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Hair Stylist

Hair Stylist
What will I be doing?
            Fixing and styling the hair of people attending special occasions

What will I need to start?
Eric Bautista is a hair and make up artist with his own salon in Pateros, and he says you’ll need to spend P20,000 on basic equipment like setting gadgets (hot curlers, Velcro rollers, ceramic flat iron), styling products (mousse, spry net, gel), brushes (roller, paddle, and skeleton), and blow dryers. You may buy cheaper hairstyling equipment from MTN Marketing in Binondo and learn the basics of hairstyling from Reyes haircutters

Who will my customer be?
            Brides and their entourage, celebrities, fashion models, VIPs, students attending junior or senior proms and graduations, birthday celebrators, and party goers

How much should I charge?
            If you’re beginner, P500 per head. Bautista and Ferdie Orivida of Uver salon charge P1,000 to P3,000 per head for services outside the salon. You may also charge a package rate like Eric who does hair and make up for three people for P5,000 or Ferdie who charges P12,000 to style a bride and two other people

How much will I make?
            You could make P8,000 extra monthly charging P1,000 per head and getting at least two booking a week. The peak months for styling are December and May.
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Personalized Photo Calendar Maker

Personalized Photo Calendar Maker
What will I be doing?
            Designing and making personalized calendars or desk planners using your client’s pictures

What will I need to start?
            An inkjet printer (P3,000), a graphics handling desktop computer (P35,000), Printshop or image software like Adobe Photoshop Pro, etc. (P2,000 to P10,000), an internet connection(you may use prepaid Internet card), and wire-binding machine (P30,000 to P50,000). You’ll also need graphic designing skills

Who will my customers be?
            People interested in personalized gifts for family and friends

How much should I charge?
            Angela Aguiluz(jincos_makati@yahoo.com) charges P980 for a deluxe calendar (a wire bound calendar with her client’s chosen image or picture on every month), P175 for an A3 size (11”x17”) poster calendar, and P675 for a tear off calendar

How much will I make
            30 to 40 percent of your gross profit
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Cell Phone Casing Decorator

Cell Phone Casing Decorator
What will I be doing?
            Personalizing cell phones to the extent of putting a client’s name or even picture around the casing with sticker cutouts.

What will I need to start?
            A layout cutter machine (P40,000) from Taiwan or Hong Kong the size of an inkjet printer; a graphics-handling computer, a printer, a scanner for digitizing hard copies of pictures or image from clients; and a blower or hairdryer to tighten stickers when installed. You may order special sticker abroad or from a local distributor, and their cost – P5 to P25 for an 8”x11” sticker – will depend on their designs and texture. The designs include standard, checkered, wood panel, hologram, velvet, copper, carbon and metal with an aluminum texture. You may buy a 50-meter roll about 60cm wide for P12,000 if you expect brisk business

Who will my customer be?
            Almost anyone with a cell phone, but trendy people particularly. You may also tap cell phone vendors in bazaars by supplying them with precut designs that they can retail

How much should I charge?
            Around P75 for a personalized name sticker and P150 for a wrap around design. Arthru Ng has been in the cell phone business for six years, and he says you may offer them stickers at a 20 percent discount.

How much will I make?
            As much as 60 percent of your selling price. You’ll be able to make four wraparound cell phone stickers from a bond size sticker
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Room Renter

Room Renter
What will I be doing?
            If you have a spare room or two in your house, you may consider renting them out to transients, local tourists, and other people needing an inexpensive but clean place to stay.

What will I need to start?
            Some money to fix your spare rooms. After years of working as headwaiter of Mario’s restaurant in Baguio City, Reperto De Ocampo converted two units in his eight-door apartment into lodges for transients, spending P150,000 to fix them in such a way that they could accommodate up to 12 people each and had cold and running water, a stove and cable television.

Who will my customer be?
            Tourists on a budget, usually backpackers

How much should I charge?
            De Ocampo Charges P2,500 to P3,500 a room a day most of the year but higher during Holy Week and the Christmas holidays

How much will I make?
            De Ocampo make enough money to pay for maintenance and the power bill and something extra that he earmarks for improving his apartments.
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Tai Chi Instructor

Tai Chi Instructor
What will be I doing?
            Teaching Tai Chi, a soft-style martial art that is said to improve people’s health and fitness

What will I need to start?
            Tai Chi instructor Emee Chua(emsvangoth@yahoo.com) suggests you affiliate with the Wushu Federation of the Philippines by taking up classes with them.

Who will my customer be?
            People aged 30 and above are said to be the most appreciative of this sport because of its slow and delicate movements. Most of these people have health concerns, but they get to burn a lot of calories without rigid or speedy movements that are likely to cause injuries.

How much should I charge?
            P300 to P500 per student per session lasting one to two hours. Ideally, you should meet your students twice to three times a week.

How much will I make?
            P900 to 1,500 per session depending on how many students sign up.

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Film Critic

Film Critic
What will I be doing?
            Watching firm and then writing reviews for publication in newspapers or magazines.

What will I need to start?
            Love of all types of movies. If you don’t like films or like only some genres(action films and dramas but not musical or westerns, for instance), forget it. You must also know something about filmmaking: it’s history and some of the greatest firlms that have been made; how films and made; how characters are fleshed out; how action is sustained; what camera shots are available to the director, and how he uses them fro effect; how films are edited; and how the musical score adds to or dilutes the film’s overall effect.
            Reviewing a film is pretty much like reviewing a book of fiction or non fiction: you’ll have to write an essay. (To get an idea of the film reviews that you must emulate or try to beat, read Times, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Playboy, and other first-class publications.) and if you’re just starting out, you’re not likely to get invited to advance screening-that will have to wait until you’ve established your credential –so try to attend the first-day screening of any film you want to write about, write a review, and then send it for publication before the film ends its run. With luck, one of your reviews will get published, and you may look forward to getting more in print if you do your job right

Who will my customer be?
            The entertainment section of daily newspapers, weekly magazine, and teen, women’s, and men’s magazine. But remember that a review is not a one-size-fits-all thing: you’ll have to write in a language that your readers can understand and relate to.
  
How much should I charge?
            Expect P800 to P2,000 for a review of 400 to 800 words and P1,000 to P2,000 for a capsule review(4,000 to 5,000 characters) of several films

How much will I make?
            Your expense in this business is mainly the price of the movie ticket, and if you write great reviews, you may expect many publication to welcome your contributions
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Necktie Maker

Necktie Maker
What will I be doing?
            Making customize neckties

What will I need to start?
            An eye for fashion, a pattern maker, a sewer, a designer, and sewing machine

Who will my customer be?
            People looking for unique gift items and companies needing neckties for employee uniforms or giveaways

How much should I charge?
            As high as triple the cost of making them, says Chiristine Aguiluz of King’s Treats neckties. Make excellent neckties and you’ll be able to charge higher for them.

How much will I make?
            Aguiluz says she makes as much as the salaries of three executives on a good month.
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Ebay Trader


Ebay Trader
EBay Inc. (http://www.ebay.com), the world’s largest online auction site for all kinds of goods and collectibles, boasts 135million registered users and sells $1,000 worth of merchandise every second in 32 international markets. So how do you profit from the website? By listing up as an eBay trader. All you need is a computer, internet access, and a good digital camera(so buyers can see what you’re selling) to sell your wares online, and then you simply register with eBay.com to gain access to international buyers and eBay.ph to reach the local market. At eBay, you trade anonymously and use only handles or “nicks” for names.
            Trader Brum200 came across eBay.ph, eBay’s Philippine site, in 2004 and decide to try selling a miniature replica of the Philippine jeepney, and item being made by a family-owned business and that also produces mini-instruments. He sold the product to an Ausralia buyer within seven days, and soon Brum2000 added gadgets, e-Book, I.D. tags, cellular phones, laptaps, and laptap accessories to his wares. Today, brum2000 sells $1,000 worth of merchandise a month but invests only three to seven hours a day (between 7 p.m and 12 midnight) answering email from buyers. He also sells at eBay.com, which charges minimal fees to list products and put photos and a final value fee on the item being sold.
            The advantage of registering on eBay.com is that the world is your audience: you get more chances to sell your products. (eBay.ph’s services are still free, but it limits your audience and the products it lists don’t appear at eBays.com.) and paying is simply, eBay.com sellers open an account with paypal, an online payment service owned by eBay, so buyers can pay by credit card or by debiting their purchases in their checking account. And once payment is made, the item is shipped to the buyer. (paypal is not yet available in the Philippines, so sellers usually ask winning bidders to wire their payment or have it deposited to their account so the sold product may be shipped.)
            Brum2000 says an eBay trader’s most precisous commodity is the feedback he gets from other sellers. Like retail traders, online traders must keep a good reputation to get repeat business and gain more clients, and eBay has a feedback forum that allows sellers to leave their comments after each transaction: it lets other member know how reliable and trustworthy a buyer has been in his dealings. (On the other hand, many buyers won’t deal with a seller who has to many negative feedback posting in the forum or has less than the specified number of positive comments there.)
            eBay.ph is still in its infancy, but it already holds much promise considering that 30,000 items are being listed on the site and nay given day. According to specialists, the online market will grow even faster as internet access and reliable courier services become cheaper and more readily available.
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Driving Instructor


Driving Instructor
What will I be doing?
            Teaching students how to drive and park their cars

What will I need to start?
            A professional driver’s license and lots of patience. If you prefer to teach in a driving school like A1 or Socialite, you’ll need to show your resume and if they hire you, they’ll endorse you to the Land Transportation Office to secure an instructor’s license. (Keep in mind, however, that you may hat to set your schedule according to what the driving school demands). If you decide to teach driving independently, you’ll have to provide your own car and promotional materials.

Who will my customer be?
            Usually, high school students and older people

How much should I charge?
            At A1 driving School the charges are P2,500 for five days, P3,500 for seven days, P5,000 for 10 days, and P7,500 for 15 days. Automatic driving courses cost P2,750 for five days, P3,850 for seven days, P5,500 for 10 days, and P8,250 for 15 days.

How much will I make?
            You’ll be getting a salary if you choose to teach in driving school. As an independent driving instructor, however, you’ll be paying for gas but you’re free to set your fees.
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Nutritional Supplements seller


Nutritional Supplements seller
What will I be doing?
            Selling health enhancing products

What will I need to start?
            Familiarity with nutrition companies and their products. American firm Pharmanex (www.nuskin.com.ph), for instance, is said to be the leader in researching and developing phyto-pharmaceutical and nutritional products. Independent distributor Petite Apostol say Pharmanex works and earns like a franchise: you make a one-time payment to become a distributor. You’ll need no more than P20,000 in start-up capital if you intend to recruit salesmen, and that amount buys a distributor’s kit and the privilege of buying the company’s products at a discount. You’ll require no special skill, but it would help if you attended the presentations on the various products you’d be selling and the other sales seminars that the company offers regularly.

Who will my customer be?
            Anyone who wants to live a healthier lifestyle

How much should I charge?
            Pharmanex will give you the suggested prices of the products you’ll be selling. You’ll get these products at a discount, and all you have to do is implement the company’s business plan in selling them

How much will I make?
            Up to 58 percent on each product that sell for P1,000 to P5,000 each

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Food Critic


Food Critic

What will I be doing?
            Reviewing restaurants or the food served in restaurants for publication in a newspaper or magazine.

What will I need to start?
            Knowledge of food and good writing skills. A film critic reviewing Hamlet or The Taming of the Shrew will have to know Shakespeare to do a good job, so if you’re a food critic savaging the fillet mignon served in a fine-dining restaurant, for instance, you’d better know what you’re talking about

Who will my customer be?
            Newspapers and magazines. Food writer Michaela Fenix (pinoyfood04@yahoo.com) says, however, that getting a break in these publications won’t come easy as they have their own food writers or contributors doing it for them. But write something truly remarkable and see what happens. You may surprise everyone yet including yourself!

How much should I charge?
            Regular writers get P500 to P1,200 per piece, while contributors receive P300 to P800. the fees charge according to the publishing company’s rates and the editor’s opinion of your piece.

How much will I make?
            The fees you receive as a beginner may not even pay for the food you ate and reviewed. It takes time to get noticed as a food critic, but persistence should work in your favor eventually. (The downside to being to famous a food critic is that restaurants tend to prepare something special for you when you visit, so you don’t get to review the real food they’re serving. You lose credibility.)
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Clothes Stylist


Clothes Stylist

What will I be doing?
            Joining photo shoots to provide the clothes and required looks

What will I need to start?
            An eye for trends and a slew of accessories, designs, colors, and fabrics. You must also have the time: styling jobs are unpredictable and you are on call at any time; if you’re not available on the date and time required, you lose the job.

Who will my costumer be?
            Magazines, advertising agencies, and clients producing advertisements

How much should I charge?
            Professional stylist Cherry Pacheco Uy (www.cherrypachecouy.com) says thte minimum rate per day is P1,500 for editorial work and P5,000 for ads. But charges cost according to the number of looks required

How much will I make?
            From your professional fee, deduct 10% value added tax, transport and other expenses, and what’s left is your income for the day
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Environmental

Environmental
Action for Mother Earth
Our children are the stewards of the Earth.

They are paying for the price of neglect and abuse of our and previous generations. A new breed old entrepreneurs have introduced products and services that help care for the environment. There are vast opportunities for our children in the field of environmental entrepreneurship, as citizen become aware of their habits and practices that harm the environment. We need to make our children aware that they have to actively reflect their care for the environment in the choices they make. Environmental stewardship will soon be a major component of businesses as part of their social responsibility. It will not be a choice but a way of life for the next generation.
ECO-Bags are fashionable
Fro the environment
I was pleasantly surprised by how parents and children worked together to create fashionable eco-friendly bags for the KIDS CAN! Bazaar. This was the first Christmas bazaar from which I brought home different versions of the eco-bag. I had 6th grades who painted over canvass bags. I had younger kids spray paint recycled tarpaulin bags. I had another group of students who asked for recycled flour bags and made them into eco-bags. These were only some of the innovative ways our young entrepreneurs chose to be “fashionable for the environment”.

ECHO Store (environment and
Community Hope Organization)
Reena Francisco, co-owner of ECHO Store, shares her motivation: “Environmental apathy in this day and age is borne out of simple ignorance. With political will of a strong and intelligent leadership, we can still reverse the damage. If everyone does their share, I believe the Philippines can someday be a nature haven.

Espousing a sustainable lifestyle, ECHO store was set-up to connect those who are seeking eco-friendly alternatives with providers from different provinces. The store carries organic and locally sourced products, in the process helping provide income to marginalized and indigenous communities.
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Empower

Empower
To make a difference

Always tell to student:
            “No One is too young to make difference because you can act now!”

No one is exempted from making a difference because you are ALL smart! When young entrepreneurs are raised to believe in themselves and in their ability to contribute to solving social and environmental problems, they will choose to make a difference. Children see the world through a simple lens. They are not afraid to ask “Why Not”. If given a chance, they come up with creative ways to make this world a better place.

Conversation with kids goes this way:
“Teacher, why does he not have any clothes?”
“Because he has no money to buy clothes”
“I have clothes I don’t wear, can I give them?”
“Teacher, why are they begging in the streets?”
“Because they are hungry and don’t have food.”
“I can share my baon, it is to much anyway.”
“Teacher, why are they in the streets?”
“Don’t they go to school?”
“Some of them don’t go to school because they have to help their parents.”
“I have old books, do you think they can read them so that they’ll learn?”

I thank God every day for reminding me, through the children, that indeed this world can be a better world if we only choose to do our part. It doesn’t matter if a child is five years old or a teenager, they are all capable of making a difference in their own little way. This becomes a habit so that when they are faced with bigger decisions to make.
They will choose to make a difference!

The White Elephant Sale
from trash to treasure
Learn about Philippine heroes. As a response to one of their lessons, they challenged themselves to be heroes in their own way. They wanted to help preschool children who had no books to read in their day care center. Since they were just 7 and 8 year-olds, most of them did not have money, so they thought of a way to raise funds for the “mini-library” they wanted to share with the preschoolers. They brainstormed and come up with a White Elephant Sale of their old toys and clothes. They sorted through all the goods, put them in boxes, and put prices on them. They made posters to let the caregivers in the school know about the sale, and campaigned in classrooms. On the day of sale, some of them were cashiers, while other were sellers. At the end of the day, they were able to raise more than P10,000. They chose the titles of the books they wanted to donate and brought these to the day care center.


The Good Shepherd Leads other to greener pastures
The Good Shepherd sisters are famous for their strawberry and ube jams that have become signature Baguio products. Since 1952, they have been able to create 91 products under the Mountain Maid label. Their products taste better because they are made for a good cause. Sr. Terry Danganan Shares: “We put up the business not just to make money. It was primarily established to finance the education of the poor, not only in Baguio but all over the Philippines”. It has been a sustainable business for student workers who earn their way through college, and the lay staff and the sisters as they seek greener pastures for everyone.

Raising Entrepreneurs to be the HOPe of the NATION
As a parent, educator and entrepreneurs, I believe in what Jose Rizal, our national hero said, that “The youth are the hope of the nation.” This hope for a better future is in the hands of every parent and teacher.

I am aware of the grim statistics. Out of 100 Filipino children who enter elementary school, only 40 will go on to high school. From that number, only 27 will continue on to college. And only 10 of them will graduate.


This only make the argument for Raising  Entrepreneurs Stronger. If your child faces the possibility of dropping out of school, is it not better that you equip him with an entrepreneurial mindset and tools to start his own business? If, on the other hand, your child will be privileged with an education and opportunities for success, will it not be even more important that you teach him to use his entrepreneurial mind to generate businesses that will help other?

How we raise the children that we are entrusted with will determine what kind of future will be in store for them. It will also ultimately determine what kind of future our nation will have.

I believe in the empowerment of every child to “use their intelligences to make a difference!” if our future entrepreneurs embark on a journey towards success, they will also be able to take the country along with them. I can look to our future with optimism, knowing that our youth entrepreneurs are the hope of our nation! Let us raise them well. 
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Environmental

Environmental
Action for Mother Earth
Our children are the stewards of the Earth.

They are paying for the price of neglect and abuse of our and previous generations. A new breed old entrepreneurs have introduced products and services that help care for the environment. There are vast opportunities for our children in the field of environmental entrepreneurship, as citizen become aware of their habits and practices that harm the environment. We need to make our children aware that they have to actively reflect their care for the environment in the choices they make. Environmental stewardship will soon be a major component of businesses as part of their social responsibility. It will not be a choice but a way of life for the next generation.
ECO-Bags are fashionable
Fro the environment
I was pleasantly surprised by how parents and children worked together to create fashionable eco-friendly bags for the KIDS CAN! Bazaar. This was the first Christmas bazaar from which I brought home different versions of the eco-bag. I had 6th grades who painted over canvass bags. I had younger kids spray paint recycled tarpaulin bags. I had another group of students who asked for recycled flour bags and made them into eco-bags. These were only some of the innovative ways our young entrepreneurs chose to be “fashionable for the environment”.

ECHO Store (environment and
Community Hope Organization)
Reena Francisco, co-owner of ECHO Store, shares her motivation: “Environmental apathy in this day and age is borne out of simple ignorance. With political will of a strong and intelligent leadership, we can still reverse the damage. If everyone does their share, I believe the Philippines can someday be a nature haven.

Espousing a sustainable lifestyle, ECHO store was set-up to connect those who are seeking eco-friendly alternatives with providers from different provinces. The store carries organic and locally sourced products, in the process helping provide income to marginalized and indigenous communities.
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Encourage


Encourage
Problem – solving
Innovation and creative solutions are bi-products of the ability of the entrepreneurial mind to solve problems. Children should be able to use their “success attitude” to innovate solutions to social problems that they observe or face. When kids complain or are bothered about a problem, listen to them and encourage them to explore alternatives and solutions. When they complain about traffic, ask them.

What is a better way to deal with this problem?

When they complain about litter in the streets, encourage them to come up with better waste management solutions. Give them the mindset of Thomas Edison who said: “I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others. I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent it.”

M.A.D (make a Diff!)
Shirts make a statement
A group of witty “word smart” teenage girls and “picture smart” graphic artists came together to create a business venture they called M.A.D (Make A Diff!) shirts. They were bothered by many issues and wanted to express their options through “statement shirts”. They felt that teens should start “wearing their hearts on their sleeves” by wearing their M.A.D. Shirts. They advocated for fellow teens to make a statement and be part of the solutions instead of the problem!

Banker fro the poor
Muhammad Yunus
“I did something that challenged the banking world. Conventional banks look for the rich; we look for the absolutely poor. All people are entrepreneurs, but many don’t have the opportunity to find that out.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus established Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983. his goal was to help poor people to escape from poverty by providing them loadns and teaching them sound financial principles, so that they could help themselves. This innovation in banking principles came at a time when the poor had no access to credit. Grameen bank has become a model for the world movement toward eradicating poverty through microlending. 
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Expose


Expose
Children to social realities
Exposing children to social realities gives them
The opportunity to discover and understand how they can make a difference.

Unless children are exposed to other children who are less fortunate, they grow up assuming that the lives of everyone else are just like theirs. Find opportunities for outreach and exposure. You can also give social commentaries when you see children in the street or pass by areas where poverty is evident. Charity can also start at home by making them aware of the situation of the families of household help. How fortunate they are to be in school should also be a privilege that children should not take for granted.

GKnomiks Launched for action
Gawad Kalinga has been cited for its sustainable community development programs that are not only invaluable to nation-building but have also given dignity to many Filipinos in depressed areas. This year, GKnomiks was launched in recognition of “the importance of creating social and environmental benefits along with economic profit”. GKnomiks aims to make social enterprise development possible. Currently, GKnomiks develops products from recyclable foil packs and sells these to help depressed communities earn additional income. For GK, this is only one of the first steps to break the cycle of poverty.
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Empathy

Empathy
Is the cure for apathy: Teach children to care
As parents, let us educate our children to care.

Small acts of kindness towards other should be encouraged and modeled .

Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s feelings or situation. We need to teach our children to do “perspective-taking” so that they will be able to put themselves in another person’s shoes. If a child is able to do this, the decisions he will make as an entrepreneurs will take into consideration the realities that other people face empathy will drive him to improve the lives of others.

Rags 2 Riches
The Rags 2 Riches “started with an irritation, a social injustices, talented but marginalized woman, and very passionate young professionals”(www.rags2riches.ph). The designer bags woven from scrap cloth had its origins in Payatas, one of the Philippines largest dumpsites. Founders of R2R observed how the women of Payatas earned extra income by looking for scraps of cloth in the dumpsite to weave into rugs. R2R was established to help these victims of unfair trade practices and lack of access to the market.

New designs and methods were introduced to improve their products. From their P100,000 seed money, they were able to grow their capitalization by 400percent. Today, these trendy designer bags from scrap cloth have become a way out of poverty for these women from dumpsite.
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Making a difference

Making a difference

“Business is not about making money, it is about helping people”
-Enzo-

“I want to sell our products so I can make a difference”
-Jana-

These candid quotes from children remind me what entrepreneurship should be about – a means to improve other people’s lives. I have always believed that more than acquiring knowledge and developing one’s intelligence, the true goal of education should be to use one’s intelligences to make a difference.


In the same light, as an advocate of youth entrepreneurship, I believe that the goal of entrepreneurship should not be about accumulating wealth. It should be about using the business enterprise to make difference in the lives of others.

Raising entrepreneurs who make a difference
My passion for raising entrepreneurs is fuelled by my hope that one day our country will be great because we have raised children who will use their entrepreneurial mind to impact the lives of others. this will only happen if we encourage our youth entrepreneurs to do “good work”. Dr. Howard Gardner defines “good work” as excellent, engaging and ethical. It should be excellent in quality, socially responsible and meaningful to its practitioners(Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi and Damon, 2001)

We should aim to raise our children as entrepreneurs who matter. It is normal for young entrepreneurs to choose to enter into business with the hope of making it big. In this materialistic world. The acquisition of wealth has become the end-goal of most people. Many parents push their children into business early in life as a way to get them out of poverty, or to help them pay for their education. There is nothing wrong with making money, but let us guide our young entrepreneurs so that their entrepreneurial journey will be meaningful, rather than just an empty pursuit of wealth.

A new breed of entrepreneurs has entered the playing field – the “social entrepreneurs”. These are individuals with “innovative solutions to society’s most pressing problems” (Schwab Foundation). Social entrepreneurs use their enterprises to improve systems, invent new approaches and create solution to change society for the better. Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, say that: “Success to me is not about the money or the status of the fame, it’s about finding a livelihood that brings me joy, self-sufficiency and a sense of contributing to the world.”

“Making a Difference” should be the “for what?” of business. How do we raise entrepreneurs who will choose to make a difference? 
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Starting a business without capital: use connections: Networking


Starting a business without capital: use connections: Networking
Networking is a successful model for reaching people through face-to-face selling. In the Philippines, networking is a preferred marketing strategy, especially by older people or by people who are in places where there is no internet access. Among teens, it is also a good strategy by “people smart” entrepreneurs who can persuade others to buy from them.

Young entrepreneurs can learn from two companies that built their businesses on networking. Avon is the world’s largest direct selling company, with operations in 100 countries and 5.4 million sales representatives. It was started by David H. McConnell when he was only 28 years old. In the Philippines, Natasha, whose motto is “kung saan may Pinoy, may Natasha” (where there are Filipinos, there is Natasha), has steadily grown from its beginning in 1993 to a direct selling company with 150,000 sales representative

Use available resources: Consignment how you earn without having to shell out money? Simple. You “borrow” goods and sell them at a profit. This is called consignment. Let me share two stories on how consignment can work for your child:

The Eco Store
In 2008, a group of students who were avid advocates for the environment wanted to put a store that would sell “environment-friendly” products. They contacted various non-government organization and advocacy groups to give them products on consignment for the bazaar they are joining. Organic and coconut-based beauty and health products, bags made out of recycled plastic, handicrafts and recycled paper among the products they were able to put together. Since all of the products were on consignment, they did not have to shell out capital and were able to advocate for the environment and make a little profit on the side. They were glad to GO GREEN!

Make a Difference baler bracelets
To raise funds  for an outreach programs, kids in our school created the “Make a Difference Baller Campaign”. For every baler bracelet sold, they earned P50, which went to the Kids Can! Fund. Each child was given two bracelets to sell but could ask for more. They were free to return or to order more since the bracelets were consigned to them.

You can consign two units of your products to friends or relatives who want to support you by trying to sell your product to others for a small commission. You will be surprised that many do not really care about the commission and would just like to help. You can get your child’s handcrafted products to the market through word of mouth and direct selling.

Parentpreneur challenge
My business plan
Help your child come up with his or her very own business venture. Use the 5 business basics as a guide. Write down your plan. Come up with a business name and a marketing strategy. Try it out! If at first your child doesn’t succeed, try and try again!
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Starting a business without capital: use technology


Starting a business without capital: use technology
Maximize the use of cyberspace. Use Multiply and other social networking site to create web-based businesses. Two inspirational stories about using the web to create billion-dollar business are those of Jeffrey Bezos, the visionary behind Amazon.com, and Pierre Omidyar, the man behind Ebay.

Before amazon.com who would have thought that you could shop for anything using your computer or you mobile phone? Reinventing how people spent and shopped, Jeffrey bezos founded amazon.com in 1994 and became an e-commerce mogul. Introducing online retailing, he made books, beauty products, clothing, electronics and practically anything you can think of accessible to anyone who could logon to the web. He broke physical boundaries and reached people simultaneously without having to build stores.

Pierre Omidyar, on the other hand, changed the face of internet commerce in 1995 when he created eBay, the world’s online marketplace. Looking for a way to create an efficient market, he pioneered the auction format for online person-to-person trading, creating a simple, easy-to-understand mechanism that lets buyers and sellers decide the true value of items and connect with others.

Many starting entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the reach the web based business can give. Since most e-commerce transactions are by order, there is no need to stock up on products. E-commerce entrepreneurs can actually get the capitalization from orders that are place and paid for. Teens can also spend on internet marketing, especially if their products or services target other teens. Nowadays, you can find all kinds of products online, like crafts, personalized and corporate gift items, shoes, bags, clothes and gadgets.

Youth entrepreneur role model:
Millionaire with only $8 form mom
“I started my business as a hobby and borrowed $8 from mom to buy a domain name. my website provides free Myspace layouts that I initially designed for other girls.

Eventually I was getting so many hits that I attracted the attention of advertisers. Realizing that this was a win-win situation, I was quite happy for advertisers to start inserting ads to my content. It just snowballed from there.

Today my website attracts 7million people and 60million page views per month. I was also offered to sell my site for over $1.5million. but I turened it down because, you see, it’s my baby.

Ashley Qualls



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Body of the business: Capital and resources for your business


Body of the business:
Capital and resources for your business
 When kids already know what kind of business they want to try, the next step is to determine how much resources they will need to get if off the ground.


Starting a business with capital:
Borrow or save?
If your are willing to help your child start his business, you may lend him the capital. Make sure he commits to a payback plan, with a specific time-frame and specific amount of payment. A young entrepreneur may want to get into the T-shirt business. He may have nice designs and his peers may want to order from him, but without capital, he cannot produce the shirts. If he already has orders, you may lend him the amount for production and he can pay you back as soon as he has collected payment.

Some young entrepreneurs save money for a business. There was a time when kids sold “baler bracelets”. These do not cost much, so one group of teenagers pooled their savings to produce the bracelets. We encourage kids to save P20 from their allowance everyday so that at the end of the school year, they would have approximately P5,000 as start-up capital for a business venture they want to start in the summer.

Starting a business without capital:
Use your smarts
You can be the main asset of your entrepreneurial venture. Stick to what you know and love doing best. Merle S. Alferez named her tutorial center MSA, after her initials. She started with a P240 start-up capital, which paid for a small signboard in front of her rented house.

Many kids can start with no capital if their businesses rely on their strengths or talents.

Use your smart for … smart business ideas:
Strong Intelligences
Smart Business Ideas
Linguistic intelligence:
Word smart
Homework helper, tutorials, review center, language classes
Logical math intelligence:
Number smart
Distribute a product; sell based on commission; website development
Spartial intelligence
Picture Smart
Photography, art lessons, sell art work, T-shirt designs
Naturalist intelligence
Nature Smart
Gardening business, sell herbs/plants, sell dogs/fishes, dog grooming; baking, cooking
Musical intelligence
Music Smart
Music /voice lesson; radio station DJ
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence:
Body Smart
Kid coach; repairs, carpentry, cleaning businesses; spa and massage services
Interpersonal intelligence
People Smart
Babysitting; party planning
Intrapersonal intelligence
Self Smart
Create a podcast on reflection; scrapbook making


Spintelligence: The student becomes a teacher
Raffy, a third year student, decided to put his talent for “fire spinning” to good use. He would conduct classes in his village during weekends for teens who would like to learn to do fire spinning, popularly know as “poy” among Filipinos( for “apoy”, which means fire in the vernacular). He also proposed to create a business called “Spintelligence” to encourage other students to take up this hobby. He offered to teach classes in school and had a few students. One of his students eventually became a teacher, too.


Lesson fro youth entrepreneurs:
1.    Stick to what you love and know how to do best.
2.    Multiply yourself by empowering others.
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Home of the business: Place for your Venture


Home of the business:
 Place for your Venture
Young entrepreneurs often have low start up capital. Guide them in choosing the most practical place to “house” their business

Home – there is no need to spend unnecessary capital on a place for your business if you can do it from your own home, your garage or your room. Goldilocks Bakeshop started in the kitchen of the Leelin sister. Michele Asence made her first soaps in her kitchen sink where Zen Zest, a local body care company, was born. Many entrepreneurs have grown their businesses from their own backyards.

Computer – with technology at everyone’s fingertips, some businesses can be launched and housed in cyberspace. The young generation is pretty “techsavy” and can maximize the use of the many social networking sites to advertise their products.  They can post on Facebook or use Multiply to introduce their products or services. A friend of mine is trying to break into the market for bags. Her day job is a newspaper reporter but she creates unique bags on the side. I am always pleasantly surprised when I get tagged to view her latest creation on Facebook. This is a good strategy since she is still building her collection, and does not have the capital for a store or to produce more stocks than she can handle.

Networking – if you are “people smart”, you should use other people as the home of your business. Ask them to sell for you on a commission. This is a smart way to grow your business because you “multiply” yourself. I know of girls who sell bags or jewelry in this manner. On the other hand, if you are not people smart but are very creative, tap your people smart friends to sell for you. You may rely on word of mouth, but many do leafleting and newspaper inserts in villages to raise awareness about their products or services.

Store – the typical home of a business is a store or outlet. Depending on what you are willing to spend, having your products in a store can be done in several ways. The least expensive is via consignment. Get your products into stores willing to sell them for you on a commission basis. The next level of displaying a store is selling your products to retailers. You will be surprised that there are big department stores that have foundations to help small entrepreneurs get their products on the market. You can also join bazaars to reach a bigger market. If you are willing to put in capital, you may have a small kiosk for your products, or go into a full fledged store. 
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Mind of the Business: Think of Plan

Mind of the Business:
Think of Plan
To come up with a plan, encourage your child to come up with a concept and focus on the client or customer he wants to serve.


Concept: Recognize opportunities
Many business ideas were born out of frustration. Bill Gates, for example, saw how people were frustrated by computer software that was so difficult to use. He then solved this problem by developing program that ordinary people can use, thus the birth of Microsoft Corp.

Encourage children to look for opportunities. When they complain about something, challenge them to come up with solutions or ways to improve a product or service. Who knows, they might create the next Microsoft.

Another good example is the Water Lily bag I receive for my birthday. I have always been concerned about what can be done about the Pasig River. I never thought that water Isilies could be converted into an entrepreneurial endeavor. Whoever saw the opportunity to create something beautiful from something people normally discard has a good entrepreneurial mind.

4 Root of Entrepreneurial opportunity
(Council of Economic Education)

1. Problems: Can you create something that would solve a problem for your self or other people?
2. Charge: Any change can stir up new business opportunities. Read the newspapers! Look for changing laws situation or trends.

3. Inventions: Even if you don’t invent something. You might find a creative way to sell a new invention. Maybe you could be the first to bring a new invention to your community. Technology is developing at lightning speed. Read magazine that cover technologies that you find interesting, and think about how to create a business from these new advances.
4. Competition: If you can find a way to beat the competition, you can create a very successful business using an existing product or service. Look at the business in your community. Could you do a better job? Could you be faster, more reliable. Cheaper? If so, you may be looking at a business opportunity.


Client: know your market
Clients or customers play a big role in coming up with your business plan. Help your children determine who they want to sell their product or service to. They have to do a bit of market research. What do their clients need? Want? What will they pay for? How much will they pay for it? Are there other services or products that will compete with what you will offer? How will you differentiate yourself from them?


Not every idea is an opportunity if it does not meet the needs of your customers. Some people are so passionate about a hobby and think that other people will share their passion. They end up disappointed that no one wants to buy their product. Knowing your market is as important as coming up with an idea that you will love!


Get Wired got tangled
What started as a business idea among our grade school kids –beautiful murano-beaded utensils and napkin rings- evolved into a range of wired products that sold well within the school? This encouraged the kids, who name their business “Get Wired”. Excited, they imagined a concept store and assumed that their products would be a hit at the World Trade Center event. They made sure that their prices were competitive and lowered margins up to 50% off department store prices. To their surprise, despite their beautiful designs and competitive prices, no one seemed to want to buy their products. The crowd did not seem to understand what the napkin rings were for, nor did they appreciate the value of murano glass. The kids immediately said, “Teacher we have wrong market!” they went on an all out marketing campaign to educate people about the beauty and value of their products.

Lesson from youth entrepreneurs:
1.    know your market
2.    know your competitors
3.    educate your consumers
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Hearth of the Business: Begin with your self

Hearth of the Business:
Begin with your self
Intelligence + Interest = Idea
(purpose) + (Passion) = (Perfect Plan)

Begin with “I” to end up with the perfect “I”. What is your intelligence? What is your interest? These are what will lead you to your idea.

The entrepreneur is the heart of the business. No other person will drive the business and be responsible for its success and failures. A “venture” is always an “adventure,” so encourage your child to go into something that he loves to do or is good at.

“Begin with yourself” is the first advice that a parent can give a young entrepreneur who is thinking of starting a business. Here are some question that you may want to go through with your child:

  1. What activities do you love doing and find easy to do? What topic interest you when you read newspapers, books and magazine, and when you surf the internet
  2. What personal achievements do you people usually praise you for?
  3. What skills and competencies have your educational background, job exposure and training courses given you?
  4. What do you easily learn? What is difficult for you to learn?
  5. What kind of person are you? Do you like working with people or prefer being alone? Are you the “big thinker” type or do you prefer the nitty gritty details? Do you usually follow a logical and rational way of arriving at decisions, or do you put more emphasis on the people or relationship aspect of a decision? Do you explore many possibilities before deciding, or do you tend to focus on few thins you can make a judgement on?
  6. What are your innate intelligences? Are you good at number and logic? Do you have good language skills? How are your musical abilities? Do you function well in physical pursuits like sports? How are your spatial aptitudes? Do you posses interpersonal skills? How are your spatial aptitudes? Do you posses interpersonal skill? How about intrapersonal skills?
  7. What things make you happy? And energizes you? What pursuits drive you to work very hard?

When speak to teenagers on entrepreneurship, I encourage them to think of something that they would gladly do for free. Some people start a business based on a perceived need in the market. That is an important thing to consider but can you imagine starting a business that you do not like?

Some examples of possible business ventures to explore based on intelligence and interest:

You are Interested in…
You can explore business ventures in…
Sewing
Fashion
Cooking
Baking, food kiosks, food delivery, restaurant etc.
Computers
Computer programming, computer repair, graphic art
Crafts
T shirt business, handcrafted jewelry, accessories, bags
Sport
Training
Talking to people
Selling, retailing, wholesaling, networking


Cool Shade by Cool Guys
Every year, our MI youth entrepreneurs come up with a business they want to try out in the real market. One group was having a difficult time because the members felt that they were not good at making products. They felt that their best asset was being “cool” and “good looking”(note: the boys looked like teen actors). While other groups were slaving away to create products, the boys said that the product they were most interested in were shades (sunglasses). Since they could not make their won shades, they propose buying from a wholesaler, repackaging the product to make it look “cool”, then selling it. Interesting enough, they were the first boys to sell all their products. The success? They modeled their shades. They make use of their good looks and charm, and got their swooning clients to buy their product. The added bonus was that they agreed to have pictures taken with their costumers.

Lessons from youth entrepreneurs:
  1. Your business should be interesting to you.
  2. Do not go into a business you are not good at (i.e. crafts making); make your business maximize your assets.
  3. Buy low, sell high.(i.e. wholesales to retail)
  4. know your market.
  5. enjoy yourself! It’s contagious and people want to buy what is “cool”

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Starting a business


Starting a business
The entrepreneurial mind is for everyone, but starting a business is not. Business basics have to be taught.

All children will benefit from having an entrepreneurial mind that is curios, creative, competent, committed and compassionate. This kind of mindset will give birth to vision, innovation, passion, determination, perseverance and motivation that will serve a child well in any profession or business.

However, if we are to raise entrepreneurs, we not only have to equip children with the entrepreneurial mind, we must also teach them how to start a business.

According to Dr. Eduardo Morato,
An Entrepreneur is someone who can:
  1. contribute significantly to the economy by raising productivity;
  2. create value by introducing new products and services or finding better ways of making them;
  3. innovate products or operating systems; and
  4. expand the business horizontally or vertically;

The goal of an entrepreneur is to start a “business venture”. This is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of Business Terms as, “a commercial endeavor in which an entrepreneur risks his or her resources in return for an expected profit”.

Profit will always be the goal of any business endeavor, it won’t survive without it. However, I advice parents to tell their children that money should not be the only reason for starting a business. Ask any successful entrepreneur and they will tell you that the financial rewards may not materialize until after years of hard work. Thus, if the sole purpose is to make money, it will not be enough to keep him going when faced with the difficulties and challenges of starting and nurturing a business.

Business basics to guide the youth entrepreneur
Let me share with you some business basic to help your child think of his own business venture. Remember, every big business started small. You can guide your children to think about the following business basics:
A.   Hearth of the business: Begin with yourself
B.   Mind of the business: Think of a Plan
C.  Home of the business: Place for your venture
D.  Body of the business: Capital and Resources 
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Habit of Integrity and Honesty


Habit of Integrity and Honesty
Parent Personal Integrity check
  1. I have lied to a client or customer about something significant
  2. I have made an unauthorized copy of software, music or video.
  3. I used the internet for more than 15minutes for personal reasons during work time.
  4. I have misrepresented or omitted facts on a tax return.
  5. I kept something that is not mine(e.g extra change, a towel from a hotel).
  6. I have asked my child to lie for me(e.g tell someone I am not home)
  7. I have lied to my child to get out of a difficult situation.

That habit of integrity and honesty is the hardest to teach. A “do as I say not as I do” approach does not work. Integrity id doing what you say you will. It is also choosing to do what is right because you believe in it. There are very few role models for our children who are pillars of integrity. Every day, in newspapers and television, children are exposed to corruption, stealing, lying or worse, powerful people who abuse their power to get wealthy. We cannot be passive and allow our children to come up with their own moral judgement, otherwise they may choose the shortcut to wealth. We need to communicate our own values and opinions on what is right or wrong about what other people do. “money is the root of all evil,” so we need to tell our kids that they should never compromise their integrity just to earn money.  I recall talking to a little girl, asking her what she wanted to be when she grew up. I encouraged her to be the president of the Philippine. She immediately retorted: “I don’t want to be president because I don’t want to steal money.” It is never too early to teach our children about honesty and integrity.

How can the Habit of Integrity and Honesty be developed?
Do what you say you will do. Honor your work. Keep your promises. Follow through on your commitments. Teach your children through example. When they make you a promise, even if it is difficult to keep, hold them to it. In the same way, if you tell your kids that you are going to do something, be true to your word and do it. Many kid’s hearts have been broken waiting for parents to keep an unfulfilled promise. A person with integrity will always honor his word, just as entrepreneurs who do business on a handshake.

Be honest in what you say and do. Do not allow children to lie, cheat or steal. Lying is something all kids can identify with. Teach them to tell the truth even if it hurts, by listening to them without passing judgement. Lying, cheating and stealing always start with small things. Getting another person’s pencil, keeping loose change or telling a “white lie” to cover up for something, can be the beginning of a habit of a person who will take a bribe and think that there is nothing wrong with it, because everyone is doing it anyway.

Explain to kids that in business, people do lie. Question advertisement aloud, and tell your children that people should not tell others that a product can do something that it can’t really do, or not tell people of a product that could harm you ( i.e. the Melamine scandal). If kids learn NOT TO ACCEPT LIES at an early age, there will be fewer liars in business and more entrepreneurs with integrity.

Do not get what is not yours. Respect intellectual property. Kids easily quip “Finders Keepers!” in our school, we always say “Finders Return”. We celebrate honesty and profusely thank the person who returns something that is not his. We teach them to share the joy of the person who lost something and finds it again: “thank you for returning the money. Your friend will be happy that he won’t be hungry for lunch.” Kids should not claim work that is not theirs. Hacking, piracy and plagiarism are modern day enemies of integrity and honesty. Children know that things are “not original” Ironically, I know of may wealthy people who don’t think there is anything wrong with stealing a blanket from an airplane or a towel from a hotel because it is just a “small thing”. It is “small things” like these that builds a child’s tolerance for stealing, cheating and lying.

  
Code of ethics for kids @ business
Discuss with your child the Habits of Good Work Ethics.
Come up with your won code of ethics that you can post in his room. For example :
Always come on time.
Do your best in everything that you do.
Be honest

Ask your self when making an ethical decision
A List Of The Top Ten Questions You Should Ask Your Self When Making An Ethical Decision

10 could the decision become habit forming? If so, don’t do it.
9 is it legal? If it isn’t don’t do it.
8 is it safe? If it isn’t don’t do it.
7 is it the right thing to do? If it isn’t don’t do it.
6 will this stand the test of public scrutiny? If it isn’t won’t, don’t do it.
5 If something terrible were to happen, could I defend my action? If you can’t don’t do it.
4 is it just, balanced and fair? If it isn’t, don’t do it.
3 how will it make me feel about myself? If it’s lousy, don’t do it.
2 does this choice lead to the greatest good for the greatest number? If it doesn’t don’t do it.

And the # 1 question you should ask yourself when making an ethical decision:
1 would I do this in front of my mother? If you wouldn’t don’t do it.

(Taylor, 1990)
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