We were overwhelmed

Go Negosyo held its 10th anniversary celebration the other day at the Green Sun Hotel in Makati City.  We have been blessed with 10 years of reaching out to many Filipinos around the country and sharing how we can all move up in life. To us, this has been the running battlecry since 10 years ago, to have a Go Negosyo mindset and know how to be successful in life.  We need to dream, believe and achieve. There are many inspiring stories of victories in life, and it didn’t matter whether the person started with something or with nothing. It is how we make the most out of what we have and what we can learn, what we are passionate about and what are the opportunities in the market.  

We were happy to see everyone in the Go Negosyo community gathered again in one place, exchanging views, ideas, or simply sharing stories with one another, all with the common underlying agenda on how each one can do his or her share in uplifting the lives of other Filipinos.  Either spreading their stories to inspire, or revealing their winning strategies on how they were able to take their business model to the next level.  It is always a positive feeling having these gatherings among positive-mindset and progressive entrepreneurs.  

We were overwhelmed to hear about the good feedback of our guests on our venue. Green Sun Hotel is owned by David Lim and boasts of cinematic projectors which give the whole venue a different feel. Yesterday, we were transported to the middle of a forest. To us, the forest which is basically composed of green environment signifies hope, prosperity and growth which we are experiencing in the entrepreneurship industry.

We had our Go Negosyo trustees who have been with us in the advocacy from the early years, the corporate and institutional partners who share with us the vision to create an entrepreneurial nation, the  entrepreneurs and angelpreneurs who have been providing the teachings and mentorship, the partners in government like DTI, DOST, TESDA, DA just to name a few, other enabler institutions like Gawad Kalinga with the inspiring Tony Meloto, GKnomics, Center for Future Leadership of Vice Gov. Joey Pelaez, Ideaspace, ENEDA, plus the senators who have been championing entrepreneurship. Rep. Arthur Yap was also there as he had also been with our advocacy from the start. Dynamic Ambassadors Asif Ahmad of Britain; David Strachan of New Zealand, Pete Davis from the US embassy, and representatives of the Australian embassy also joined us as we have entrep development programs with these embassies. Partner schools and universities like CLSU, UP, Southville were all there.  So great to see the whole entrepreneurship community in one place again.  

The celebration allowed us to also launch our latest book: “Go Negosyo: Joey Concepcion’s 50 Inspiring Entrepreneurial Stories, Special 10th Year Anniversary Edition.” The book is the new edition Go Negosyo’s very first book. New stories of champion entrepreneurs who believe in the power of determination to reach their dreams have been added to this special book.  We also had the chance to review the Milestones of Go Negosyo and the journey of all our activities in the past 10 years.

As I gave my message in the middle of the celebration, I took the opportunity to thank the people who played a huge role in our journey in the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship. I mentioned last week in this column and  at the celebration the other night of the influence of GK’s Tony Meloto, and gave credit also to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was represented by her daughter Luli Arroyo-Bernas, who appointed me as presidential consultant for entrepreneurship (pro-bono) in 2005. That led me to institutionalize this advocacy thru a non-government organization that allowed its continuity beyond changes in presidency. 

We also recognized that night Sen. Bam Aquino, who in his first year in the Senate authored the Go Negosyo Act, Sen. Cynthia Villar for her efforts in agri entrepreneurship and negosyo summits for OFWs, Sen. Sonny Angara for tax reforms for SMEs and Sen. Grace Poe for women entrepreneurship.  Icon entrepreneurs were also recognized for being an inspiration to many and for their various efforts in entrepreneurship development. 

We thank the entire community of Go Negosyo as we commit to further intensify our efforts to bring hope, inspiration, and knowledge to those most in need.  We all look forward to the next ten years of Go Negosyo, relentlessly pushing for the development of a country of enterprising Filipinos!