Hapinoy Store Tap Youth Energy

By Cris Evert Lato
Cebu Daily News First Posted 11:28:00 05/14/2009 Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Youth

Quezon City—Creativity gives young people the edge in building social enterprises that generate jobs especially for those in need.

This was the common thread in the social entrepreneurship track of the first World Creative Youth Forum (WCYF) held here last week.

“Social entrepreneurship gives one the reason to be creative but at the same time do something for the common good. It means that you are doing business not just to generate profit but to help others as well,” said Ma. Krizia Ledesma, 23, a registered nurse from Iloilo province.

The group was composed of youth leaders from Kenya, South Africa and provinces in the Philippines which include Laguna, Samar, Cebu, Iloilo and Palawan.

During the forum, insights on social entrepreneurship were enriched by the example of Microventures Inc., which established Hapinoy, a sari-sari store chain established in 2006.

Hapinoy example

In one of the forum’s sessions, AJ Rodriguez of Microventures said the company aims to empower microentrepreneurs through the familiar, sari-sari store concept.

“Where do people shop in the barangays? They often go to the sari-sari store where the inventory is around P1,000 or more,” said Rodriguez.

But one-stop shops are are highly fragmented. 

Owners have little or no knowledge of where to source money for initial capital, said Microventures president Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV.

“There are ready facilities for micro loans. The question is how people can get into it,” Aquino told.

Aquino said they decided to adopt the Hapinoy concept since the Philippines is home to many sari-sari stores.

He said the program believes that social business enterprise brings positive change in the Philippines.

It has partnered with microfinancing institution, Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, to provide funds to those who would want to start a Hapinoy store.

Hapinoy stores are found in Laguna and Batangas among others. By 2009 to 2010, they hope to expand the stores to other areas in Luzon and Visayas.

Bearing the tagline, “Tindahan ng Haping Pinoy,” Rodriguez said they hope to consolidate the 700,000 stores around the Philippines.

“The Hapinoy ecosystem is a community store network that facilitates different areas of running the store. We conduct inventory and financial management training, which helps them to become more efficient in store operations enabling them to earn more,” he said.

A Hapinoy store owner also has access to loans, training, store improvement and access to the best prices and side businesses.

Aquino said he was already in his late 20s when he joined the dynamic people who formed Microventures. 

This is where he saw the need to combine their experience in the corporate world and social development.

Aquino said the staff is in their mid to late 20s who have chosen social enterprise over a corporate career.

NEW mindset

To get involved in social entrepreneurship, Aquino said one should be ready to change the mindset and create a culture of entrepreneurship.

“Our educational system is geared towards making employees. This is not wrong but not everybody can be good as employees alone,” he said. 

He encouraged young people to consider social entrepreneurship answers to satisfy personal goals as well as address the needs of others.

Since young people are passionate in both ends of this social spectrum—business and advocacy, Aquino said they are the best people to tap and influence for social entrepreneurship.

Quoting Cebuano entrepreneur Chris Tio, Aquino said entrepreneurship makes a person more equipped to see the bigger picture and make him or her a better person in the long run as opposed to being an employee where you become shielded.

Tio is owner of retail store, Toys@Work.

Aquino said young people, who choose to be social entrepreneurs, need to be risk takers since this career involves many challenges and difficult routes to success.

The more risks you put into it, the larger are the gains, he added.

“We see that social entrepreneurship is the future of the Philippines. The pure NGO (nongovernment organization) of pure charity is not feasible. You need a sustainable mechanism, it has to be value-added,” said Aquino.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Hapinoy, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.