Endeavor searches for next Cobonpue, Bo's Coffee

MANILA - Endeavor Philippines, a group that mentors disruptive businesses, is bringing its search for high-impact entrepreneurs to Cebu, one of its officials said Monday.

In just 2 years in the country, Endeavor has helped, among others, homegrown Bo's Coffee, technology firm Xurpass and furniture designer to the stars Kenneth Cobonpue.

Its most recent startup, Lenddo, helps banks tap unconventional means like social media presence to determine the credit worthiness of the poor.

"The way we help economies grow is by helping to accelerate what we call high impact entrepreneurs," Endeavor Philippines managing director Manny Ayala told ANC's Market Edge with Cathy Yang.

"What we see is very consistent across all the markets we work in, for an entrepreneur ecosystem to thrive and flourish, really, all it needs is a handful of these high-impact entrepreneurs," he said.

Endeavor entrepreneurs generate 5 times more jobs, 2 times more revenue, are 8 times more likely to mentor other businessmen and 4 times more likely to invest in other businesses, Ayala said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Philippine coffee company goes digital

President and CEO of coffee retailer Bo's Coffee, Steve Benitez, said he is keen on managing the two so-called "D-words" in business: digital and disruption.

The company is set to penetrate the digital market this year. In the meantime, Benitez said one of the things that could disrupt business is the emergence of the "do-it-yourself" or DIY phenomenon.

Benitez said the best way to manage this emergence is to create a platform that integrates technology with the whole DIY concept.

"I think that if you can integrate that with digital platform, that would be great. But right now we're still working on that," Benitez said.

"We are launching our digital platform this year to give more, again, creation of value to customer experience, hoping they can use it for a loyalty programs and payment gateway," he said.

Meanwhile, Benitez attributed Bo's Coffee's success to its homegrown branding, its global bench-marking, and social entrepreneurship.

Bo's Coffee has the second largest branch network in the Philippines next to Starbucks, with 71 branches nationwide.

The company is targeting to build 100 stores by the end of 2016, marking its 20th year in the coffee industry.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com