Majority of adult Filipinos are inclined toward entrepreneurship to be able to manage their own time and be their own boss, as they want to become their own boss, according to a recent commissioned survey conducted by OCTA Research.

Results of the Tugon ng Masa (TNM) nationwide survey, conducted by OCTA RESEARCH, showed that 78 percent of survey respondents would like to go into business and consider mentorship as an important element for small businesses.

The survey, which focused on adult Filipinos’ awareness of entrepreneurship, was conducted last March among 1,200 Filipinos 18 years and older, from across all socio-economic classes.

Reasons cited by the respondents include they want to manage their own time/schedule (31%), having no boss to report to/ get along with (30%), no limit in profit/ bigger salary (16%), daily income/ money (12%), and ability to work/earn at home or anywhere (11%).

OCTA also found that Filipinos appear to be more attuned to entrepreneurship as evidenced by the high awareness rating of the non-profit Go Negosyo, which advocates for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines.

Notably, 68 percent of respondents are aware of Go Negosyo, the highest awareness (78%) being in the Visayas region. Go Negosyo’s founder, Joey Concepcion, enjoyed a 60 percent awareness rating among the respondents. Go Negosyo is the country’s foremost go to for would be entrepreneurs.

Moreover, the survey showed that the respondents showed a high awareness rating of what the nonprofit does. More than half of the respondents (54%) see Go Negosyo as a partner of, or supporting, small enterprises, while 42 percent see Go Negosyo as an organization that teaches how to run a business.

Two elements – capital and mentorship – were seen by respondents as the support that small entrepreneurs need from government, at 82 percent and 67 percent, respectively. Mentorship was seen as important to small businesses by 95 percent of all respondents, saying it is very important (67%) and somewhat important (28%).

When asked what kind of government support small entrepreneurs need the most, capital topped the list garnering 72 percent, followed by mentorship with 13 percent, and knowledge 11 percent. Five percent of respondents said small entrepreneurs need tax cuts.

Also, a majority of 67 percent also said that mentorship is very important for small entrepreneurs.

According to OCTA, the survey fieldwork was conducted using face-to-face interviews from March 24 to 28, 2023 with 1,200 male and female probability respondents aged 18 years and above were interviewed for the study.

The survey has a ±3% margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level. Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following margins of error at a 95 percent confidence level: ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.