunities that can earn them over ₱20,000 a month (without burning out).

Tutoring has been a game-changer for me. In college, I earned over ₱100,000 in one semester, which helped me pay for dorm fees and other expenses. Today, tutoring has become an opportunity for me to make a change in education.

Whether you're a student or a working professional, I believe that tutoring is a great way to do something meaningful while earning a solid income.

If you have a passion for learning and education, I’d love to help you out:

🍃 Quote I’m Thinking About

Entrepreneur Naval Ravikant on new opportunities:

“The internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven’t figured this out yet.”

🌷 Question I’m Asking

To guide me on what to do next:

What would I do even if I knew I would fail?