By Benel P. Lagua
Planning is an exercise that we either take too seriously or too casually. In many cases, the stand-by all-purpose, all encompassing compendium of motherhood statements that has long justified many a bureaucrat’s salary are simply dusted up, jazzed up with the latest power point gimmick, given a more formidable sounding title bearing the new leaders initials and viola, we have a new short to medium to long term plan – depending on how long it took to explain the obvious.
Another extreme is too much planning based on such inputs as a recent well-funded study that "proved" that households with better capacity to pay have better access to credit. Plans like this have as much usefulness as a three-inch thick manual on how to boil eggs.
But even as we deal with the future as if the survival of the species depends on our company’s latest strategic plan, with as much reason and wisdom we can muster, it’s the attitude that we put into it that gives the cutting edge to a plan.
It takes faithfulness to a purpose to resist the temptation to choose the easy way when what we have to plan on is overwhelmed by the obstacles ahead. It takes courage to recognize the trade-offs that must be paid in any choice of strategy. And it takes a bold faith in the future to take a risk against the unknown for the sake of a vision.
The Small Business Corporation, probably one of the smallest government corporations in terms of asset and organization size, has very big plans. With less that
R2.5 Billion in assets, it plans to generate more than R25 Billion in SME loans over the next five years as it takes on the challenge of playing a leading role in the development of the Philippine SME sector.
The present administration has very big plans for our SMEs. In President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s pre-inauguration speech, she presented her 10-point agenda, one of which is to support 3 million entrepreneurs by giving them loans and helping them become good managers.
The objective is to increase SME’s share by graduating micro to small enterprises, small to medium, and medium to large; and by spurring the creation of new enterprises. The agenda also seeks to strengthen SME Centers nationwide and increase SME’s productivity in terms of gross value added.
The different government agencies, as well as the private sector, participating in this agenda, provide assistance through several programs and services. These components range from the financing of the business, to aid in product development and technology intervention, and to developing the proper marketing mix.
This week being the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Week, a series of activities have been scheduled until July 25 which will feature seminars on topics such as starting one’s own business and awareness on good manufacturing practices, to name a few.
The SME Development Week is only one of the first steps in the master plan. To sustain the accomplishments of the National SME Agenda, the SME Development Plan 2004-2010 shall also be launched, aiming to create globally competitive SMEs in the new industrial economic environment.
Now those are plans worth our attention!
(Mr. Benel P. Lagua is the President / COO of the new Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation. He is likewise an active member of FINEX and the Foundation for Filipino Entrepreneurs. Feedback and comments are welcome at HYPERLINK mailto:benellagua@alumni.ksg.harvard.edu benellagua@alumni.ksg.harvard.edu).
