Fact is, there are more SMEs in the Philippines than big corporations, and that SMEs have a huge contribution to the growth of Philippine economy. There is a big opportunity for further economic growth if only SMEs are properly directed towards becoming big. The stagnant growth for many ventures is more of the entrepreneur’s fault. For such entrepreneur, venture growth is more of a chance than something planned from the start. Continue reading
Many Filipinos love to have a business of their own but are always hesitant to take the risk. That is OK, nobody likes risk anyway. I once did a survey among employed people. I ask them to raise their hands if they want to have a business. 100% raised their hands. I asked them if they are would shell out a month of their salary to a new business. Nobody raised hands. So I asked them what they want to do as their business. They all said that they will use their skill to start a business. That I think is practical and wise but as Michael Gerber said in his book, skills alone do not make you successful. You still need to be scientific in your approach to starting a new business, most especially when you are trying to transition from being employed to self-employed. So how would you say goodbye to your boss and hello to business? Continue reading
The word innovation is from the Latin word innovatus which means stemming from. In other words innovation is an improvement of something. In the world of business, the innovative products are an improvement of an existing product. All of the innovations we see today are derived from the needs of customers, this is called market innovation. An example of innovation is the business model of Michael Dell. It used to be that computers are sold as a package. You buy the whole thing from the maker and you can not choose the part that comes with it. Michael Dell realized that there are customers who want to customize the parts of their computers based on their needs and budget. So in his dorm room, he started selling “Build you Own” computers.
For an idea to be considered an innovation, it must make the life of the user easier compared to what he or she is currently using, and accepted by the general market.
I am Elaine, a language instructor and teach English, French and Spanish here in Manila. I love doing it but I always felt like I needed to do something more and earn money from something else that I love: surfing and travelling. I’ve been surfing and travelling for 10 years and I’ve always stayed at the San Juan Surf Resort in La Union. Continue reading
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