More lessons from young entrepreneurs

From an article in a Philippine Daily Broadsheet that featured students' having the chance of pushing their business ideas to the bigwigs (and getting fundings/commitments):

... Team leader Aaron Jarveen Ho said his group learned more from this experience than from any subject in school and made them even more serious about going into business rather than joining multinational companies after graduation.

"The shift in mentality from employment to entrepreneurship is stronger and more pronounced, especially among young people. As early as now, students are asking themselves what business can they go into, what new product can they create?" Ho said.

Filipinos have traditionally looked at employment in multinational companies as the way to success, a mindset that other more successful Asian countries like Singapore have already shrugged off as ineffective.

Poor economic and political environments cause Filipinos to go for the safer route of employment instead of taking calculated risks to develop their own product or service. Ho says, however, that the difficult economic and political environments are "things beyond our control that we just have to deal with".

Employment, indeed, is the safer route. But the person willing to take the risks attributed to developing, marketing, and selling his/her own ideas, products or services would most likely
be the person who would gain the most in the end.

There is a pronounced need for a shift in mentality from employment to entrepreneurship, especially in these days of hardship and economic slump. One can no longer depend on the usual sources of income, because these may not be enough. We must learn to innovate, to revolutionize, to evolve.

Business is difficult, yes. But it is also very fulfilling if done right, and at the right time.