Recognizing the need to motivate small and medium enterprises which make up the backbone of the Philippine economy, PLDT Smart SME Nation recently hosted BIG Talks, a conference that brings together entrepreneurs, and encourages them to take their business to the next level. BIG Talks is in line with PLDT Smart SME Nation’s “MAKE IT BIG” campaign, which aims to empower entrepreneurs to make it big, no matter what stage their business is in.
“Filipino entrepreneurs deserve to dream big, and be empowered to make these dreams come true. We at SME Nation are committed to reach business owners in the country, strengthen them and prepare them to go global. In doing so, we hope to help them give back to their family, their employees, and their community“. said PLDT Smart SME Nation’s VP and Head Mith Locsin.
Aside from providing entrepreneurs with the needed technology, PLDT Smart SME Nation also provided them with knowledge and resources to enable and inspire them to achieve bigger goals for their businesses and them selves. Joining the panel discussion were aura Verallo de Bertotto of VMV Hypoallergenics, Cecilio Pedro of Hapee Toothpaste, Joseph Calata of Calata Corp., Kim Lao of Kimstore, Rudy and Rosiell de Leon of Bianca’s Ice Candy, and Krie Reyes-Lopez of Messy Bessy.
These industry pillars shared how they made it big in their respective industries, and gave insights on a range of topics.
“For the company to keep growing, you need to be aggressive. You have to keep pushing until you get it. It also takes passion, ” he emphasized. He worked non-stop for the first three years because he clearly had something to prove. “Don’t think about the money yet. Think about growing the business. The money comes at the end.” – Joseph Calata – Calata Corporation
“We just need to persevere, never giving up. We need to be extremely dedicated as well…without those, we will never succeed.” – Rudy & Rosiell De Leon, Bianca’s Ice Candy
“Make sure that you hire really the best kind of people that you can; that’s the best investment you can make, apart from building online connections with everybody.” – Krie Lopez, Messy Besy
“Once you fall hard and fall hard once, you’ll never get up again. I’d rather fail and learn rather than not fail at all. Learn how to fail gracefully. And learn how to get up from each failure.” – Bernie Liu, Penshoppe
“I started very young, so I can say age is an advantage. I could say that you can take all the risk you can when you are young,” she said. “Don’t be discouraged immediately because it’s the drive that keeps you going and going, and will make you succeed.” – Kim Late, Kimstore
The Big Talks series is just the beginning, PLDT Smart SME Nation will continue to empower the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit and create a network of like-minded people, and encourage knowledge exchange.
