Managing for Business Success

The Philippine Business Council in association with the University of the Philippines holds its sixth 'Managing for Business Success' seminar (Photo inset left: Professor Art Ilano; Photo inset right: Professor Jo Florendo)

Learning business smarts

For many Filipinos in the UAE, the underlying dream is to save up, go back home, start a business and eventually attain financial independence. But even though many Overseas Filipino Workers have done this before, a huge percentage have also found the path to entrepreneurship very difficult. Eventually, the savings from years of hard work end up in smoke. On the other hand, others have no solid idea where to start realizing their dreams.

This is the reason why 19 Filipinos working across all sectors made a beeline for the 'Managing for Business Success' seminar organized by the Philippine Business Council (PBC) in association with the University of the Philippines (UP), one of the premiere educational institutions for higher learning in the Philippines. The three-day seminar, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel from September 23-25, is the only seminar certified by UP outside of the country.

Choosing the right business to get into is always tricky, but the discussion of UP Marketing and Strategic Management Professor Art Ilano gave the basics of not only finding the right fit for a person, from franchising to starting an all new enterprise, to branding, expansion and effective marketing. Complemented by the lectures of Joselito Florendo, UP Professor of Finance and Accounting, the participants learned the intricacies of income statements, cash flows and balance sheets. However, Florendo emphasized that though the work can be done by accountants and bookkeepers, it is important for business owners to know how to interpret this data to know how their business is faring.

Philippine Consul General Benito Valeriano attended the closing ceremony and awarded the participants their certificate of completion together with PBC President Lucille Ong, Professor Ilano and Professor Florendo. The 'Managing for Business Success' seminar is the sixth in the PBC-UP seminar series to be held in Dubai and was sponsored by the Western Union Foundation.



Business smarts need not be an innate thing right? We can live and learn. Admittedly I don't focus on the business side of a business (if that makes sense) but the seminar, left me with fresh ideas and inspirations. You cannot just rush into business. You have to think it through. Haha. A point I'm always weak at, I get an idea and I want to implement it immediately else I lose the urgency and the idea will dwindle to, well, something that just seemed good at the time. But I guess I can extend my EQ long enough to really plan something, after all, I have to think long term now, as Master Yoda says. Ah, the price of advancing years.

I do have an idea. But I don't have a business plan. Friends have told me that if I plan to start setting up a business, they will in invest in it. Well, we shall see. The workshop has reminded me that I should also set aside capital for any business I plan on launching. It reminded me to make a business plan. It insisted that I understand how numbers work (argggh!). It has been a good three days. Let's see how far this renewed enthusiasm will get me. Hopefully far.

Around the UAE

Some photos I took with my phone cam.

Left to right, top to bottom: Eye of the Emirates, Sharjah; Qanat Al Qasba, Sharjah; Emirates Road, near DIP; Dubai Festival City.

The Host

This movie has got to be one of the best films I've seen lately: it scared me, it surprised me, it made me laugh and at other times teary-eyed or frustrated (for them) -- all within it's highly engaging length. Everything worked! Watch it.

Ako ay isang tuod

Ang masama pa nyan, tuod na utak sopas.

Translated, "I am a piece of wood, and worse, I have soup for brains."

But when we say it English, I think I feel more like a block of wood than a piece.

I mentioned before that I've been taking Aikido classes again, a form of martial art that was started by O Sensei or Morihei Ueshiba as the culmination of his life-long study of martial arts, religion and philosophy.

'Ai' stands for harmonizing or joning, 'ki' for energy and 'do' for the way. In effect, Aikido means the way of unifying with life energy or as others put it, it's the way of harmony. So either way, it's not fighting just for the sake of fighting or even being good at fighting; it's a way of life.

I said 'again', because I studied it for about a year before, and had to quit - believe or not because of Dubai traffic. I couldn't get to the classes on time anymore! So I'm back, but in a different dojo (school) and a different sensei (teacher). It's been one month and one week.

And I feel like a block of wood with soup for brains - not a new feeling. I've felt like this even in the old dojo. Nobody's fault but my own. I can't make sense of left and right or where my arm should go when my foot moves. My friends will testify how I say right but mean left or say left and I mean right.

I can't connect the basic foot movements to the different techniques being showed. And I know most of my friends will readily agree that I look like a piece of wood when dancing. Both my feet are 'left', and when faced with the problem of coordinating movements for both arms and legs simultaneously, my brain promptly activates the "end of the world meltdown reaction" and instead of flowing with the heat, freezes. Ayayay!

You see, Aikido movements, when you look at it, resembles dancing. It involves a lot of hand-feet coordination and timing. Hah! Timing from a girl who, from her early years of learning piano, was told by her teacher that she has no rhythm. Good luck! So there goes the "I lead, you follow" because more often than not, even when somebody's leading, I don't know where to go. And when it's my turn to execute a technique, I am still limited by my height and lack of strength, which should not really matter because when you've mastered your 'hara' or center you'll be able to do it no matter what. You hara is what fells an opponent and not sheer strength.

Our sensei said, we should learn by looking. It's a different way of learning but one that is vital in this sport. Samurai warriors used to pay exorbitant amounts just for an expert to show them one move. From that singular exhibition, they must learn the technique. Luckily, we're well out of that era, or I'll be poorer than a house mice, without having learned anything at all! But I bet those martial arts experts would love me.

It's not easy for me to "get" a movement just by looking at it. I need to break it down into simple components, nice and easy bites. So why the heck am I still there, paying good money for all my faults and insecurities to be slapped on my face?

Because I'm learning. No matter how slow, I am learning.

I've never liked my height, I've always wanted to be taller. But Aikido says you can do more even if you're small. O Sensei himself was below 5 feet tall that he almost did not make it into the army because he failed the height requirement.

Aikido is a good equalizer - the techniques should work whether you're a man or woman, old or young, or tall or small. It says find your center and you'll be able to succeed. As with life, you find your center and you can withstand any storm.

And it's only been one month and I already feel more limber than before. One month and the pains I've been feeling have gone away (hopefully for good). One month and I'm still trying. Trying to learn, trying to be on time, trying to see from a different way. I'm learning again. It might be hard, I might not be good, but I am learning and I am loving it.