Four out of five Filipinos are interested in entrepreneurship – OCTA Research

Eighty-one percent (81%) of adult Filipinos would prefer to go into business – granting they had enough know-how to do so, according to the results of a survey conducted in October 2022 by OCTA Research, a private polling, research, and consultation firm,  

Results of the national survey was released January, 2023 by the office of Jose Ma. “Joey” A. Concepcion III, founder of GoNegosyo, a non-profit that supports Filipino entrepreneurs, and which commissioned the said survey. 

Across socioeconomic classes, the desire for entrepreneurship was at 80% among classes ABC and D, and 74% from class E. The national survey, commissioned by Go Negosyo, a non-profit that supports Filipino entrepreneurs, also found that capital provision is the kind of government support that small entrepreneurs need the most (69%), and that mentorship is a very important component for a small business to be more successful (66%). 

Filipinos have high interest for entrepreneurship, according to Ranjit Singh Rye, an OCTA Research fellow and a professor at the University of the Philippines, in a January 11 phone call.  

“It’s also clear they want government to support MSMEs [micro, small, and medium enterprises] by funding two things: loans and mentoring,” Mr. Rye said. 

“My opinion is that the government needs to expand investment in programs that broaden and deepen the development of MSMEs in the country.…Filipinos are hankering for support,” he added. “This is the viable way forward for us not just to recover, but prosper as a nation.”  

Among those Filipinos who prefer to get into business, the top reasons are: 

• no boss to report to/get along with (24%) 
• management of one’s own time/schedule (21%) 
• working and earning at home or from anywhere (14%) 
• daily income/money (13%) 
• and no limit in profit/bigger salary (12%).  

Those who prefer work, in contrast, cite having a fixed/monthly income (34%), financial security (29%), and not having to need money/capital to start (17%) as their top reasons.  

Either way, three-fifths of adult Filipinos (62%) think the positive impact on the community is the main reason for supporting and favoring small businesses. 

Information sources 

Relatives and family are the main source of information about entrepreneurship for adult Filipinos (59%), with the local government unit (LGU) following at 43%. Only about 23% of the same segment consider the Department of Trade and Industry as the source of information about entrepreneurship. 

The October 2022 survey further found that more than half – or 53% – were also aware of Go Negosyo and its founder, Jose Ma. “Joey” A. Concepcion III. Go Negosyo is seen by adult Filipinos as either as a partner or supporter of small businesses (52%), or as one that teaches how to run a business (47%). 

“With the pandemic now behind us, and even with the current headwinds facing the global economy, I am confident that 2023 will be a much better year for our entrepreneurs,” Mr. Concepcion said in a January 8 press statement.  

“I think our growth will continue, and I believe that, perhaps by the second quarter, we will reach a tipping point where commodity prices will go down. Interest rates definitely will taper off, and hopefully, by the second quarter and maybe towards the third, interest rates will go down, and it will be the same with power rates,” said Mr. Concepcion. 

“Barring any further escalation between Russia and the Ukraine, we might have already seen the worst,” he added in the same press statement. 

Micro, small, and medium enterprises account for 62.66% of job generation in the Philippines, which amounts to 5,380,815 jobs, per the Department of Trade and Industry’s 2020 figures. 

The Philippines Statistics Authority classifies an enterprise as a micro enterprise if it has less than 10 employees, small if it has 10-99 employees, medium with 100-199 employees, and large if it has 200 or more employees. The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council, on the other hand, uses asset size (up to P3,000,000 for microenterprises, and up to P100,000,000 for medium ones) as its basis for classification. – Patricia B. Mirasol

The survey involved 1,200 respondents aged 18 years and older, covering socioeconomic classes AB, C, D, and E.  

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