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From Overseas Filipino Worker To Online Filipino Worker - An Interview With Lorenzo Dupa

August 8, 2018
by Jason Dulay 
Jason is the founder and CEO of Work from Home Roadmap and VA Bootcamp. Aside from teaching Filipinos how to succeed working from home, he likes traveling, playing board games, and drinking coffee.
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Be inspired as you watch another inspiring #JasSuccess with Host, Anna Soriano as she interviews Lorenzo "Enzo" Dupa.

Enzo is a former OFW and worked as a Data Controller/Analyst. Because of freelancing Enzo has been invited as a guest speaker in 2nd PISCON in Cebu and represented Rural Impact Sourcing as Stakeholder in 2018 Pre-Sona of Duterte Admin.

In this interview, Enzo will take us back 2 years ago when he decided to finally quit working away from his family, including;

✅How he found his lifetime partner in E-commerce Development
✅ How he bounced back from a consequent financial struggle through online freelancing
✅ How he transformed from a timid man to a successful online freelancer and entrepreneur

All these and more valuable tips, goal-oriented mindset, and unwavering resiliency against life’s adversities.

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Notable Quotes:

  • Mostly kasi ng OFW, yun ang thinking. Pag uwi ng Pilipinas, kung ano yung naipon na pera magtayo ng negosyo without thinking na mahirap pala ang mag negosyo.
  • The first step talaga is napakahirap.
  • Luckily na nakuha ko yung bootcamp nyo and from that start, nagtuloy tuloy po sya kasi I didn’t stop learning.
  • Merong course na ganito. Kung hindi ako mag te-take ng chance baka tuluyan na tayong bumagsak so I'll take [the] risk.
  • Hindi pala imposible na makamit yung kinikita mo abroad dito sa Pilipinas through freelancing.
  • Kailangan magkaroon ka ng focus at dream kung ano gusto mong maging at magkaroon.
  • Learning is the key.
  • Na learn ko na kahit gaano kalaki ang income mo, kung hindi ka wise mag spend ng pera mo, ang bilis maubos.
  • Don’t stop learning. Kung anuman ang pwede mong matutunan pa, wag mong lagyan ng boundaries yung sarili mo.
  • Before ka mag decide na hindi mag renew at least make sure na meron kang 3-6 months buffer when it comes to [finances] kasi the transition is not easy.
  • Know how to spend your hard-earned money kasi pag hindi, talaga ay napakahirap pag dumating ka sa time na babagsak ka ulit.
  • Give value to your clients. Show your value and then nung nakita niya yung aking value, ginawa nya akong partner.
  • It depends sa kanila [OFWs] sir kung kakayanin ng time nila. Halimbawa kung meron silang enough time or ample time to learn the freelancing at makapag part-time sa freelancing halimbawa 3 hours a day or 2 hours a day, then do it. At least pag bago sila umuwi ng Pilipinas in case na gusto nila mag for good, meron na silang foundation sa freelancing.
  • Go for it, wag kang panghinaan kung anuman yung bumabalakid. Bumaba ka man, wag kang sumuko.

Enzo’s Journey to Freelancing

  • In August of 2016, he finally decided to quit working abroad and stay in the Philippines for good.
  • During the first 3 months of living in the Philippines, he tried franchising food-carts with high hopes of earning but sadly, all of the businesses he ventured into went bankrupt.
  • Around January or February of 2017, he discovered the Virtual Assistant Bootcamp online course of Jason Dulay – this event introduced him to freelancing.
  • After enrolling, he started his own freelancing career.
  • He started earning a lot of money from freelancing, had lots of clients he gave value to. Eventually, he became a partner by one of his clients in a dropshipping business.
  • During the mid-year of 2018, he decided to establish his own local freelancing agency.
  • He’s currently involved in 2 e-commerce dropshipping businesses.
  • He also has public speaking gigs aiming to promote the freelancing industry and is now an owner of a local freelancing agency.
  • He has now become a successful freelancer earning hundreds of thousands a month.

Q & A Highlights

 Kwento mo Enzo yung buhay bago ka naging online freelancer.

Bago ako naging freelancer, isa po akong OFW sa Saudi Arabia for 13 years. And then nag trabaho ako sa dalawang kompanya lang sa loob ng 13 years - under a Korean construction company sa oil and gas. Then last 2016, nag decide ako na mag for good kahit na wala akong trabaho sa Pilipinas na alam ko. That's the life before freelancing. Siguro from 2016 August hanggang February or January yata, maraming struggles, the real struggles kumbaga bago mag freelancing.

2016 August, nag start ako mag business, kasi from abroad wala akong ibang alam na aapplyan ng trabaho, kaya lang after mga 5 months or 4 months yata parang masyado akong naubusan ng resources kasi puro palabas na pera tapos hindi naman kumikita yung pinatayo kong business. Kaya ayun medyo tumagilid yung aking financial stability so lahat na yata ng pagkakakitaan online dati pinatulan ko. Pero I don’t have any idea dati about freelancing kumbaga, kung ano yung online freelancing. So at that time, nakipagsapalaran ako mag apply sa mga call centers. Unfortunately, hindi ako natanggap. Kasi nga galing akong abroad, so wala masyadong information na napi-feed maliban nalang sa facebook. Tatlong beses yata akong nag apply ng call center tapos puro rejected. Sobrang baba ng aking morale that time, hindi ako lumabas ng bahay kasi sobra akong na depress, feeling ko sobrang ang bobo bobo ko. Tapos nakita ko yung ads ni sir Jason sa aking facebook, so hindi nako nag dalawang isip na tingnan.

What kind of businesses did you start?

Meron akong food cart yung mga franchise na food cart, yung mga siomai, siopao, and then water station kung ano ano yung maliliit lang. Yung tingin ko na papatok pero hindi pala. Kasi nga wala akong background sa business.

What made you decide to leave your job abroad?

First thing is yung aking baby, kasi it's my first. And then matagal na rin akong nag aabroad, 13 years na. Tapos parang kalahati ng buhay ko nasa abroad na. It's just na drained na rin ako, kasi sa Saudi Arabia, yung trabaho ko sa construction — oil and gas, malayo sa city, napaka layo sa civilization.

How were you able to justify na mag invest ka sa VA Bootcamp?

Una sir [Jason], niresearch kita. About your profile and then about the WFHR.io. Kasi sabi ko nga yes, it's not just mura na. Sabi ko sa misis ko na, "Merong course na ganito, kung hindi ako mag te-take ng chance, baka tuluyan na tayong bumagsak. So I'll take a risk".

Tapos may mga business ka na rin ngayon?

Yeah, may sarili akong e-commerce store: dropshipping. Tapos yung local e-commerce store ko - yung online sari-sari store.

Anong sagot mo sa mga kakilala mo na sinasabi nila na wala silang skills?

That's imposible na wala kang skills. Kasi sa online freelancing, napakabroad ng skills na inooffer — like typical na typewriting pwede mong i-offer online, definitely meron kang skills.

How did you learn about dropshipping?

Nag VA muna ako ng e-commerce. And then after ako nag VA ng e-commerce, natutunan ko dahil sa dropshipping yung business nya. Natutunan ko yung ikot-ikot ng dropshipping.

Would you suggest na mag start sila part-time muna sa freelancing while working abroad?

It depends sa kanila sir kung kakayanin ng time nila. Halimbawa kung meron silang enough time or ample time to learn the freelancing at makapag part-time sa freelancing halimbawa 3 hours a day or 2 hours a day, then do it. At least pag bago sila umuwi ng Pilipinas in case na gusto nila mag for good, meron na silang foundation sa freelancing.

What if ngayon bigla kang tinawagan ng boss mo from abroad with a tempting offer, tatanggapin mo ba?

Nangyari sa akin yan, my previous company. Tinawagan ako - inemail ako. Napaka-tempting kumbaga, napa-isip rin ako nun pero nandun yung aking eagerness na huwag nang bumalik abroad kasi I spent so much time sa abroad. And ayoko rin mangyari na tumanda sa abroad na lumaki yung anak ko na hindi ko sya nakikita.

By now, na-match mo naman yung salary mo sa abroad diba?

There's no doubt na mamatch mo yung salary mo sa abroad if you are diversifying yung income - kung san nanggagaling yung stream ng income mo.

Ano pang final advise mo for the viewers?

Don't stop learning.

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by Jason Dulay 
Jason is the founder and CEO of Work from Home Roadmap and VA Bootcamp. Aside from teaching Filipinos how to succeed working from home, he likes traveling, playing board games, and drinking coffee.

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156 comments on “From Overseas Filipino Worker To Online Filipino Worker - An Interview With Lorenzo Dupa”

  12. HI , question for Enzo, i heard you own a drop-shipping store, What kind of payment methods are you using sa store mo? for credit card payment of customer, is it paytabs, 2checkout MOLpay? Is there other paymnet methods that is acceptable in the Philippines except paypal. TIA god bless

    Reply

  23. Ka inspired nga true na ang freelancing laking tulong sa financial aspect natin sa buhay but we need to be wise tayu for spending talaga and we are so blessed sa blessings ni Lord sa atin

    Reply

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