Story and photos by Niña Bea Cadorna
The Xavier Ecoville Project (XEP) management team brought together 15 social entrepreneurs from Barangay Lumbia to participate in “Ideya Patigayun” on May 23-26 at the Country Village Hotel and Southeast Asia Rural Social Leadership Institute (SEARSOLIN).
With the theme “Negosyo mamugna gikan sa negosyo,” the four-day ideation camp was aimed at improving the economic opportunities of the participants (aged 18-50 years old) through discussions and training on product innovation, marketing and business management.
“Mismanagement was seen as one of the reasons why a business cannot be sustained at Lumbia. Thus, we considered conducting an ideation camp for entrepreneurs to guide them in starting up and venturing into a more innovative business,” said Therese Baliwag, the project head of the said camp.
The first two days of the camp were allocated for discussions and coaching sessions wherein several business experts were invited to speak about starting, managing and sustaining a business. The remaining two days were allotted for business pitching where the participants would convince the panelists to invest on their products.
Bright business pitches
During the business pitching session, the participants showcased their entrepreneurial ideas and products.
Most of them opted for businesses involving food production such as homemade longganisa (sausage), cashew nuts and calamay (sticky sweet rice delicacy packaged in a coconut shell), while others were more into catering the needs of the community such as putting up a barber shop and rice lending.
“Malipayon kami nga nahatagan mi og higayun sa Xavier Ecoville Project nga makapatukod sa among kaugalingong negosyo pinaagi aning Ideya Patigayun,” said Leonilyn Tabaniag, one of the participants.
[We are grateful to the Xavier Ecoville Project for giving us the opportunity to start our own business through this Ideation Camp.]
Another participant Roy Quilala added “Dili diay basta-basta ang pag negosyo. Kinahanglan naa ka’y sakto nga kaalam arun mas mulambo kini."
[Building a business is not that easy. You need to have the right knowledge in order to sustain your business.]
Promising business start-ups
At the end of the camp, five business ideas were chosen as the Best Pitches from the 15 participants.
The winners of the ideation camp were Irene Oragasajo (1st place - cashew nuts business), Leonilyn Tabaniag (2nd - corn coffee with herbs), Ritchelyn Echaves (3rd - homemade chicken and pork longganisa), Roy O Quilala (4th - yema or custard candy) and Ellen D Ampoloquio (5th - calamay).
“All of us have had a hard time choosing the best pitches. All of them have great business ideas but we were also considering how they are going to manage and sustain the business and how their products can, in a way, help the community,” said Baba Pelaez, one of the speakers and member of the panel at the camp.
Through the sponsorship of SMART Communications and Petron Corporation and fundraising efforts of Team Lihok Arun Padulong ug Kalambuan (LAPUK), the first place got a start-up capital worth Php30,000; the second place with Php20,000; the third place with Php15,000; while the fourth and fifth placers got Php10, 000 each.
“I feel proud for these Lumbia residents who have learned to propose and pitch their business plans. I am so excited to see their business boom,” Pelaez added.
XEP is planning to conduct a bigger ideation camp with participants from other barangays.