In this unprecedented situation we have all faced this year, we have found most businesses of all kinds to be heavily impacted particularly micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). But it is also in these challenging times where we encounter inspiring stories on how we, Filipinos,  prevailed with our unwavering spirit of bayanihan. 
 

We have met Juan who had invested his life’s worth of efforts to fulfil his dreams of being an entrepreneur. He had big plans to scale his business until the onset of the pandemic, which resulted in most industries halting or scaling down operations. Juan almost saw his dreams crumbling until he met Maria. 
 

Like Juan, she is also a business owner with dreams of achieving a wider reach of customers outside of her barangay. To stay afloat, she explored ways on how her business can stay relevant and even learned how to digitise. Maria has always been pragmatic and saw that in every problem, there is a solution. With her mindset, Maria sparked hope and inspiration unto Juan— to keep going, to keep that passion on why he started his business. 



 

We have witnessed a lot of similar stories of inspiration that brought a domino effect of hope and value into our partners’ communities. With these stories, we push ourselves even more to grow our community and be able to help and assist each other in ensuring that you are able to continue doing business.
 

We may be closing another year but the drive and passion to assist business owners like Juan and Maria continues. As we welcome the new year, may their stories remind you to keep your spirit and determination unshaken and that you always have a community to journey with you to success.