YESTERDAY could have been called “Surprise Day” at our home. My dad arrived from work with a small plasma TV to surprise my mom. Well my mom had a surprise for my dad as well: a high-tech touch stove, a massage chair, and a heat massager.

It’s not always like this at home. My parents hardly surprise each other with appliances just because “wala lang.” My mom’s TV is so old that it fades to black in the middle of TV Patrol and so my dad figured it seemed like a good time to buy a new TV.

My mom, on the other hand, was just walking in the mall when some giddy sales people invited her in their store to try out this and that. So even if she had no plans of buying anything, she walked out with all those items I mentioned above plus a P51,000 straight charge on the credit card bill.
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I picked up this little pamphlet in Cebu, City that can be easily put inside your wallet while on coverage last year. It has little snippets of wisdom that any microenterprise owner can use to improve his business.

Prepared by The Academy for Creating Enterprise, an organization that trains small business owners nationwide, the pamphlet is one of those little wonders that has helped thousands of individuals across the country develop the confidence to step into entrepreneurship.

So here are ACE’s 12 rules for microenterprise success:

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I CAN still remember the time when Friendster was banned. In the company I was working for a few years ago, a lot of people would check their Friendster accounts during working hours, and so the company banned access to it, citing the need to use one’s working hours more productively.

These days, more and more working people stay logged on to their accounts in social networking sites such as Facebook, My Space, Friendster, and the like the whole working day. In fact, some companies encourage participation in such sites, and with good reason.

“We pride ourselves as the premier digital marketing services agency so more than being in social networking sites, we have to ‘know’ what’s new in the digital landscape — what’s hot and what’s not — and how it could work for us and our clients. And as part of viral marketing campaigns, we have to be able to ’seed’ information through these social networking sites,” explains Arlyn Onte, e-commerce manager of Yehey.com.
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ELECTRONICS OR tech companies earning between $20 million to $200 million annually have the chance to tap financing to expand their reach and market penetration.

DMC Capital Funding, a New York-based private equity growth capital firm launching this January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is making available much-needed funds to companies that have moved from the venture stage to the revenue stage.

This is good news for such companies traditionally tapping debt and equity markets to finance expansion. And further good news: the fund is available for companies outside the US.
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THEY SAY you haven’t really been to Dagupan City, Pangasinan unless you’ve eaten at this homey restaurant called Dagupeña.

Dagupan is bangus country, and at Dagupeña, the bangus is the star of all seasons. There’s the sinigang a bangus, daing a bangus, sizzling boneless bangus (which we had for brunch last month; very good), inasin a pait (salted bangus innards) and so much more. The restaurant is also known for its egado, pinakbet, binagoongang pata, rellenong alimasag, embotido, and Dagupan longganisa.

Emma Bernal-Castro, the proprietress, told us that Dagupeña was started by her mother Ignacia Caliolio Bernal or Bai Inacia for short, in 1928 as a small eatery to augment the family income. Widowed at an early age and not having finished school, Bai Inacia focused her efforts on Dagupeña, serving up her signature dishes. The restaurant became so successful that Bai Inacia was able to put all her eight children to school. Dagupeña was also credited for defining Pangasinense cuisine.
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