Some eye-popping figures came out of Cartoon Network’s latest study on Filipino children and their lifestyles.
P37 billion – spending power of kids in their “tweenies”, or kids seven to 14 years old
46% — of Filipino kids are now using the Internet versus 26% in the 2005 study
43% — of those who access the Internet receive email weekly
35% — of those who access the Internet use instant messenger. More of them watch videos and play games online
76% — of kids who access the Internet have their own pages in social networking sites
96% — of kids interviewed watched TV “yesterday”
30% — of kids interviewed listened to the radio “yesterday”
99% — of parents say they visit shopping malls with their kids
27% — of parents said they do this once a week
66% — of children interviewed are concerned about global warming.
(Face to face interviews done by Synovate for Cartoon Network, in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao).
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A chart on Philippine demographics is eye-candy to anyone selling consumer items. It’s pyramid structure shows that the Cartoon Network-commissioned survey’s discovery will go on for many more years.
If you notice lately, a growing number of advertisements and marketing gimmicks are now focused on this age group – the tweenies – as opposed to years before when companies and businesses targeted parents because they held the purse strings. Not anymore.
Selling and marketing to children is now a serious thing.
Other news that small business owners should not miss:
Average consumer goods prices (also known as inflation) are expected to increase by 2.6% to 2.7% this year. This could mean your raw materials will remain affordable depending on what industry you are in. Inflation, after all, is an average figure. This could also mean you cannot increase prices too much next year to remain competitive.
If your business depends on shipping and moving goods from one part of our archipelago to the other, you are probably hurting from the crippling costs of transporting goods. Logistics is one of the problems that seriously threaten the growth of small and medium-scale enterprises in this country. The National Competitiveness Council is putting pressure on the government to reduce the cost of transporting goods, but don’t wait for that to happen. Find your own strategy.
Small businessmen or would-be entrepreneurs can get free training on the different aspects of starting a business from bookkeeping to managing staff or writing a feasibility study or business plan that banks will approve by looking for a BPI Foundation training within your vicinity. Ask the nearest BPI branch for information. While BPI does not lend directly to micro-entrepreneurs, it lends to micro-finance organizations who, in turn, lend money to small businessmen.
For those in the call center industry, or hoping to get into the business, e-Telecare human resources manager Eric Concepcion says “creative recruitment” is the key because there are more talents and assets out there who are not being tapped.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer has featured several success stories in Business Monday. Saved by abaca angels is about Melinda Morante, an entrepreneur from Guinobatan, Albay, where super typhons have been a constant visitor yearly. Despite having lost P200,000 worth of handicrafts to floods brought by Typhoon Reming, she went back to weaving with a vengeance.
Alfredo M. Yao, chair of Zest-O Corp., started his career by printing cellophane wrappers for food products. Last week, he was cited in Germany for introducing the “doy pack” during the ASEAN Business Awards. It was slow going for Yao during the first part of his business. The machine he bought for doy packs seemed useless because juice makers did not buy the idea. So he started making his own fruit juices in his own kitchen. A year later, Zest-O was born. Now the doy packs are even made into bags 
Sell to kids. Study well how to move your goods, take advantage of free training, use creative hiring methods and stay inspired!
