The Spark Fest 2019: Lessons from Business Experts

Creative entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and social innovators gathered together to share inspiring advice and ideas at The Spark Fest 2019, an annual community conference participated in by people from the world of startups, social good, and creative capital. 

With the theme “Celebrating Enterprising Ideas, Creative Insights, and Doing Good,” Spark Fest 2019 was led by The Spark Project, a pioneer in the local crowdfunding scene dedicated to enabling Filipino creativity and innovation through its website and various community events.  The conference was held in partnership with Globe myBusiness, the micro, small, and medium enterprise arm of Globe Telecom which offers digital transformation solutions, tips, and advice to business owners to help them succeed.

Now on its third year, Spark Fest 2019 provides appropriate space where people with socially-focused mindset can be inspired to learn and can have the opportunity to interact meaningfully with creative founders, thought leaders, and fellow aspiring and emerging business owners.

“Our challenge for Filipino talent is to reimagine the way they create. We really want to inspire and teach emerging entrepreneurs by putting them in the same room as people who have done it before and succeeded. So, we’re very intentional in our selection of stories because entrepreneurship, creativity, and social change can be challenging. But that’s how you make the world a better place. Our goal is to encourage those who are ready to level up,” said Patch Dulay, Founder and CEO of the Spark Project.

Michelle Tapia, Head of Globe myBusiness Strategy, Innovation, and Transformation, on the other hand, said that Globe is always open to providing small and medium enterprises with solutions and guidance for them to grow and succeed. “We are supporting Spark Fest because we believe in what the Filipino can do and we are here to help ensure that we can businesses through the use of technology,” she said.

Here are some of the valuable insights during the event that entrepreneurs were able to take note of and try to put into consideration for their respective businesses.

1. What was the learning curve in starting your business?

“Here are three questions you should ask yourself when starting your business:

Why are you here? Why are you starting your business?

Where do you want to go?

How do you plan to achieve question number two?” – Sherill Quintana, CEO, Oryspa Spa Solutions

2. When do you know if it’s time to stop when your concept didn’t work?

“You have to decide. Do we wait, or do we still push through? Only you will be able to answer that. For me, if the objective has not been reached, and you have exhausted every single possible initiative and effort, then maybe it is time to change – either it is a change in approach, change in objective, or change in target audience.” – Anna Oposa, Chief Mermaid, Save Seas Philippines

3. What do you do when it comes to mental/creative block in content creation?

“It helps when you brainstorm with people. ‘Pag na-me-mental block kami (when we experience mental block), we just talk and talk until we come up with something. Kung na-me-mental block, madami ka rin [kasi] naiisip so dun nag-eevolve yung ideas [wherein] na narealize mo na ‘ah, pwede pala to. (If there is a mental block, you also think a lot of things and that is where ideas evolve and then you realize that ah, this might work).’” – Judd, Julo, and Edsel, Perea Street

“When creating your content, you can use these guide questions:

Am I being authentic?

What am I contributing to the larger discourse?

Am I just overselling but not delivering?” – Bianca Gonzales and Lynn Pinugu, Former Co-Hosts of The Coffee Break

4. Are you proud [of your achievements]?

“I never met any successful entrepreneur who had never experienced failure. We should wear our failures like badges of honor.” – RJ Ledesma, Co-Founder, Mercato Centrale

5. If you’re a shy person, where can you find your “community?”

“Try to figure out your why; find out what you are most passionate about. Sometimes, you have your day job, so you need those passion projects to help you get by. From there, [you can] find causes, like youth and women empowerment, and maybe you can join groups for those causes. Also, if you don’t find it, start it. Why not, right? Maybe you’re the one meant to build that community around yourself.” – Alea Ladaga, Manager, Techtonic Summit

6. How do you hire?

“They say that when starting a business, you need three key people: a visionary person who can define your company’s path, an operations person [or ‘processor’] who is excellent at growing your business, and the ‘executor’ who can manage the technical aspects of managing your everyday business.” – Lester Cruz, Co-founder, Serious Studios

7. What is your piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

“Don’t do it for money. When you have your own business, make sure to not lose sight of the bigger picture. Go back to your ‘why’ and to your purpose. Money is [surely] important because it will make your business sustainable, but if it is your [only] end goal, it might be destructive. Money should only be a means to an end, but not the end itself.” – Diana Santos-Ferrer, CEO, School of Satchel

“Don’t fall in love with your solution, which means that you have to focus on your why but at the same time, you also have to focus on the people you are trying to help. Sometimes, what we thought was the solution to a problem for those people may not be the right one. You have to be humble enough to recognize that and try again.  Because as an entrepreneur, it is about trying and trying again until you get it right. Unfortunately, a lot of founders get so enamored by their solution or by their product, [to the point that] even if it is not working anymore, they force it and this becomes a problem for their employees and their customers.” – Artie Lopez, Co-Founder, Brainsparks

With the vital information and inspiration that The Spark Fest imparted to its attendees, Globe myBusiness and The Spark Project expressed optimism that the lessons shared by the experts can help budding entrepreneurs take their businesses to greater heights in the coming years. The Spark Fest will also continue to be a platform that encourages and inspires Filipino entrepreneurs to seize opportunities, create bigger impact, and contribute to the country’s development.

SMEs are considered as the backbone of the country as they contribute 36% to total Philippine economy based on the statistics provided by the Department of Trade and Industry.  The SME market also accounts for 99.5% of total business operations in the Philippines.

Thus, Globe myBusiness, being the trusted partner of SMEs in the country, supports entrepreneurs through every stage of their business by offering leading-edge business solutions and excellent service. It also provides existing and aspiring entrepreneurs access to learning sessions, digital solutions’ experiential demos, free business consultations and exclusive offers via Globe myBusiness Academy to help them stay on top of their game.