Let's talk entrepreneurship over a cup of coffee

MANILA, Philippines - The interest in entrepreneurship has grown considerably in the last few years for people who are in the process of exploring change. There is the employee who wants to transition to becoming an entrepreneur to be his own boss. There is the stay-at-home mom who wants to have an outlet for her creativity and welcomes an income-generating endeavor. There is the hobbyist who is curious if he can make money while working on an activity he enjoys. There is the early retiree who wants to keep busy and provide employment for others. There is the start-up entrepreneur who wants to gain more solid skills and confidence in running his existing business. For these aspirants for change and for people who want to be entrepreneurs, I recommend Ateneo Graduate School Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE)’s program aptly called “Breakthrough Entrepreneurship (BE).”

One of the first questions I encounter from students is “What kind of business can I get into?”

One approach would be to figure out one’s passion and what products or services can be offered based on that passion. But it is insufficient to have passion in a vacuum. One must determine if there is a market for the resulting product or service (Will people be willing to pay for them?). Furthermore, ability for delivery is also necessary. For example, an artist may be very passionate about his art and people may be willing to pay for it but if he can only make one or two paintings, that is not going to be a viable business. All three factors — passion, market, and delivery — are necessary for a business to work.

Years as an entrepreneurship practitioner, educator, and advocate have directed my bias towards finding business opportunities through “irritants” — unpleasant or unsatisfactory situations that annoy or upset people. I also refer to these as crises. In Chinese, the word “crisis” consists of two characters: “wei” and “ji” the former meaning “danger” and the latter meaning “opportunity.” Read backwards “ji+wei” still means “crisis.” Hence, from a different perspective, the same situation that spells crisis can be viewed as an opportunity. I encourage future or current entrepreneurs to always view the opportunity first before getting hindered by the danger of the same “crisis” situation.

In practical terms, existing irritating situations/crises are potential incubators for business ideas. An example of an irritant may be a gloomy, anxious atmosphere in hospitals. A company creatively saw a business opportunity out of this irritant by making patients’ hospital gowns with amusing designs like a macho man or beach babe and made a dextrose case with a Chivas Regal bottle design. The entrepreneur called his business LBM or Laughter is the Best Medicine.

I find that certain factors contribute to the success of the “irritant/crisis” approach. A common irritant unites people. In many cases, the greater the crisis, the greater the passion to get rid of it. Therefore, there is a ready and willing market willing to pay for the product or service that gets rid of the irritant (or alleviates the “crisis”). Secondly, investors would more likely be interested to support this endeavor. Thirdly, there is more available additional support for organizational needs or other skills from people who believe in the same cause. Furthermore, in creating a business that removes a crisis or irritant, the entrepreneur becomes an instrument for social change because it helps others.

My personal irritant was the lack of job opportunities in the Philippines that pushed a lot of our countrymen, a close family member of mine included, to seek opportunities abroad. To help address this situation, I established the Let’s Go Foundation (Leading Entrepreneurs Towards Seizing Global Opportunities) that advocates entrepreneurship as a means of generating opportunities and jobs here in the Philippines. When people are able to generate jobs where there is a lack, when unsure dabbling entrepreneurs acquire skills and tools to run their businesses better, when more small-and medium-scale entreprises (SMEs) are established and when their contribution to the country’s economy increases, this will hopefully translate to upliftment of the economy and the individual life of the Filipino.

Whereas some people might see a lot of irritants in our country that sends them away, all these irritants and “crises” make me see that the Philippines is a land of (business) opportunity. The next time you are faced with a crisis or irritant, remember, look for the opportunity first. It is possible you could think up a business out of it while instituting positive social change.

At the recent UCC Beacons of Change Coffee Collaboration Talk held at UCC Burgos Circle, The Fort, professor Jay Bernardo shared valuable tips on entrepreneurship for Let’s Go Foundation. Jay is a recipient of the 2004 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) and 2005 Parangal ng Bayan (Pride of the Nation) awards among his numerous honors. He is a portfolio entrepreneur with businesses in manufacturing, logistics, distribution, research and development, information technology, human resources, brokerage, and freight forwarding. He was a professor at the Graduate School of Business and the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at Asian Institute of Management (AIM) where he developed courses and programs. He is now a director at the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE) of Ateneo Graduate School, Rockwell. He founded Let’s Go Foundation, which advocates entrepreneurship education for poverty alleviation and economic upliftment for Filipinos.

For information, visit www.letsgo.com.ph.