Some of the country’s top business executives and founders of successful businesses showed up to mentor MSMEs at Go Negosyo’s first salvo for 2024, the 3M on Wheels free entrepreneurship mentoring event at the TriNoma Mall in Quezon City last January 20, 2024.
Joey Concepcion, founder of Go Negosyo and also chairman and CEO of RFM Corporation, welcomed the contingent of mentors and led the one-on-one mentoring of active and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Volunteering to coach the MSMEs were some of the biggest names in Philippine business and the founders of successful businesses. They included George Barcelon of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Bernie Liu of Penshoppe, PCCI-NCR’s Tess Ngan Tian of Lots’a Pizza, prolific restauranteur Ricky Dee, Wildflour’s Ana de Ocampo, AstraZeneca’s Lotis Ramin, Richie Cuna of Fiorgelato, The Manila Times’s Blanca Mercado, Ovation Productions’s Renen and Cel de Guia, Eric Teng of Resto.ph, Myrna Yao of RichPrime Global, Richard Sanz of Bibingkinitan, Chris Lim of Phil. Franchise Association, Rhoda Caliwara of PALSCON, and Marife Zamora of Filipina CEO Circle.
“The success of this first 3M on Wheels free entrepreneurship mentoring event gave us more reason to intensify our campaign to reach as many MSMEs nationwide this year, especially considering the bright prospects for our country’s economy,” said Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte opened the event, and in her speech reassured the entrepreneurs in attendance that “building businesses is number one in our city’s agenda.” She emphasized the city’s efforts in ease-of-doing-business, saying it makes entrepreneurship accessible in the city. Coupled with mentoring and access to capital, Belmonte said this is key to business success. Atty. Arnel Mateo of PCCI Quezon Quezon City, who also delivered the chamber’s message of support for the event.
Concepcion personally mentored several MSMEs, including single mother Magdalena Ramos, who runs a distributorship business of Kettle Korn; Denise Caranto, who founded the snacks business Konu, and Marjorie Barcelona, who grew her lemonade business into franchising.
A special part of the program was a short talk by entrepreneur and content creator Isabel Magalona Go, who founded her business But First Coffee during the pandemic. She shared how small entrepreneurs can use readily available social media tools to promote and market their products and services, and how she was able to grow her business with only Php6,000 in seed capital.
3M on Wheels is a program of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (Go Negosyo). In addition to free one-on-one coaching for active and aspiring entrepreneurs, financing and market solutions are also made available to them at the event.
3M On Wheels promotes the three M’s for successful entrepreneurship, namely Mentorship, Money, and Market. All three form the foundation of Go Negosyo’s mission to promote entrepreneurship among Filipinos. The event was inspired by the growing number of Filipinos turning to entrepreneurship and fills the learning gap in the entrepreneurial journey of active and aspiring entrepreneurs.