Filipino women have a fairly equal chance of making it big as entrepreneurs, a recent survey indicated. Let’s Go Foundation and GE Money Bank recently presented the results of a study on women entrepreneurship identifying key factors affecting success and failure in business.

Conducted on women who belong to the 30- to 39-year-old bracket, the survey found out that 65 percent of the respondents have had previous work experience in private corporations before going into business. Commenting on the aspect of education, Prof. Jay Bernardo, founder of the Let’s Go Foundation said, “Forty-three percent of the women entrepreneurs surveyed find that what they learned from their university professors are most useful in operating versus the common notion that workshops are the most effective tools.” Bernardo emphasized that it is therefore important to optimize the learning experience by allowing the teachers to have the right classroom materials and learning tools.

Familial influence also surfaced significantly on 53 percent of the respondents who answered that one or both their parents are entrepreneurs. Going to the nitty-gritty aspects of running a business, 31 percent of those surveyed said finance is the most critical subject to master, while 26 percent said marketing and another 23 percent said strategic management.

The success rate of Filipino women going into business looks promising. Fifty-one percent managed to sail smoothly on their first try while 74 percent got it right in less than two attempts. Bernardo further added that based on the survey, early exposure to corporate settings and networking proved to be a plus factor for women entrepreneurs.

Using the data from the survey, Let’s Go Foundation and GE Money Bank are working on a curriculum to be adapted by teachers nationwide into their respective entrepreneurship programs. Ben Kua, president and CEO of GE Money Bank said, “The survey results are incredibly important because they point us in the right direction toward building a unique and relevant program that offers women interested in entrepreneurship the right foundation to succeed.”

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