Women entrepreneurs are looking for more training in financial literacy, marketing, and human resource management to ensure the success of their businesses, and a study released yesterday recommended that courses on these be included in the college curriculum to help Filipino women succeed.

Of 100 women entrepreneurs surveyed, 31% said they need knowledge in finance to grow their businesses, 26% said they need marketing skills, and 23% said they want more training in strategic management.

The study, sponsored by GE Money Bank, involved women entrepreneurs in Metro Manila, Pampanga, and Bulacan.

Respondents said they experienced serious problems in human resource management (34%), followed by financial planning and management and competitor analysis (33% each).

"These results demonstrate the importance of structural or foundational education necessary for those who pursue majors in entrepreneurship programs," said Francisco "Jay" M. Bernardo III, founder of the Let’s Go Foundation which promotes entrepreneurship. The foundation conducted the survey from November to early January.

Thirty-eight percent of the respondents belonged to the 30-39 age group, half of them single. Out of the total sample, 11% finished a degree in business management, followed by psychology (9%) and management economics (4%).

About 65% of the respondents worked for a private corporation before putting up their own businesses. At the same time, one in every two had parents who were both entrepreneurs. It came as no surprise that 61% of the respondents drew their inspiration from their families in going into business.

Half of the respondents were successful in their first attempt as entrepreneurs, while 34% made their choice of business with "encouragement from family and friends."

Mr. Bernardo said the survey wanted to gain insights into the experiences, problems, successes, and attitudes of budding women entrepreneurs.

The findings will be the basis of a curriculum or entrepreneurship training program tailored for would-be women entrepreneurs, he said.

Let’s Go Foundation and GE Money Bank are developing a teaching program to be rolled out to selected pilot schools, such as Assumption College, starting June. Implementation will be expanded next year.

The study found out that classroom teaching is the preferred source of knowledge, with 43% favoring lectures from college professors over workshops.

GE Money Bank, which bought the local operations of Keppel Bank (formerly Monte de Piedad and Savings Bank) in 2005, and Let’s Go Foundation focused on women entrepreneurs since women run three out of every four small-to-medium scale industries in the country, Mr. Bernardo said.

"An entrepreneurial culture will help uplift the quality of life of women, including their family, community, and aid in the economic development of the country," he said.

Tomoko Takazawa, leader of GE Money Asia’s corporate citizenship initiatives, said the company’s global efforts include the promotion of basic personal financial literacy.

"By learning from the survey ... and utilizing our expertise as a bank as well as our experience of implementing financial education programs, we look forward to developing a unique curriculum which would really be beneficial for Filipino students," she said.

Pacita U. Juan, CEO of Figaro Coffee Co., said: "We have to help these future entrepreneurs early on so they would have increased chances to be successful later on."

Assumption College President Sr. Mary Gertrude M. Borres welcomed the proposal to change the college curriculum to develop more entrepreneurs.

"It is part of our mission to help in nation-building, as well help students become entrepreneurs. They would be able to help the country by creating more jobs," she told reporters.

Back to Top