Some 'survival' tips

Things are getting worse, and from the way it looks now, would take some time before getting better.

Some government officials like NEDA Deputy Director General Augusto Santos are not ruling out a contraction in the economy any time next year as a result of the worsening global outlook.

Already, Japan, Singapore, Germany and the European Union are in recession aside of course from the world’s biggest economy, the United States, which has seen retail sales slump and unemployment rise to new highs.

Shrinking global economies, especially the major markets for our exports and overseas workers, spell trouble for our economy that relies on these two major sectors. Overseas sales and remittances account for about half of our economy, not including their strong multiplier effect on employment, real estate and construction and manufacturing.

There is no doubt that jobs, both here and overseas, will be lost in this kind of global environment.

The government estimates that about 236,000 workers in the garments, electronics, wiring and coconut oil industries may be affected by the global slowdown.

Workers in these industries may not totally lose jobs but may be asked to cut working hours or go on rotation, leading to reduced incomes, according to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or Tesda.

At the same time, close to 600,000 Filipinos working overseas may be hit by a cooling global demand.

Riding out the global storm

The government has said it will try to pool as much as P100 billion in funds to retrain returning overseas workers and another P1 billion to facilitate an export development plan to favor exporters.

Whether these funds will actually serve their purpose and whether the plans will be carried out, like most government initiatives in this country, is all a matter of faith and patience.

While we wait for the state programs to take effect, if ever they will, and at the time needed, I think it’s more important that each of us – whether as entrepreneurs, corporate executives or blue-collar workers – will do our part to ride out this global storm.

There are age-old ideas that we can turn to and won’t need any substantial funding to implement. As the old adage goes, there are so many ways to skin the cat; all we just need is determination to keep going. I’ve listed below three values that I think are important to achieve our objectives.

A time of change

The first one is innovation. You don’t have to be in business to be an innovator. In our own little world, each of us can be agents of change if we want to.

If you were a furniture maker, you should have known years ago that there’s no point in keeping or making the old-style, elaborate wood works that used to appeal to the older generation.

If you were a jewelry maker, you should have discovered that plain old pearl necklaces don’t sell as much as they used to.

The key is to keep up with trends because the market is evolving and swiftly changing, and to be flexible and not put all your eggs in just one basket. In times of uncertainty, it may make sense to distribute risks.

Up to now, I find it unforgivable that it took a Brazilian brand, Havaianas, to spur local producers to craft out funky-looking flip flops when we had been wearing these rubber slippers for decades.

Working with others

The second value I would like to mention is the importance of coordination – or networking.

If you are a small entrepreneur, try to join groups in your line of business because that’s where you may find new opportunities or even essential information. And from there, you can take it a step forward by applying whatever you have learned in your business.

Joining groups is also one way to know if a certain industry is already too crowded. If so, maybe you should consider moving into another business line. If the whole neighborhood is already selling cellular phone load, don’t you think you should sell something else?

If you work in an office, you need coordination skills to make sure that what you’re doing is of value to your company. Keep your eyes and ears open on opportunities that you could capitalize on to make your superiors see your value.

With companies now slashing growth projections, it’s important to win brownie points that perhaps could give you a promotion or at least allow you to keep your job.

Eyes and ears on the ground

The third and last value I would like to share in this column is the need to know the pulse.

It’s not enough for a business to keep on churning grade-A products or for an employee to turn in perfectly-crafted reports. What can put you ahead is knowing what your market wants and where the trends are headed.

There is no harm in chatting with a customer on how to improve a product or to ask for suggestions on what other goods or services the company may offer.

Finding out for yourself what’s happening around you is much better than merely assuming or drawing conjectures all the time.

The above are just starters as we make our way into a new world economy devastated by loss of confidence, shattered dreams and shrinking values.

Collegiate Champions League update

The “Sweet 16” is now down to the “Elite 8” composed of three seeded teams, Ateneo Blue Eagles, San Beda Red Lions and DLSU Green Archers and five zonal qualifiers, FEU Tamaraws, UE Warriors, Letran Knights, Mapua Cardinals and Arellano U Chiefs.

The first knock-out round was tough and saw the elimination of five seeded teams, JRU Heavy Bombers, San Sebastian College-Cavite Baycats, University of Visayas Green Lancers, MLQU Stallions and Universal Colleges Golden Dragons. Three zonal qualifiers, CESAFI top teams University of San Carlos and University of San Jose Recoletos, and Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates also failed to advance. 

Games in the round of eight and final four are expected to be tightly fought as the surviving teams make their way to the prize circle. Watch the games at The Arena, San Juan on December 3, 6 and 8. All these games are covered by Solar Entertainment TV channels, Basketball TV and C/S9.

For more details about the biggest collegiate basketball event for the year presented by SMART, PLDT, FilOil Flying V and KFC visit the official website, www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net and www.gameface.ph  internet media partner of PCCL.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.