THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Cebu Province will be reaching out to the startup food entrepreneurs of Sugbo Mercado.
During the Spark Fest Cebu 2018 held during the weekend, DTI-Cebu Provincial Director Ma. Elena Arbon announced that DTI is willing to organize special classes on business mentorship for the food entrepreneurs of the weekend food market, which now has 60 vendors.
“We are willing to partner with Sugbo Mercado,” said Arbon, adding that she finds the tenants of the food bazaar potential participants of the DTI’s nationwide mentorship program.
Sugbo Mercado was created with the goal of being the first and biggest year-round weekly food market in Cebu.
It is a venue that showcases the best of Cebu food products and a platform for budding players in the local food industry to test their products in a collaborative environment.
Arbon said the DTI has plenty of programs geared toward helping micro and small enterprises level up their businesses to prepare them to become big and possibly global players.
One of the programs pitched by Arbon is the ongoing Kapatid Mentor Me (KMM) program that aims to assist micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) scale up and sustain their businesses through weekly coaching and mentoring by business owners and practitioners on different functional areas of entrepreneurship.
KMM is a joint program of DTI and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship–Go Negosyo.
“We are now on our fourth run, which will end by August this year. After that, we will open the fifth batch by September,” said Arbon.
The 11-week program will have weekly modules including subjects such as marketing, financial management, human resource management, and operations management.
On the 11th week, the participant is required to present his/her business improvement plan, incorporating lessons and insights from the lectures and mentoring sessions.
“Visit us in DTI and our Negosyo Centers. We have business counsellors there who will assist you,” said Arbon.
Charm de Leon of Sugbo Mercado Food Bazaar Inc. said aside from being a venue for would-be entrepreneurs to jumpstart their businesses, they are also incubating these businesses.
She said they are helping their vendors professionalize their businesses and graduate from the food bazaars into independent businesses that have mall-based or stand-alone outlets.