Know about business (KAB) is an entrepreneurship education programme that seeks to introduce young women and men to the world of business and entrepreneurship. To know about business is to understand the role of business in society and the important part played by enterprises in achieving sustainable economic, social and environmental development. To know about entrepreneurship is also to understand that entrepreneurship is the recognition of an opportunity to create value, both economic and social, and the process of acting on this opportunity, whether or not it involves the formation of a new enterprise.

Trainers of ILO’s entrepreneurship programme, Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB), shared their experiences in training disadvantaged youth in Masbate, Antique, Maguindanao and Agusan del Sur, during the Refresher Workshop for Master Trainers and Trainers of SIYB in May 2012.

By Roche M. Angon, National Project Coordinator for ILO, MDG F Joint Programme on Alternatives to Migration: Decent Jobs for Filipino Youth

Trainers of ILO’s entrepreneurship programme, Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB), shared their experiences in training disadvantaged youth in Masbate, Antique, Maguindanao and Agusan del Sur, during the Refresher Workshop for Master Trainers and Trainers of SIYB in May 2012.

This workshop, supported by the MDG Fund Joint Programme on Alternatives to Migration: Decent Jobs for Filipino Youth through the International Labour Organization (ILO), aimed to enhance the capacity of trainers from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (TESDA-ARMM), in delivering entrepreneurship training to disadvantaged youth.

During the workshop, the trainers discussed how they may further market SIYB as a training product and considered proper selection of partner organizations and of trainees, developing appropriate materials and providing after-training support. These strategies will help improve subsequent entrepreneurship training programmes for the disadvantaged youth, even beyond the completion of the Joint Programme in July 2012.

The refresher workshop on SIYB, first to be held in the Philippines, was designed by the Joint Programme to help institutionalize the programme in the country through its project partners as well as the national and local government.

The Joint Programme promotes entrepreneurship as a career option and as a priority for addressing challenges to youth employment. “Vulnerably employed youth often lack the education that many of the youth unemployed have been able to obtain. These youth are often left with little choice but to accept or even create whatever forms of work they can find, just so they and their loved ones can survive another day”, said Lawrence Jeff Johnson, Director of ILO Country Office for the Philippines, in his opening message during the workshop.

Together with the DOLE and TESDA-ARMM and in partnership with the private sector and relevant government agencies, the Joint Programme has so far trained 290 out of 400 targeted youth on entrepreneurship. It has also provided 159 out of 240 targeted youths with starter kits to establish individual or group-based microenterprises based on successful business plans. A starter kit is comprised of basic tools and materials to start a microenterprise. A total of 76 out of 96 target youth have set up microenterprises. Meanwhile, 88 representatives of local partner organizations, i.e. DOLE and TESDA-ARMM the four pilot provinces, can now train youths on SIYB as well as assessing their entrepreneurship potentials.

DOLE and TESDA-ARMM have committed to sustain entrepreneurship training programmes to disadvantaged youth beyond the four pilot provinces of the Joint Programme, such as in other areas of the CARAGA region. They will also monitor the assisted micro enterprises as well as continue with counselling and mentoring of young people through the local trainers.

Early trials and life lessons have led 22-year old Ian Lester Diana to an emotional maturity not common for his age. Ian Lester hails from a fishing village in Anini-y, the southernmost town of Antique province in the central Philippine island of Panay.

 

Thinking of quitting your job to start your own business?

It won’t be easy and it’s highly risky, since you’d be giving up a steady paycheck to try something that may or may not work.

But it can also be “immensely fun and rewarding,” says Valerie Rozycki Wagoner, founder of Zipdial, a technology-based marketing company. Ms. Wagoner moved from Silicon Valley in the U.S. to the southern Indian city of Bangalore, where she started a business in 2010.

If you’ve made up your mind about taking the plunge, here are some tips from entrepreneurs to get you started:

When to do it: The right time to start a new business varies from person to person.

“When you stop waking up feeling excited about your job, it’s time to either change your job or create one for yourself,” says Pawan Marwaha the founder of Delhi-based Tablegrabber.com, an online reservation site for restaurants.

If possible, he suggests trying entrepreneurship sooner rather than later in life. With time, responsibilities increase and the capacity to take risks goes down, he says. At the same time, it is helpful to have a few years of work experience because that gives you some exposure to the working world. It also gives time to save money that can be used as a nest egg, in case the business doesn’t work out.

Some say it may be time to start as soon as you’ve got the right team in place. “Entrepreneurs often wait until they have the idea or enough money,” says Ms. Wagoner. But she believes it is the founding team that will develop the idea and help attract investments.

But remember: only take the plunge if you feel very passionate about it.

Finding the perfect match: For the venture to be successful, it’s key that you have the right team in place of dedicated and dynamic people. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

In general, people are more reluctant to join a company that isn’t already established. So you’ll have to work hard to appeal to the sense of entrepreneurship, innovation or adventure of potential team members. But don’t make promises you know you can’t keep.

“We tell them that we work out of a garage, have a small team and that we will not give a very high salary,” says Mr. Marwaha of Tablegrabber, adding he focuses on getting people interested in the idea behind the company.

Focusing on the big picture: Starting your own business may mean you have to do things that you wouldn’t normally picture yourself doing – like accounting or even running errands. But be careful about where you allocate your time and energy.

For instance, waiting for the paperwork to get approved can be time-consuming and problematic. While this is important, you can’t get government offices to work faster than they do so “this is the last thing you should be worrying about,” says Ms. Wagoner. Instead, focus your energy on researching about your consumers, or understanding your product or service in greater detail.

Getting the cash: This is one of the biggest challenges of starting a company.

You’re better off starting with your savings, including those of the co-founding team. Consider borrowing money from friends and family, unless you are worried that may complicate your relationship with them later on. At the same time, start looking for investors. There are now dozens of venture capitalists in India, including those who invest only in companies that have just been launched, such as Indian Angel Network.

Some suggest looking for more than one investor. “Instead of one investor writing a large check, 10 investors might write small checks,” says Ms. Wagoner.

Being flexible: Most businesses start with one idea, but along the way the original idea might need to change based on consumer feedback or other things.

Even simple things about the business may not work out as you originally hoped, so make the best of what you get.

Sweta Mangal, co-founder of 1298 Ambulance, a Mumbai-based ambulance service, discovered they couldn’t even give the company the name they initially chose. They wanted an easy-to-remember digit like 911, the emergency number in the U.S. But an official at the telecom department told them that, according to the rules, they could only get a number starting with 12. So Ms. Mangal and her team asked for 1299. But the official was being difficult – Ms. Mangal claim the official wanted a bribe – so they ended up with 1298 instead. They decided that “if this is what we get, let’s take it and go on with it,” says Ms. Mangal.

The likelihood of failure: Start-ups go through their ups and downs. The key is to navigate through the downs with enough conviction to prove the non-believers wrong.

When you start a business, eight out of 10 projects might not take off. When that happens, move on to the next project of the business. But note your mistakes and don’t repeat them.

“You have to be ready to keep on experimenting till you solve the problem,” says Sunil Rao, who co-founded Four Fountains Spa in Pune in 2007. Mr. Rao, for instance, was trying to build a clientele base for their spa. The team at Four Fountains Spa tried to market going to the spa like a short,  rejuvenating holiday – but that didn’t work. They kept trying different marketing pitches, till they found the one that worked – pitching it as a wellness platform.

It is important to celebrate small successes to keep the morale of the team high. But if the new venture fails to shape up for too long, you have to accept it.

“If you’re running out of money and you don’t see any growth trajectory picking up, then its right to shut down,” says Ms. Wagoner.

 

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here

The solution to rioting? Start an enterprise. Be creative, disruptive and ground-breaking. That’s what Boris Johnson, the mayor of London told the BBC on the anniversary of the London riots in early August.

Read the full The Economist article here

South African youth are not as enthusiastic about entrepreneurship as their counterparts abroad and could be short-changing themselves, an expert said on Tuesday.

Read the full IOL article here

Data presented at a G20 meeting in Geneva shows that youth unemployment rates remain alarming, ranging from about 8 per cent to over 50 per cent in 17 of the 20 member countries. The G20 Task Force on Employment agreed to promote quality apprenticeships.

Read the full ILO News article here

Experiences from the Field is a platform where practitioners and policymakers can exchange information about the design, implementation, and impact of projects that are aimed to improve labor market conditions (e.g., training programs, improved access to finance, reforms of the business environment, or active labor market programs).

Users can search the projects by thematic categories, geographic coverage, project dates, types of project materials, and methodology of evaluation.

To help promote and showcase innovative and promising projects, Experiences from the Field, will reward projects that demonstrate results, inspire new ideas, and provide practical lessons about project design and implementation.

The JKP, through its partner IZA, is offering a $5,000 award in each of the following categories:

• Most Recommended (based on users’ ratings)
• Most Promising Approach
• Best in Addressing Political Economy and Implementation Challenges

The JKP community will vote for submissions using the “rate” feature on the JKP website to select the Most Recommend winner, and a committee made up of members of the JKP partner organizations will select winners for the other two categories.

Submissions: Submissions can be made online at jobsknowledge.org or completed forms sent to contactus@jobsknowledge.org, with the title “Experiences from the Field Competition Entry.”

If you have links to project documents and websites as well as any multimedia presentations that describe your project, please include them.  Submissions will be screened prior to posting for suitable content.

To be considered for the first round of prizes, forms must be submitted by 5 PM EST, December 15, 2012.  Remember – the sooner a project is posted, the more time it has to accumulate online votes.  Winners will be invited and flown in to the awards ceremony at The World Bank (Date TBC).

A colleague from Pakistan shares her article published in Gulf at the occasion of Pakistan's Independence day on 14th August. She provides us with insights on women entrepreneurship evolution in Pakistan, the importance of women empowerment and the role ILO programmes WED and KAB can play in this important development.

 

Young people from Maguindanao often leave their hometown to work in Manila, urban areas, or overseas due to limited opportunities. Maguindanao, a province in South Central Mindanao was the 6th poorest province in the Philippines in 2011 based on findings of the National Statistical Coordination Board. The unemployment rate of youth belonging to 20-24 year age bracket was estimated at 65 per cent, higher than the national average. The youth in the 15-24 year age bracket accounts for 18.76 per cent of the total population which is lower than national level at 20 per cent.

Learn more about it here