“Filipina entrepreneurs have a lot to be proud of” said Julia Koh, Director at Brand 360, a marketing and advertising company in Malaysia while showing her Powerpoint presentation in front of fellow aspring and inspiring Filipina entrepreneurs. Then she showed a slide that the Philippines is now in the top 5 global countries with the fastest rising women into entrepreneurship and ranked 8 th in the global gender gap (source: Global Gender Gap Report,2012) . Women globally comprise 40% of the labor force but in our country it comprises 50% and compared to Malaysia, our neighboring country it is only 45%. It seems that gone are the days that our women stay at home to take care of their family.This is a very, very good sign to encourage more women to take the path of entrepreneurship. We will have less and less women especially mothers to go abroad for work thus preventing their family left half- taken care.
“Filipina entrepreneurs are the 2nd most active among 42 countries (source : Global Economic Monitor)”, she added. A graph she displayed have these data: in the startup scene - 70%, being their own boss – 45%, in the stage of young business – 51% and for those established business – 35%. The most beautiful that I ever heard from her is “Filipinas are the most admired by the rest of Asian women.” Her slide’s source is Asianjournal.com that was mentioned during the session of the 27th Confederation of the AsiaPacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) entitled Women Entrepreneurship. CACCI-Women Entrepreneurial Council former president Mukta Nandini Jain, told the participants “When women do better, the economy does better too,” Jain said.
She gave tips to how to manage cash flow
Get a good accountant to help create a long term plan and budget
Ask for advice from banks, institutions and business councils
Track your expenses and receivables then have a collection process
Know that you can’t be everything to everyone
Research & understand who best requires your product / service
Observe online and offline behaviour
Target your communication and activities to this group
Do we need women ?
Women-owned firms that interact with business associations are 38% larger than those who do not. Women are social creatures. We seek to bond by talking, sharing and relating . So it is natural to get strength, motivation, support and knowledge from peers, women groups, business groups, tech groups, marketing groups and networking groups.
Over half of Asia's population is women who could help the region grow by an additional $89 billion annually but face barriers to reaching their full economic potential, her last slide says. I hope Filipina entrepreneurs should have all the support and potentials to overcome these.
Photo taken 2 years ago above are my fellow coworkers who now have respective business that they own.Information source are all credit to Julia Kho who spoke at the First Women on the Web Summit by Google Business Club Manila. She is also one of Google Business Women’s Club in Malaysia.
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