THIRTY-ONE entrepreneurs will graduate this Saturday after completing the 12-week mentorship program, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)- Cebu Provincial Office announced.
Belonging to the second batch of the Kapatid Mentor Me (KMM) program, these entrepreneurs who are engaged in retail, skincare, food and beverage, construction, and other services will showcase their products and services in an exhibit from June 1 to June 3 in Ayala Cenetr Cebu-Activity area.
This year includes new additions with representatives from farmer organizations and vegetable producers. The latest batch of mentees started their trainings last March 17 under a 12-week mentorship program which the DTI and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE)-Go Negosyo implemented in cooperation with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Modules introduced during the mentorship include business model canvas, entrepreneurial mindsetting and values formation, marketing, operations management, and supply value chain, among others.
KMM’s first batch produced 26 graduates who graduated in December last year.
According to the DTI, these micro and small entrepreneurs can become qualified borrowers of the government’s P1-billion Pondo Para sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) at low collaterals.
DTI 7 Director Asteria Caberte said the Negosyo Centers scattered across Cebu province will help micro and small businesses find access to the fund with loans available ranging from P5,000 to P100,000 at a maximum interest rate of 2.5 percent per month.
“We will make Negosyo Centers as hubs where people can know about P3 and what they can get from it,” said Caberte during the nationwide launching of P3 on Wednesday.
Aside from access to funds, Negosyo Centers will also serve as channels where entrepreneurs may seek for professional advice and know about DTI programs, including the Mentor Me project.
Mentor Me is a coaching and mentoring project that seeks to help MSMEs, which comprise 99.6 percent of the total registered businesses in the country, scale up their businesses.