PHILSME Magazine - June 2022

PHILSME JUNE 2022 I WWW.PHILSME.COM

22

AMAZING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

that will help Boost Your Business

PAL to pioneer Cotabato – Tawi-Tawi Flights

PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

First-ever BARMM route to start on June 9

Running Your Business Finances Digitally with NextPay

FRANCHISING

WHAT DOES A FRANCHISE PROVIDE? E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS

How to Grow Your Business With Lazada

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MICE SOLUTIONS

PAL to pioneer Cotabato – Tawi-Tawi Flights First-ever BARMM route to start on June 9

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will introduce regular jet flights between Cotabato City and Tawi-Tawi in June, inaugurating the first-ever air links within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Commencing on June 9, 2022, the new Cotabato – Tawi-Tawi – Cotabato PAL service will operate twice weekly, with convenient morning departures every Monday and Thursday: PR 2487 Cotabato to Tawi-Tawi – every Monday and Thursday departing at 7:30 AM PR 2488 Tawi-Tawi to Cotabato – every Monday and Thursday departing at 9:40 AM PAL will deploy Airbus A320 aircraft on this pioneer route, offering a choice of Business Class and Economy seating on the nonstop flights across the Sulu Sea. The new service connects BARMM’s mainland areas to its island region, with Cotabato’s Awang Airport and Tawi-Tawi’s Sanga-Sanga airport as travel gateways.

By taking PAL’s non-stop flights, travelers will save several hours, vs. the previous choice of traveling via Manila or other domestic gateways outside BARMM that entails a connection between flights or even an overnight stop.

“We are honored to make history by operating the first flight within the new Bangsamoro region, giving us a new opportunity to serve its 4.9 million people,” said PAL’s President & COO, Captain Stanley K. Ng. “We look forward to contributing, in our own way, to the development of tourism and commerce in Bangsamoro through regular flights that help promote unity and economic activity in this dynamic region as well for the rest of Mindanao.”

“We in the Bangsamoro government, together with the Mindanao Development Authority and the concerned local government units, are happy that Philippine Airlines has announced this long-awaited service between Cotabato and Tawi-Tawi in support of the economic and tourism development of BARMM," said BARMM Chief Minister Ahod B. Ebrahim. "We have high hopes for success, and we will do all possible to support this historic venture for the benefit of our constituents."

PAL also operates regular daily flights between Manila and Cotabato City.

The national flag carrier is in the midst of expanding flight services to, from and within Mindanao, as befits the island’s status as a prime economic center of the Philippines.

For bookings and ticketing, travelers may log on to www.philippineairlines.com or visit the nearest PAL ticketing office or partner travel agent.

JUNE 2022 / WWW.PHILSME.COM

DIGITAL PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

NextPay Surpasses P1B Mark in Transaction Volume in 2021

Fintech expects to ride growth momentum this year Homegrown fintech startup NextPay has surpassed the P1-billion mark in terms of total transaction volume in 2021, a growth momentum that the digital financial solutions platform expects to continue in 2022.

Invoice payments, employee salaries, and vendor payments were the main drivers for this milestone, backed by a customer base that has grown by roughly 20x over the last 12 months. NextPay’s customers include small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and growing businesses in a wide spectrum of industries, including consumer goods, technology, healthcare, investment management, automotive, e-commerce, and agriculture, among others.

(NextPay co-founders (from left) Don Pansacola, Aldrich Tan, and Artie Lopez)

“The year 2021 was a banner year for NextPay. From being part of the prestigious Y Combinator Program and successfully closing an oversubscribed seed funding round, we were able to successfully grow our base and reach the P1-billion mark in total transaction volume. We expect to persist on a growth path this 2022, as we continue to introduce more innovative financial services that empower growing businesses with big banking solutions,” NextPay Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Don Pansacola said.

Last year, NextPay raised a total of $1.9 million, twice as much as its target of raising $1 million in total investments for 2021. The amount includes the pre-seed backing of Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator and the seed funding round that was led by Singapore-based venture capitalist Golden Gate Ventures and Gentree Fund, a private investment vehicle of the Sy Family, which owns Filipino conglomerate SM Group.

NextPay, launched in 2020 amid the pandemic, empowers growing companies, entrepreneurs, and freelancers with a spectrum of digital financial services that were previously unavailable to them because of the steep requirements and high fees that are typically aimed at larger, more developed companies that can afford them.

NextPay is a platform that provides underserved customers democratized access to easy and affordable financial services such as digital invoicing, cash management, and batch payments to any bank or e-wallet in the Philippines.

Last year, it introduced new innovative services like Reusable Payment Links, which allow businesses to collect customer payments easily by letting them click on a link that allows them to settle with the payment method they prefer.

Payment Links were also used for the donation drive for Typhoon Odette last year. As of today, NextPay and its partner organizations were able to raise P1.43 million in total donations for the victims of the typhoon.

Aside from Payment Links, NextPay also introduced online-to-offline (O2O) disbursements through remittance centers to address the growing demand for more digital financial services in the Philippines.

NextPay has also rolled out several improvements on the platform to make managing a business easier and streamlined for its customers.

“As we continue to evolve as a fintech startup that addresses the needs of growing businesses, we reaffirm our commitment to further improving our platform through innovation. We aim to introduce more flexible disbursement options, as well as explore high-growth areas of trade financing, corporate cards, and cryptocurrency services,” NextPay Chief Experience Officer and CoFounder Aldrich Tan said.

To do this, NextPay plans to launch fundraising activities within the first half of 2022.

“We are optimistic about the opportunities for the year 2022. As we start the next round of fundraising this year, we remain committed to providing big banking services to small businesses. We will continue to innovate this year and introduce more digital financial services to serve the ever-evolving needs of our customers,” Pansacola said.

Sign Up Now to send money and collect payment digitally: https://nextpay.ph/philsme JUNE 2022 / WWW.PHILSME.COM

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E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS

How to Grow Your Business via LAZADA George Tongol of Lazada walked attendees of the 11th Philippine SME Business Expo through factors revolving around being a Lazada Seller; Philippine ECommerce, Introduction to Lazada, Benefits of Joining Lazada, and finally starting to be one of their sellers.

Online selling platforms had a hard time penetrating the Philippine economy because of three (3) things;

We depend more on cash in terms of payments and similar transactions, thus we are not used to navigating through online payments. And it is only through this current pandemic that we are pushed to engage in cashless transactions. Logistics also made it hard for online selling to settle in our economy due to our geographical structure as an Archipelago – is divided into 3 major regions. It is a must to consider the delivery of products nationwide. And lastly, it took e-commerce a while to gain the trust of its target users.

But in records, there is already a huge growth gained only in a span of 5 years, growing 15 times from its first year, and the sudden spike of E-Commerce Business here in the Philippines during the pandemic as the consumer behavior changes as well.

Above being said, Tongol proceeded to share how to become a rock star seller in Lazada starting off with Retail Trends that will influence online consumer behavior. He also cited three (3) key factors in consumer behavior that businesses need to adjust to namely: OMNICHANNEL – Being available and reachable through various channels hence, online. With this, shoppers would be more aware of slight changes in prices perhaps realizing it is cheaper to purchase online than in usual stores. Also, consumers may enjoy promos like free shipping HOMEBODY ECONOMY – Given that this pandemic locked us within the walls of our homes, e-commerce brought in the convenience of having the consumer’s needs on their doorstep. In this term, consumers prioritize basic needs over leisure thus somewhat cementing the homebody traits within their usual consumer behavior.

SULIT AND UNIQUE OFFERINGS – Health products are on top of searches for products leading to associating unique and practical promos to them.

And in Lazada, these factors are within your reach as they; too, promote your brands as MSMEs attracting more Filipino consumers nationwide through their onsite campaign – the Lazada Bazaar, housing and highlighting MSMEs. Lazada holds the top place as the most downloaded shopping app in Google Playstore aiming on accelerating further, leading shopping apps not only in the Philippines but in other parts of Southeast Asia having 2 million average daily visits.

A few of the benefits of joining Lazada as a seller include a logistics network that makes it easier for Lazada partners to sell in Lazada by offering multiple fulfillment options – advanced logistics capabilities such as pick up, drop off, and Fulfilled by Lazazda services.

Another benefit is selling fresh and frozen food, super bulky items, and products that require special handling are possible. Their platform also has a wide array of special tools and service features for sellers as well as Lazada Seller Programs helping their sellers to grow their business with Lazada available in the Lazada Seller Center. And among these, events and programs such as Lazada monthly festival, daily campaigns, LazLive, Flash Sales, and Lazada University are all available for Lazada Registered sellers.

To start growing your business and selling on Lazada, sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/philsmexlazada

JUNE 2022 / WWW.PHILSME.COM

FRANCHISING

JUNE 2022 / WWW.PHILSME.COM

NETWORK INTRODUCTION The PHILSME Business Network is a proffesional networking membership group comprised of SME Business Owners, Start-Ups, Entrepreneurs, and C-Level Executives from various industry sectors.

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