When life-as-usual took a pause in March 2020 and youngsters were stuck at home for months, it gave them time to rethink their career paths.
That long respite away from clockwork existence made some of them realize that a traditional nine-to-five job was no longer the answer.
Business minded youths saw that adoption of digital technologies and adapting to remote work opened up opportunities to create their own businesses.
The pandemic resulted in an unprecedented surge in new business applications in 2020 which continued through 2021, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Philippines. “Registration of online retailers increased from 1,700 in the first quarter last year or just before the lockdown. But this number ballooned to 88,000 as of December 2020.”
And, it’s not surprising that some of those businesses were created by young entrepreneurs, most of them between 18 to 30 years of age, as DTI discovered.
This young demographic interested in business has inspired DTI to create a separate course on entrepreneurship that caters to their needs with mentors that understand their circumstance.
The Kapatid Mentor Micro Entrepreneurs Youth Sector program, which started in 2021, is currently mentoring its 3rd batch. There are 48 mentees enrolled (14 from Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental respectively and 6 from Siquijor) As per the KMME Online Catalogue, there are now 675 mentee-graduates.
The Kapatid Mentor ME (KMME) has been implemented since 2016 as a 10-module mentorship program that optimizes weekly face-to-face interactions between the mentors and the mentees with the key goal of boosting the entrepreneurial capacity through improved access to Mentorship, Money & Market.
With the CoVid-19 upending lives and businesses all over the world, the KMME becomes more relevant and necessary albeit in a virtual or digitalized form. Thus, the KMME-MME Online is developed as the practical delivery mechanism for the same mentorship modules to be used to propel MSEs to survive and thrive in spite of the unprecedented setbacks that now confront businesses of all types and sizes.
The KMME-MME Online is designed to integrate the Money Market Encounter (MME) into the regular KMME Program. This will be achieved through the presentation of Business Improvement Plan (BIP) to an expanded panel of evaluators composed of representatives from banks, online market platforms and other business support organizations. Coaching is added in the program to assist the mentees during the drafting of their BIPs and improve their materials and presentation skills. Coaching is also envisioned to further develop their capacities in accessing CAPITAL and MARKET. Thus, enabling them to pivot and prepare for the new normal. KMME- MME Online will be implemented in the new normal using the Zoom app. It addresses the urgent need for the continued access of mentees to Money, Market and Mentorship (or the 3Ms) without compromising the safety of the stakeholders involved and the overall effectiveness of the comprehensive KMME Programs.
The KMME aims to provide a platform for existing and aspiring entrepreneurs to learn and be inspired from the entrepreneurial journey of the mentors online. This is also a channel for capacity building on an online platform using the KMME modules and canned lectures via webinar.
The KMME also provides an avenue for business mentorship of wait listed MSEs across the regions and enhance their resiliency through crisis. It inspires the MSEs to adapt their business strategies, e.g., rebuild/repurpose/retrofit, in response to the challenges of the “new normal” business environment.
The Kapatid Mentor Micro Entrepreneurs (KMME) is an initiative of the DTI and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) to help the country’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through capacity-building activities and inspire them to adopt smarter business strategies. After their mentorship from top-caliber entrepreneurs and seasoned industry players, graduates of the KMME-MME are expected to achieve better access credits from banks and other financing providers, improved personnel management, and better marketing skills.
The KMME Youth Sector is implemented in the new normal using the Zoom app to maintain social distancing. It addresses the urgent need for the continued access of mentees to Money, Market and Mentorship (or the 3Ms) without compromising the safety of the stakeholders involved and the overall effectiveness of the comprehensive KMME Program.
The KMME includes 10 modules, which will culminate with each participant’s Business Improvement Plan presentation to a panel of coaches where they will be asked about their knowledge on the market, their revenue streams, unique value proposition, and vision for their enterprise.
Every day that these entrepreneurs press forward with their business is only going to make their business the best it can be.
Our young entrepreneurs are an important part of the country’s recovery. Right now, the country needs to produce as many businesses to jumpstart the economy and create jobs for our people.
It’s not easy being a small business owner and the road can be a lonely one. But sometimes all they really need is just lots of inspiration from mentors.#
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