Paving the way for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) digital innovation in Baguio City, Globe myBusiness Academy, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) held a whole-day event where entrepreneurs from various industries were invited to seek advice, motivation, and inspiration from the experts in different fields.

“The inability of our MSMEs to maximize the potentials of the global market is one of the current challenges for Baguio business owners. Mas maraming magagandang produkto ang ating MSMEs na highly competitive sa iba. (There are a lot of products from our MSMEs that are highly competitive that the others) It’s either ‘yung know-how nila [or the resources available] ay limitado (It’s either their know-how or resources available are limited) in order to bring their products globally,” says Andrea Palaez, OIC for the Business Development Division of DTI Benguet.

This proved to be the case for Andrea Apagna, who sells knitted goods. She was interested and excited about attending the event, but realized that “parang millennial business ito ka’ko. Dapat pala anak ko ang nandito, (This is like a millennial business. I should have brought my child here)” she said.

Like Ms. Apagna, many business owners find it intimidating to embrace the digital age, but thanks to Globe myBusiness Academy’s Go Lokal program, she went home fully informed of the possibilities for her, should she decide to grow her business in today’s digital world.

Also read: Going Digital: 3 awesome ways how going digital can help your business. 

Below are some insights worth noting:

On getting started

“A lot of people don’t get to where they want to be because they don’t start,” shared Ginger Arboleda, Manila Workshops Founder and CEO.

Whether it’s starting or digitizing your business, one thing’s for sure: It will take a lot of hard work. But the trick to getting started is actually just going for it. So start. You don’t have to overthink things.

On innovation

“Open every area and level of your organization for innovation,” said Anthony Pangilinan, motivational speaker.

To do this, you have to follow the five Cs:

• Change. You must be willing to change.

• Consistent. You have to be consistent. You cannot require everyone or everything in the business to change and be exempted from it.

• Constant. It has to be constant. Just because you changed five years ago doesn’t mean you don’t have to do it anymore.

• Cost. You have to invest in change. This investment doesn’t always have to be monetary. Sometimes it’s your ego, like letting go of what you already know to make way for the changes.

• Customer. It has to benefit the customer. If you are innovating for your own benefit and not for your customer, the change will be deemed useless.

On selling online

“Now is the right time to get into [doing business online]. If you have a business or you’re already selling something, then sell it online. If you don’t have a business, consider going online,” shared Alvin Ching, Lazada Vice President and Head of Seller Engagement.

When you open an offline store, you only reach customers who are within five kilometers of your store’s location. Unless your product becomes widely popular to the point where people would come in droves to patronize it, it would be challenging to sustain your store. But when you open an online shop, you reach the entire country in one go, and you don’t even have to pay rent or other expenses to keep your shop running.

Also read: Exploring the world of ecommerce

On looking for technology for your business

“Remember the three things when you’re looking for a technology: It has to be flexible, it has to adapt to the user, and it has to have value for your customers,” said Es Salomon, Go Canvas APAC Sales and Product Engineer.

Going digital is a good direction for your business, but make sure you’re not doing it just for the sake of digitizing. It’s important that you know your business and your customers very well for the switch to be groundbreaking.

On going mobile

“The future is already here and the future is mobile,” shared Anton Andres, Samsung Product Manager/Solutions Architect for Enterprise Mobility.

Based on a study, almost 50% of the workforce will be running their businesses on their mobile devices by 2020. Whatever mobile device you have, you can leverage on it to make your business succeed. After all, mobile devices aren’t just limited to browsing photos and videos on social media, sending messages, or making calls anymore. It’s now an effective way to do and grow your business and collaborate with like-minded people no matter where you are in the world.

On marketing your products online

“If you’re not marketing online, you’re not marketing at all,” said Joey Flores, Adspark Associate Director.

Become digitally ready by following Joey’s three tips:

• Be there. Whether it’s through a website or a social media page, you have to be online for people to find your products.

• Be found. Create the right advertisement and advertise it to the right person.

• Be engaging. Deliver the right content.
  
  

On making a website

“You have to be clear about your website’s purpose,” said Eugene Jose Arboleda, Taxumo and Manila Workshops Subject Matter Expert.

Make sure you know what you want to get out of the website you’re building for your brand. Ask yourself: “What is my website’s job?” “What is it supposed to do?” “What role does my website play in the whole consumer decision journey?” Your website has to serve a specific purpose in order to help boost your business.

Also read: How to make your website engaging

On seizing opportunities

“Everyone is blessed with a certain resource that not many people have. You have to be able to seize that opportunity when it does come up,” shared Mikee Magsaysay, Carmen’s Best Sales and Marketing Executive.

Use what’s unique to you to your advantage while keeping your eyes peeled for an opportunity that could be beneficial for your business.

Digitizing your business may sound a lot of hard work to begin with, but embracing these changes will surely help your business grow.

Also read: 5 ways digital has impacted the growth of businesses 

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