DTI Sec Ramon Lopez and Villar Sipag leads Kapatid Mentor ME launching in Las Piñas.
Following the order of President Duterte to provide progress and prosperity for MSMEs, we have a framework in DTI that we call 7Ms—ang tatlo dito mangyayari na po ngayon.”
This was the promise of DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez to the mentees and participants of the Kapatid Mentor ME launching in Las Piñas City last Thursday as he promotes DTI’s 7Ms of a Successful Entrepreneur—which outlines 7 components an entrepreneurs needs to start up, sustain, expand, and internationalize their business, as well as innovate smarter ways to enhance their productivity and profitability. “We want to teach entrepreneurs to be smarter. Masipag na, matiyaga na, matalino pa,” Sec. Lopez said.
The Trade chief highlighted the importance of these 3 basic components: Mindset Changing, Mastery and Mentoring, which will be offered for free in the Kapatid Mentor ME program through the one-on-one mentoring and coaching sessions available in over 540 Negosyo Centers nationwide. As the mentees learn the basic know-how of entrepreneurship straight from respected business experts, Lopez advised the mentees to continuously embrace their passion as they grow their business.
GO Negosyo Founder and current Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Mr. Joey Concepcion also graced the event by sharing the principle behind the 14 years of Go Negosyo’s partnership with DTI, which was to forge “bayanihan” between large business players and the 99.6% of MSMEs. “Filipinos are not destined for poverty; poverty should be our greatest motivation. Our role is to inspire you that everyone CAN succeed in life,” Concepcion said.
The four other Ms: Money, Markets, Machines and Models, are now made more accessible and simplified for the MSMEs through the programs of DTI. Lopez also announced the recently rolled out P3 program, an alternative funding program that will enable MSMEs to access funds to develop their business. “May access na po tayo ngayun sa puhunan through the Pondo para sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso or P3. Panglaban natin ito sa mga 5-6 (loansharks) na tintakbuhan natin kung walang wala tayo—babaguhin na po natin yan ngayon. Dito sa P3 mababa ang interes, maikli ang form, walang collateral, and you can get your loan within the day.” Through the collaboration of national and local microfinancing partner institutions, P3 is now on full swing operation with microenterpreneurs as priority.
Sec. Lopez also announced DTI’s plan to expand the market by proposing an administrative order that will mandate groceries and supermarkets to allot 5% shelve space for the products of MSMEs, giving more chances for MSMEs to expose and promote their products.
Machine, another part of the 7Ms, is all about ensuring quality production which the Shared Services Facility (SSF) program of DTI offers. Senator and Managing Director of Villar SIPAG Foundation, Cynthia A. Villar also shares before the crowd how the Villar SIPAG Foundation became a recipient of the SSF project that enable the community to improve their production of local products. Sen. Villar shared how the foundation introduced and innovated methodologies to produce products from water Hyacinth and coco nets from coconut husks which was once a problem of Las Piñas. As a sign of their continuous support for DTI’s programs, Villar Sipag are also holding programs to educate and empower farmers in Villar Sipag Farm School to help them to be better business owners.
“One of the main thrusts of Villar SIPAG is to develop and nurture future and aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders who can make a difference in the society, providing skills and technical education to them and enabling them by linking them up with government and private networks to boost their success,” Villar said.
DTI-NCR Regional Director Anacleto C. Blanco, Jr. formally introduced the 20 mentees from Las Piñas who will undergo the 10-weeks mentoring program. Dir. Blanco shared the iniatitives of DTI-NCR to ensure a 100% graduation rate in all of its KMME programs. “One of the commitments is to religiously attend all the sessions. Yan po ang panawagan namin sa inyo para di tayo magkaproblema sa ating schedules. We in DTI-NCR took extraordinary measures to see to it na lahat ng mga mentees will go through all the modules, dahil requirement po ito bago kayo grumaduate,” Blanco said.
“Module 1: Entrepreneurial Mind-Setting and Values” and “Module 2: Marketing” which was discussed by KMME Mentors, Best-selling author Mr. Dean Pax Lapid and Milkin Corp. CEO Ricardo Cuna, followed immediately that afternoon. The mentees also attended one-on-one mentoring with their mentors in the Negosyo Center after the discussions.