by the SERDEF Media Bureau (first published in the Philippine Online Chronicles, February 26, 2013)
Entrepreneurship used to be men’s enclave. In many parts of the world, women were generally perceived to be wanting in enterprise and self-reliance. For decades, the female of the species has been stereotyped to be the weaker sex – unable to do things for themselves. Social norms have also relegated them inside homes, taking care of the children and their menfolk – feeding them, making comfortable homes for them,often serving them hand on foot.
However, this female stereotype has changed.
In the Philippines, as in many parts of the world, women entrepreneurship is on the rise. A recent international study revealed that 70 per cent of business start-ups in the Philippines are attributed to women entrepreneurs.
This implies that Filipino women have been able to rise above gender stereotypes, male domination, the role strain they bear as a result of multiple responsibilities as wife-mother-housekeeper-entrepreneur and other social, cultural and psychological barriers to harness their talents and skills in building productive, job-generating business ventures.
In fact, there are distinct advantages to being women in business. Openforum.com discusses the edge women have over male entrepreneurs:
- Networking – Women are natural net workers. They love to talk, mingle, rub elbows. In today’s business environment, mastering social media is mandatory. And the ladies can do this effortlessly.
- Intuitive management – Generally women can size up another person much faster than her male counterpart. In today’s fast paced business environment, the ability to quickly identify allies and enemies is an advantage. Male or female, business people need to trust their gut.
- Multi-tasking – Women are known for juggling many tasks at the same time and still being able to produce excellent results (while men are good at focusing on one thing at a time). They are especially good at outsourcing and delegating.
- Patience – Women inherently seem to have more patience. They can play it slow and steady to make it to the finish line. They don’t mind small profits and do not need plush offices initially. They sacrifice and persevere for the long-term success of their business.
- Listening – Women are great listeners. This make them good at problem solving, people management and even in selling and persuading people to join the business.
- Pain tolerance – Women have a higher threshold of endurance, in physical as well as psychological terms. This allows them to muster their multiple roles of wife-mother-entrepreneur with aplomb. They are also able to take in the problems and pressures business management inevitably entails.
Moreover, women are not as predisposed to vices as men. Seldom do they become inveterate drinkers, gamblers, or drug-takers. Because they tend to focus more on family values in their personal lives, they are able to run their business the sound, wholesome, and ethical way.
The entrepreneurial story of one of the most well-known Filipinas in business highlights many of these feminine advantages.
Socorro Ramos, National Book Store
Socorro Ramos who parlayed National Book Store into the top of its market niche is known to be a great networker and saleswoman. Her salesmanship secret she revealed in an interview: “ Find out what your customer wants. Ask him. Ask around. Sell him what he wants.” Mrs. Ramos, now 90, makes sure that every customer feels important.
The business met with reverses that would have daunted a less than committed and persistent entrepreneur. During the liberation of Manila, a fire razed her fledgling store to the ground. She and her husband rebuilt it, only to have a raging typhoon destroy it again years later. She picked herself up again, this time constructing a building of concrete, with a mezannine at Soler Street.
Patience is also one of her shining qualities. When she was struggling in business, she would buy something for one centavo and sell it for more, but always less than the people who are selling the same thing. This implies she was content with small profit margins just so she could sell in higher volume. She must have also played it slow and steady. Today, she can live a life of luxury, but wealth seems not to have changed her. She still lives a simple and frugal life.
Maritel Nievera, Cabalen Restaurant
Maritel Nievera of the Cabalen Restaurant chain confirms that she owes her entrepreneurial competency to being a woman. She describes her management approach as conservative. Financial prudence, for example, has helped make her Cabalen business very stable, even as it kept on expanding and putting up new outlets. …