MAKEUP. Housekeeping. Those are not the only areas where women stand out. According to a successful Filipina, Alegria “Bing” Sibal-Limjoco, Filipino women are also outstanding in the field of entrepreneurship—particularly in franchising.
During the franchise seminar of Franchising Regional Enterprises by Women (FREE Women), Sibal-Limjoco, who is the CEO of Francorp Philippines, said women tend to excel in franchising due to several unique traits the females possess that are essential in running a small and medium enterprise (SME).
Sibal-Limjoco said these strengths include:
- Multitasking—Women are great in multitasking! They can take care of the affairs of the family, raise their children and run a small-scale business.
- They don’t mind starting small—This is because women like to join bazaars, conventions and other avenues to sell the products they make, bake, cook or sew.
- They have big personal network—It is a given that networking is one of the keys to success. Being able to connect in this computer and digital age is a vital asset to making it big. Women love to connect, talk and have a great social life. They have bigger networks due to their social-media platforms, collaborative nature, and fondness to share ideas with various people. They make good public relations officers and marketers of their businesses.
Sibal-Limjoco said with these traits, women are likely to make the most of the most limited resources to grow a business: “money, time and organization.”
“A Filipina enjoys a great degree of independence nowadays. She holds the cash of the house, values the welfare of her family, is gifted with an entrepreneurial spirit and is persistent and passionate,” she said.
“Women are powerful, beautiful beings. Indeed, they have the edge to be prime movers of the country, and make their dreams come true,” she added.
Sibal-Limjoco mentioned several successful women in the country in terms of their businesses—Roxanne Anne Farillas of Plains & Prints, Julie Gandioco of Julie’s Bakeshop, Siu Ping Par of LPG convenience store PR Gaz and Sherill Quintana of Oryspa.
“All these ladies, they started their businesses small. But because of their excellent entrepreneurial skills, which are possessed by Filipinas, they have been successful in establishing their businesses in the country. I’m pretty sure every Filipina can do it, too,” Sibal-Limjoco said.
To date, Filipino women own most of the small-scale businesses in the country. According to the National Statistics Office, 70 percent of the registered SMEs are owned by women.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor said despite the established businesses being dominated by men with a share of 66 percent, some 69 percent of the start-up businesses are owned by women, while 51 percent of businesses operating from one to three years are operated by women.