Army of new entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship seems to be finally firmly taking root in the Philippines. And I’m not talking about Filipino Chinese, who for some reason, have favored setting up businesses for themselves and their children no matter how modest.

For decades, Filipinos had been drilled to finish college and go into employment. This has not been all folly, mind you, for this has produced some of the country’s – even the world’s – best professionals: economists, accountants, lawyers, management executives.

And in the era of a global migrant workforce, this education mindset has spawned a reputation for Filipinos as one of the best workers in the world, known not only for their language adeptness, but also their cheerfulness, hospitable attitude, and hard-working demeanor.

But this has also had its downside, because any wealth created by multinational companies from the sweat of Filipino labor is repatriated to their respective mother countries.

And for our countrymen who had served faithfully their foreign masters, they are often left in retirement with just enough funds to spend for their living expenses until they die.

Woefully small businesses

Filipinos who are unable to complete any decent schooling are a different story. If they are not caught in the net of blue-collar employment or various technical trades, there’s the micro type of business to feed the family. These are the sari-sari stores, market vendors, and other similar small businesses.

For these types of businesses, the biggest challenge is poverty. Too often, these enterprising men and women earn just enough to bring food to the table. When emergencies arise, the capital allotted to the business is often used for household needs.

In terms of numbers, these types of operations make up about 99 percent of businesses in the country. They are often referred to as SMEs or small and medium enterprises – a complete misnomer if there ever was one. But they are still a force to reckon with since they account for about 55 percent of the country’s employed workers.

However, they are also weighted down by other problems including government corruption, inadequate financial support (especially for expansion) and poor business sense in terms of management in marketing and logistics.

Entrepreneurs with a conscience

Fortunately, there is fresh wave of thinking among our youth. The efforts of many patriotic Filipinos who believe in encouraging entrepreneurship are taking root, and there is a swelling of optimism that is noticeable.

The inspiration to go into entrepreneurship is not lacking. In fact, the number of entrepreneur heroes is growing. We’re also seeing many of our prominent leaders in business speaking about encouraging the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit.

Notables are Joey Concepcion of Go Negosyo and Manny Pangilinan for SME Nation. Joey’s crusade, which I think has spanned decades, is fanning the entrepreneurial flames among the youth in cities outside of Metro Manila through training and conventions.

Manny’s campaigns, though largely business-related, are still not to be ignored. For example, by making technology innovations more accessible and affordable to small businesses, SMEs are able to move to higher levels of efficiency.

Plus with PLDT’s Bossing Awards, the stories of Filipinos who were able to grow their business to become institutions in the country are inspiring others to take this challenging route rather than be contended with just getting paid every 15th and 30th of the month.

Recently, Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga fame had also taken up the challenge by tweaking his campaign to encourage Filipinos to take up entrepreneurship but at the same time keeping the social conscience intact.

One of the objectives of Meloto’s Center for Social Innovation, for example, is to build an army of social entrepreneurs who will nurture home-grown businesses that not only provides employment for more Filipinos, but also makes use of indigenous (not imported) resources as raw materials.

More work needed

Let’s hope that this spurt of enthusiasm will truly sow the seeds that could become a strong economic force in nation-building in future. We all know that the plight of SMEs in the country has been a problem for so long, and no sure-fire solutions have been found.

Had it not been for the nine million Filipinos working abroad, the Philippines would have been one of those countries stricken by massive unemployment and poverty, and possibly mired in revolutions.

There is a lot of work needed to iron out the kinks that will truly provide a fertile ground for our new entrepreneurs to grow. Foremost is corruption especially in the local government level.

While there are cities and municipalities that strive to simplify the process of registering a business, there are still too many steps involved, and too many meddling local officials who want to have a say in the approval process.

Local taxation is also another issue that continues to burden micro and small businesses. Lack of transparency is a major problem that has kept businesses from paying the right amount of taxes – or in some cases, excessive taxes.

Finally, government has to be able to provide the kind of infrastructure and logistical support that will encourage the flow of goods and services from the farms to cities, and from the country to other markets in the world.

If we can no longer rely on those large-scale industries to provide employment for our growing population, perhaps having a sturdy army of small entrepreneurs is a better solution to boosting the country’s productivity and self-reliance.

Collegiate Champions League (PCCL)

The collegiate basketball season officially ended with the crowning of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers as the 2012 National Collegiate Champion. It was the Growling Tigers first national title in over a decade.

It was an exciting season with achievement records being established by other teams such as the five-peat UAAP championship for Ateneo Blue Eagles, the three-peat NCAA title for San Beda College Red Lions, and the first CESAFI crown for Southwestern University after years of dominance by University of Visayas.

PCCL is extending its appreciation to the continuing support of various sponsors which makes possible the conduct of the annual search for the best collegiate teams in the country. These are the M. V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation and the other MVP-managed companies, ABS-CBN Sports Network, FilOi-Flying V Sports, Molten Balls, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, SM Tickets and Philippine Star.

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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.