The boss

When P-Noy took his oath as President, he said in his speech “Kayo ang BOSS ko.” When I was in Subic recently, the trainer of the gym I entered called me “bossing”. Even when you are in public places like restaurants, malls or out in the streets or when you are asking for a favor or looking for direction, you would often address others as “boss” or “bossing”. I guess this is a lot more civilized and ethical than shouting “hoy” or “psssst”.

The word “boss” connotes different meanings. Oftentimes, it is used to address the other person with respect. In business, especially in the realm of marketing, we say that the customer or the consumer is our boss. They are the source of our business; the ones who create demand for our products or services; and the ones who bring forth revenues and income. It also refers to our superior — the more senior guys in our offices.

Nowadays, the word “Bossing” is getting popular in reference to entrepreneurs. Being an entrepreneur means being the bossing in your place of work. This is one of the benefits — you are your own boss. You plot your own destiny and your business directions. The bossing sets the vision, main goals and strategies needed to achieve the goals of the company. You set the example, as others expect leadership by example. Bossings have certain degree of power in the company, but as people and movies usually state: “with great power comes great responsibility”.

As we celebrate entrepreneurship, our partner PLDT SME Nation launched a very strong campaign to highlight the new Bossings in the country — the small and medium entrepreneurs. Micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) account for about 99.6 percent of the total number of enterprises and 70 percent of total employment in the Philippines. Like in Go Negosyo, PLDT believes in the power of presenting entrepreneurs with very inspiring life stories. We share the stories of people who started from humble beginnings and have now reached a certain level of success. These stories serve as the inspiration that will drive other people and aspiring entrepreneurs to achieve the same success or even more.

As we would like to share more stories of inspiring and successful entrepreneurs, PLDT SME Nation and Go Negosyo launched the search for the Most Valuable Pinoy (MVP) Bossings. This is a more organized search that selected the country’s finest entrepreneurs.  

Congratulations to the Grand MVP Bossing — Cecilio Pedro of Lamoiyan; to the category winners — Henry Lim Bon Liong of SL Agritech, Corazon Dayro Ong of CDO Foodsphere, Federico Moreno & Vina Morales of Ystilo Salon, Nelson & Siu Ping Par of PR Gaz Haus, Steve Benitez of Bo’s Coffee, Ray and Anais Lapid of R. Lapid’s Chicharon and BBQ, Jose Magsaysay Jr. of Potato Corner, Johnlu Koa of The French Baker, Sarabeth Salcedo of Baliwag, Jojo Claudio Jr. & Roberto Claudio of Toby’s Sports, Bam Aquino & Mark Ruiz for Hapinoy, and Annabella Wisniewski for Raintree Group; to the special awards winners — Gov. Lray Villafuerte of CamSur Water Sports Complex, Jay Angala of Beer Below Zero, Dylan Wilk & Anna Meloto-Wilk of Gandang Kalikasan, Joey Qua & Rhet Eala of Collezione, Quark Henares of Blow Up Babies, Sennin Javellana of Crave Burger, and Johnny Que of Coffee Break. We are proud to share that most of the awardees are advocates of Go Negosyo.

Of course, we also proudly congratulate the Go Negosyo Special Bossing awardees — Dean Pax Lapid of the Entrepreneurs School of Asia and Usec. Merly Cruz of the Department of Trade and Industry.

We are pushing to convert all Filipinos to be driven and enterprising, to have the will to dream and succeed, and to have a positive attitude towards any problem or challenge in life. If only Filipinos are reformed not to complain endlessly, not to do nothing, and not to blame the government or the President for their miseries; I believe that there will be no more poor Filipinos. There will be an enterprising culture and country. There will be a country of empowered, enterprising, productive and prosperous Filipinos. This is our dream. Go Negosyo is determined to continue with programs that will inspire, educate, mentor and support any Filipino to achieve their aspirations in life. We are fortunate to have partners, like PLDT, that share the objectives of inspiring and empowering the MSMEs, especially through technology.

Last Thursday in the MVP Bossing awards night, NBC Tent was packed with more than a thousand entrepreneurs who have been supporting the advocacies of Go Negosyo and PLDT SME Nation for the past years. It was a job well done by PLDT. There was a very powerful and energetic mood throughout the evening. Congratulations once more to PLDT SME Nation, especially to the hardworking team of Eric Alberto headed by Kat Luna-Abelarde and Gabby Cui, for another remarkable batch of Bossings.

We are humbled by the good feedback from people about the Go Negosyo advocacy. Even MVP himself also gave us encouraging words. In my talk during the event, I mentioned that he is an inspiring and well-respected business leader and entrepreneur.

Through the stories of the Bossings and the hundreds of Go Negosyo entrepreneur-advocates who share their entrepreneurial journeys, we hope that more and more Filipinos aspire to be Bossings in their own way.

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Contact me: [email protected] or Joey Concepcion Facebook account. Visit www.gonegosyo.net. Watch the top rating entrep show GO NEGOSYO: Kaya Mo! in QTV, Saturday and Sunday 8-8:30 a.m., with replays in NBN every Tuesday 9:15-10:15 p.m. Get daily Go Negosyo Text Tips in your mobile phone by sending GONEGO to 2910.