How to Achieve Greater Prosperity for All, According to GoNegosyo Founder Joey Concepcion

“Franchising is really the way to go,” Joey Concepcion, GoNegosyo founder and MSME Development Council of the Department of Trade and Industry vice chairman, said during his keynote speech at Francorp's 25th anniversary celebration on June 7. Attended by over 400 franchise companies, clients, and key industry players, the event was deemed by Concepcion as the best platform to disseminate the critical role of franchising in taking the nation forward to greater prosperity.

ALSO READ

Here's How You Can Franchise Moonleaf Tea Shop

Looking to Start a Business? Here Are 5 Tips to Find the Right Franchise

The 3 Ms

“The key to helping our MSMEs is mentorship, money, and market: the 3 Ms,” said Concepcion. Go Negosyo’s 3M program aims to make all three accessible and available to micro, small, and medium enterprises in order to bolster their growth and impact in the country’s progress. However, the concept of 3 Ms may also be applied to another in need sector, which is the agriculture sector.

“The challenge that we see today is how do we create greater prosperity for all,” Concepcion said. “The biggest challenge is not in the industry sector or the service sector. Basically, agriculture contributes only 0.3 percent to our GDP, the service sector 1.3 percent, and the industry sector 1.7 percent. For us to take the nation forward in greater prosperity for all, the biggest sector [to focus on] is the agriculture sector.” 

MSMEs pivotal for the growth of agriculture sector

According to the entrepreneur, the country will remain stagnant if the agriculture sector does not improve. So Go Negosyo established KALAP (Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program) with the aim of leveraging the potential of MSMEs with the support of the private sector and government to promote inclusive growth, sustainability, competitiveness and development in the agriculture sector.

“We hope that KALAP would expand to over a hundred of the big brothers to join this pursuit of helping our micro-farmers,” he said. “The Philippines will not grow fast if the agriculture sector does not grow up, and that is the focus right now.”

Supporting the program is Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrad Estrella III, who Concepcion said is in tune with the recommendations of the private sector. The key is to scale up by clustering the farms so that farmers will have an economic size of hectarage of at least 24 hectares and allowing the big brothers to be able to continue to lease their land.

GoNegosyo's Joey Concepcion with executives of Francorp

Photo by Francorp.

Franchising, agriculture, and digitalization – hand in hand

“Francorp, to me, is a great mentor,” Concepcion added. “It’s been 25 years and that is phenomenal. The kind of model that you have brought to many of our entrepreneurs is very important. Basically, [franchising] covers the 3 Ms—mentorship, money, and market—providing access to those three.”

“Today, we now have the so-called nano-entrepreneurs which are the offspring of many platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, Grab, Angkas, Joyride, Lalamove, etc. These platforms which are now all over the digital world are allowing people to start [their business journey].”

Concepcion emphasized that franchising and digitalization are important in creating an inclusive economy and the concept of franchising, in a way, can be applied to agriculture. But how? 

“By providing access to mentorship, money, and market to agriculture players, especially the farmers,” he said. If franchising, digitalization, and agricultural programs work hand in hand, prosperity from the ground up can be ultimately realized.

Concepcion said that the Philippines is on the way to opening up the economy and making the Philippine economy inclusive. “I would like to congratulate Francorp for creating a powerhouse, helping so many brands out there to expand, and thank you to the brand owners who have helped share the success with many entrepreneurs through franchising.”

Do you have an existing business that you would like to franchise? Are you seeking to grow your business rapidly through franchising? You may attend the regularly held “How to Franchise Your Business” seminar and learn from the experts. You can check out this link for more details and schedules or you may contact Tel. No.: (+632) 8638.31.49/50 / Globe Mobile: 0917.835.55.30 / Smart Mobile: 0920.961.08.10 / Email: [email protected].

Sam Christopher Lim is the CEO of Francorp Philippines; Co-author of 12 Strategies for Franchising; President of U-Franchise Sales & Management; President of the Philippine Franchise Association; and Chairman for ActionCOACH Philippines.