The Manila Times

Majority of Filipinos want to be selfemployed

CATHERINE S. VALENTE

A MAJORITY of Filipinos are inclined to start their own business where they can manage their own time and be their own boss, the latest OCTA Research survey released on Thursday showed.

The survey, conducted from March 24 to 28 and which polled 1,200 respondents, showed that 78 percent of Filipinos would choose to go into

business and consider mentorship as an important element for small businesses.

Reasons cited by the respondents include wanting to manage their own time/schedule (31 percent), having no boss to report to/get along with (30 percent), no limit in profit/ bigger salary (16 percent), daily income/ money (12 percent), and ability to work/ earn at home or anywhere (11 percent).

OCTA also found that Filipinos appear to be more attuned to entrepreneurship as evidenced by the high awareness rating of the nonprofit Go Negosyo, which advocates for micro, small and medium enterprises in the Philippines.

The survey showed a 68 percent awareness rating for Go Negosyo, the highest being in the Visayas at 78 percent.

Go Negosyo’s founder, Jose Maria “Joey” Concepcion 3rd, also enjoyed a 60 percent awareness rating among the respondents.

“We welcome OCTA’s findings that more Filipinos are considering entrepreneurship. If there is one sector that has been active and striving during the pandemic, it is the micro, small and medium enterprises, and they are the ones poised to lead the Philippines’ economic development, especially as we recover from the pandemic,” Concepcion said about the OCTA survey.

He noted that “the growing number of Filipinos willing to explore entrepreneurship means that our advocacy at Go Negosyo is getting across to all Filipinos from all the socioeconomic classes and all over the country.”

“We have been doing this for almost 18 years now and we will continue to reach out through our online and in-person platforms for entrepreneurs, whether they are aspiring or active entrepreneurs, are into retail or agriculture, are nano-entrepreneurs or small and micro entrepreneurs,” he said.

The same survey found that respondents had a high level of awareness of what the Go Negosyo does.

More than half of the respondents (54 percent) see Go Negosyo as a partner of, or supporting, small enterprises, while 42 percent see Go Negosyo as an organization that teaches how to run a business.

Two elements — capital and mentorship — were seen by respondents as the support that small entrepreneurs need from the government, at 82 percent and 67 percent, respectively.

Mentorship was seen as important to small businesses by 95 percent of the respondents, 67 percent of whom consider it very important and 28 percent as somewhat important.

The survey used face-to-face interviews and had a ±3 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level.

Front Page

en-ph

2023-05-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281543705295222

The Manila Times