We celebrated yesterday our country’s 115th Independence Day.  Our country is no longer a young democracy. In a way, we have reached a certain level of political maturity, having gone through less controversial election processes, with sincere electoral reforms and stricter COMELEC rules especially in the last election, and strong media campaigns to educate the public on the importance of voting the right candidates.

We can say that there is a good degree of political independence as well, obtaining freedom from a dictator since 1986, the freedom to speak, to write and to protest to the point that some groups even overdo or abuse this freedom. We have also always cited a good degree of economic freedom with better economic fundamentals, growth rates of 7.8%, low interest rate regime, record-level international reserves, strong run-up in the stock market (with recent corrections), followed by recent Investment Grade credit ratings. Read the rest of this entry »

It is back to school and most children are quite excited to go back, but I guess many of them are more eager to see their friends again in school.  In Go Negosyo, there was no summer break for entrepreneurs, as learning did not stop. We continued to share the importance of entrepreneurial education through the conduct of various learning opportunities such as the Negosyo Seminar (Negosem) Basic sessions, Magandang Business Advice (MBA), and our caravans and summits all over the country. These are to impart to our aspiring entrepreneurs the mindset, knowledge and how-to’s in business. Additionally, we continuously air the Go Negosyo sa Radyo in DZRH 666 with Cheska San Diego and Go Negosyo Executive Director Ramon Lopez, and our TV show “SME GO!: Powered by Go Negosyo”, hosted by Betong Sumaya Jr.

(L) Go Negosyo sa Radyo in DZRH666 with guest, digital marketing expert Carlo Ople with program co-host, Executive Director Ramon Lopez; (R) Go Negosyo Kaya Mo TV with guest, Chicken Charlie Owner Ifore Yu and program host Betong Sumaya Jr.

In the recent months, we conducted a couple of Negosem Basic sessions. We had Ardy Roberto (Founder and Chairman, Salt & Ventures, Inc.), Carlo Calimon (Executive Director, Let’s Go Foundation), Ben Ampil (Management Consultant, Trainer and Motivational Speaker), Mylene Abiva (President and CEO, FELTA Multimedia, Inc.), Paulo Tibig (President, VCargo), and Ed Pilapil (CEO, Achievers Circle, Inc.) as speakers. Mon Lopez also joined as well in giving advice and mentorship during these seminars. Read the rest of this entry »

As early as Monday, schools have opened their doors again for another year of learning. Most Filipinos believe that education is the ticket to success, and it is the reason why parents work hard just to send their children to school. We in Go Negosyo believe that education is the greatest equalizer, and in our own small way, we try to empower our micro and small entrepreneurs with proper entrepreneurship education and knowhow to move up in life.  In a way, this helps balance out the reality that not all have the benefit of finishing school, but with knowing the right concepts and mindset, coupled with hardwork and creativity, one can also find success in a good livelihood.

We have come to know many big names like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Apple’s Steve Jobs, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and many local entrepreneurs who succeeded even without finishing college. They were exceptions, but they would always say that education is still important.  In fact, a study from Duke University finds strong correlation between smart people or those with brainpower and that of success, especially wealth. Let us value education and continuous learning and increase our chances to succeed.

Speaking of education, let me share the story of one entrepreneur who has already caught the attention of the international fashion scene, but has maintained the importance of higher education as a tool for her success. She is the daughter of Rico and Tina Maristela-Ocampo and is currently a student of Parsons School for Design, but she has already founded her own clothing line, which is now exclusively sold at Barneys New York. Read on to know more about this creative young Filipina named Betina Ocampo. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Thursday, PLDT Chairman Manny Pangilinan and his PLDT SME Nation group launched a new line of services for negosyantes who are serious about improving their business information management system through Cloud technology. They did the launch at the beautiful Solaire Casino and Resort’s Grand Ballroom, and more than a thousand SME clients attended the event. Aside from MVP, PLDT President and CEO Poly Nazareno, PLDT EVP Eric Alberto, PLDT SME Nation Head Kat Luna-Abelarde, and PLDT SME Nation Community Consultancy Head Gabby Cui were also there during the launch.

PLDT SME Nation’s new services include internet or cloud-based applications for HR and Payroll, Accounting, Salesforce.com, Google Apps for Business, SAP Business One, Coupa, among others. These applications will definitely revolutionize the way SMEs do their business, because it will now be possible for them to consolidate critical data from a single store branch to up to 500 branches nationwide.  With the presence of cloud-based technology in business, SMEs are now in for a sudden turnaround for the positive, as any entrepreneur could now focus their time to continue expanding their negosyos.
Speaking of a sudden turnaround, let me share a story of one Filipino entrepreneur who has brought technology, prosperity, and peace in a conflict-ridden place. Through his negosyo, not only was he able to uplift the lives of Filipinos there, he has also showed that it is possible for people from different backgrounds to work together in harmony towards the better good. I am talking about La Frutera’s Senen Bacani, who we have featured in our newest book “Go Negosyo: 50 Inspiring Stories of Agri-Entrepreneurs”. Read the rest of this entry »

The summer is about to end, and it was a pretty busy summer for Filipinos as they prepared for two major occasions: the busy midterm election that happened last week, and their annual summer trips. Summer is always a good time for families to bond together and have fun under the sun. But for aspiring entrepreneurs, summer can be a peak season for many products like ice cream and halo-halo, or cold refreshments, and tourism-related negosyos such as resorts, souvenirs, shirts, hotels, transportation and many more. Of course, the election period added extra demand for printers, caterers, food retailing, transportation, mobile fon loads, among others.  The opportunities are endless.

Go Negosyo fully supports these enterprising minds as they come up with new business concepts and improve the existing ideas in order to move up from poverty. Let me share three of the most interesting summer business concepts and the stories behind their owners. These negosyantes were actually featured in our TV show “SME, GO!: Powered by Go Negosyo” hosted by comedian Betong, which airs every Sunday, 8-8:30am, on GMA News TV. Read the rest of this entry »

As we end our 19-day cruise with 42 family members (including parents, siblings, in-laws, and grandchildren), we shared our time with 300 Filipino crew-members. They compose more than half of the total crew of 500 on board Crystal Symphony, which is just one of the many cruise ships that Filipino workers dominate. Back home, Doris Ho of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation, Robie Delgado, and Carlos Salinas are some of the big names that supply the cruise and cargo vessels.

Some of the Filipinos we met onboard the Crystal Symphony are (from L-R) Gabriel (9 years), Clarry (13 years), Derick (7 years), Richard (15 years), Giovanni (20 years), Allan (2 years), Lester (8 years), Norman (20 years), and Leo (9 years).

Out of the 800 guests, we were the only Filipinos on board, and many of the Americans, Australians, and Europeans that were cruising with us have heard about the Philippine turnaround story. It feels good to share with these people that our country has now achieved investment grade, and it feels good to see how hard our Filipino overseas workers sacrifice their time to work far just to be able to get a better life for their families back home. We met Filipinos in every place we went—in Cabo, Costa Rica, and even in Cartagena. Who would think that there would be around three thousand Filipinos living in a small island like Cayman, as well as Filipinos manning the security counter in a place like Charleston in South Carolina as you disembark? Read the rest of this entry »