After the launch of the Kapatid, Angat Lahat last week, I am glad to share with fellow Go Negosyantes that the partnership of Go Negosyo with the Department of Trade and Industry has received overwhelming support. We get a heartwarming feeling knowing that we now have the support of both the private and public sectors.

Just last Tuesday, Senator Miguel Zubiri, who leads the Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, invited me to be part of the Senate meeting to discuss what can and must be done to help the micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) in the country. Together with committee co-chair Senator Win Gatchalian, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, other DTI officials and other private sector organizations related to trade and entrepreneurship, shared their thoughts and opinions on how to contribute to the goal of the Duterte administration to eradicate poverty.

Senator Bam Aquino, who formerly led the committee in the past Congress, was also present. I believe he is still going to be part of the working group of this committee as he has a lot of laws and inputs for entrepreneurship. He has supported not just Go Negosyo through his Go Negosyo Law, but the whole business community with his Philippine Competition Act and the Foreign Ships Co-Loading Act which helps in the logistics of companies. All these are impressive improvements in the economy, and with Bam as a young senator who only wants change and developments, we can expect more from him. He serves as an inspiration to Go Negosyo.

On a side note, despite being busy in his role as a legislator, Senator Bam always attends our events, inspires young and aspiring entrepreneurs, and now he is co-anchoring our radio show, Go Negosyo sa Radyo in DZRH, together with Cheska San Diego.

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion.

Going back, it was a great session we saw the active efforts of the members of the Senate to support the Kapatid, Angat Lahat! Even Sen. Win Gatchalian, who belongs to a family of businessmen in Valenzuela, also had inputs on how to help micro and small entrepreneurs level up in the business.

DTI, led by Mon Lopez, presented their plan of action for the coming years which would focus on the following areas: (1) MSME development; (2) Ease doing business; (3) Industry development; (4) Promoting investment and trade; and (5) Consumer protection.

As I said in my speech, the focus today is on micro and small entrepreneurs. The large and extra large can always take care of themselves. We are opportunity seekers. Whatever the problems are, entrepreneurs will find solutions. We learned that entrepreneurs are not just problem solvers, but also problem seekers. For medium and large corporations, they can hire people to solve problems that come, but for the micro and small, they will have to face the problems and, at the same time, manage the business. Just imagine the frustrations they are experiencing. That is why we need to help them be sustainable entrepreneurs and not just surviving entrepreneurs.

Kapatid, Angat Lahat! was launched to support the goal of MSME development. In partnership with DTI, Go Negosyo and other institutions will help micro and small entrepreneurs grow their business through mentoring, training, access to credit and market linkages. We are developing the program of Kapatid which now involves Mentor Me, weekly coaching of business owners and practitioners on different functional areas of entrepreneurship; Adopt-an-SSF, which aims to improve the productivity and competitiveness of micro entrepreneurs by providing them a Shared Service Facility in their community through their project partners; and lastly Inclusive Business, which encourages medium and large corporations to adopt an IB model and link micro and small entrepreneurs in their value chain.

These are just simple ways to help the micro and small enterprises be part of the growing economy. As I said last Tuesday, many of entrepreneurs have not benefitted from the investments that came into our country in previous years. Only the big corporations benefitted from the growth. That is why the question “How much are we committed in helping them scale up?” is important.

For Go Negosyo, we are more than willing to partner with private organizations and the government to provide the needed assistance for our “small brothers” in the industry. The assistance must not be a dole out, but instead it must be sustainable.

We are calling out for more mentors on the following areas of expertise: entrepreneurial mind-setting/Business sense; product development, marketing, and cashflow management! If you are interested to be part of the mission in helping micro and small entrepreneurs, you may email us at mentorme.gonegosyo@gmail.com or call us at 6379347 or 6379229.