It's true. Now, more than ever, there are a lot of information available about how to start businesses.
However, this information comes at a price. Books need to be bought, courses are to be paid upfront. Even "free" information in the internet comes at a cost: the cost of sitting in an internet shop and/or the cost of printing the online material for further review.
This is probably one reason why majority of budding entrepreneurs come from the middle class. They already have two characteristics in their favor: first, the drive to earn more is stronger for them, and, second, they have the luxury and the money to access information about how business works.
The poor do not have that kind of access due in part because of the prohibitive costs. No matter what TESDA (or any government agency for that matter) does, in order for more entrepreneurs to rise up among the poor, the cost of acquiring business know-how, must be reduced or otherwise eliminated.
It is a good maxim that for anyone who is given more, more also is expected from him. In our case, this is also true. Helping the poor acquire business skills is a responsibility that should be taken on by those who are blessed with more. In line with this is my proposal.
I am envisioning something akin to what I saw in my previous company. They prided themselves for being one of only several companies in the country authorized to teach and conduct the exams for the International Trade Center's MLS in PSCM (Yeah, the acronyms are unforgivable but they stand for: Modular Learning System in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management). The MLS concept compartmentalizes learning, making a subject matter as complex as procurement simple and easy by teaching it one component at a time.I think this same pedagogy can be applied to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship can be taught, and at a lower cost, through a series of seminars ( We have already seen this work in universities, with faculties segmenting business processes to several courses so it's doable).
Now, how will this play out in real life?
Imagine an organization dedicated to providing much-needed business skills to certain segments in society. Imagine then a dedicated group of business people writing up and finally perfecting the MLS, complete with handouts for each module and what-not. Upon completion, the group proceeds to utilize the system, conducting a seminar every Saturday to a targeted community. These seminars cover the essentials of starting up: from writing a business plan, to financing, accounting, employee relations etc.
Now, also imagine that this organization is composed of heroic individuals. They do the effort of conducting these seminars at no cost to the benefactors. Of course, this is all part of a business strategy, a strategy that, although altruistic, is still aimed at recouping costs and making a profit. Upon completion of the MLS, the participants then now show and apply what they've learned. They form teams and the organization becomes these teams' primary financial arm: the group gives these teams the seed capital to start their businesses.
"What?!", you might say, "This organization just conducted seminars for free and now they are supposed to be venture capitalists afterwards? That's risky." Definitely, it's risky, but it's a risk the group is willing to take. It is comfortable with financing the participants' start-ups because it believes it has trained and taught the participants well.
For instance, I've read a Fortune article a long time ago about a university which does just that. New graduates of their business school present their own business plans to the faculty body and they are given the necessary capital based on the merit of their ideas. Why does the university do this? It's because the university is confident about the quality of their graduates and it is willing to invest solely on this.
But let's be realistic, not a lot of start-ups succeed. Most of these participants will pretty much end up using the organization's capital without anything to show in return.
Fortunately, the MLS will have imparted on them the attitude necessary to succeed and the skills as well. Plus, there will be hits and these hits hopefully will more than make up for the costs incurred. These hits, these successful start-ups will be the lifeblood of the organization. It's a peculiar business strategy but, as I've mentioned earlier, it's a strategy nonetheless.
However, this information comes at a price. Books need to be bought, courses are to be paid upfront. Even "free" information in the internet comes at a cost: the cost of sitting in an internet shop and/or the cost of printing the online material for further review.
This is probably one reason why majority of budding entrepreneurs come from the middle class. They already have two characteristics in their favor: first, the drive to earn more is stronger for them, and, second, they have the luxury and the money to access information about how business works.
The poor do not have that kind of access due in part because of the prohibitive costs. No matter what TESDA (or any government agency for that matter) does, in order for more entrepreneurs to rise up among the poor, the cost of acquiring business know-how, must be reduced or otherwise eliminated.
It is a good maxim that for anyone who is given more, more also is expected from him. In our case, this is also true. Helping the poor acquire business skills is a responsibility that should be taken on by those who are blessed with more. In line with this is my proposal.
I am envisioning something akin to what I saw in my previous company. They prided themselves for being one of only several companies in the country authorized to teach and conduct the exams for the International Trade Center's MLS in PSCM (Yeah, the acronyms are unforgivable but they stand for: Modular Learning System in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management). The MLS concept compartmentalizes learning, making a subject matter as complex as procurement simple and easy by teaching it one component at a time.I think this same pedagogy can be applied to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship can be taught, and at a lower cost, through a series of seminars ( We have already seen this work in universities, with faculties segmenting business processes to several courses so it's doable).
Now, how will this play out in real life?
Imagine an organization dedicated to providing much-needed business skills to certain segments in society. Imagine then a dedicated group of business people writing up and finally perfecting the MLS, complete with handouts for each module and what-not. Upon completion, the group proceeds to utilize the system, conducting a seminar every Saturday to a targeted community. These seminars cover the essentials of starting up: from writing a business plan, to financing, accounting, employee relations etc.
Now, also imagine that this organization is composed of heroic individuals. They do the effort of conducting these seminars at no cost to the benefactors. Of course, this is all part of a business strategy, a strategy that, although altruistic, is still aimed at recouping costs and making a profit. Upon completion of the MLS, the participants then now show and apply what they've learned. They form teams and the organization becomes these teams' primary financial arm: the group gives these teams the seed capital to start their businesses.
"What?!", you might say, "This organization just conducted seminars for free and now they are supposed to be venture capitalists afterwards? That's risky." Definitely, it's risky, but it's a risk the group is willing to take. It is comfortable with financing the participants' start-ups because it believes it has trained and taught the participants well.
For instance, I've read a Fortune article a long time ago about a university which does just that. New graduates of their business school present their own business plans to the faculty body and they are given the necessary capital based on the merit of their ideas. Why does the university do this? It's because the university is confident about the quality of their graduates and it is willing to invest solely on this.
But let's be realistic, not a lot of start-ups succeed. Most of these participants will pretty much end up using the organization's capital without anything to show in return.
Fortunately, the MLS will have imparted on them the attitude necessary to succeed and the skills as well. Plus, there will be hits and these hits hopefully will more than make up for the costs incurred. These hits, these successful start-ups will be the lifeblood of the organization. It's a peculiar business strategy but, as I've mentioned earlier, it's a strategy nonetheless.
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