In the new normal, it is narrow-minded to think that ‘this is my product and this is what I need to fix’. What's wrong with my product? How can I improve it? How can I innovate my product? That's where we see a lot of business leaders right now. It’s painful to see so many business leaders basically sinking their companies - some very old, established, successful companies - because they're too fixated on their products and their value chains rather than understanding how the market has shifted and how the customers have shifted. It’s very problematic because this mindset prevents them from really innovating and solving problems based on where their customers are right now. If Henry Ford was fixated on solving product problems he could have just bred, trained, and nourished superior horses that could travel longer, or he could have built lighter, more comfortable carriages. But Henry Ford realized that it's not about the product but rather about what the customers really want. He focused on the customer, not the product, and subsequently pioneered the mass production of affordable automobiles. We need to follow a similar rubric because too many leaders are stuck on product-centric innovation as opposed to customer and empathy driven innovation.

The marginalized are the stakeholders. They can't depend on dole outs forever. It breeds a culture of “bukas palad” but the wrong kind. Opportunities for them to better themselves by contributing to society while addressing theirs and their family’s needs. I live in a community where there’s a mix of the haves and the have-nots. And unfortunately the have-nots are impacted by this not just from an economic standpoint but from a social standpoint as well. The tambay, umaasa, reklamador behavior has surfaced again in many of our neighbors that have lost their jobs. Recently we had a case of COVID and the usually very united community became divided. Ignorance has surfaced and discrimination has become apparent too. For those in my community, I want to find solutions to resolve not having the opportunities to earn during the pandemic, so that they can have sustainable means of earning that is supported by a foundation of strong values that can help them not just survive but thrive in the New Normal.

The mindset of solely relying on your income from your job occupation is not enough, especially given the volatility of the new normal. I think daily wage earning employees, my target stakeholders, should now have a back-up plan or a means to have that extra income in any possible circumstance that might happen. But a change of mindset is not enough - certain steps and plans of action should also be taken into account in order to properly execute this. I feel compelled to find ways of helping people who are in the stage of starting a business but don’t necessarily have the proper guidance or direction. To be more specific, possibly conducting a tutorial or creating a general manual on the basics of starting a business with the main purpose of using this as a guide for them to begin with in the context of starting a business in the setting of a pandemic. I myself just started my own business and of course I already have this overall idea on how to do it because of my business management experience. However, I’ve been seeing a lot of e-commerce businesses that still have a lot of room for improvement, and so I see this as an opportunity for myself to step in.

Our stakeholders are the less fortunate children who are being left behind in school because some educational institutions cannot afford to conduct online classes. Education, for the families of these poor children, are perceived as a key to a better life. However, as the crisis has caused their schools to close down, that hope has been taken away from them. They have insufficient support from their family and the government, which forces them to be in even dire circumstances. From being left behind in school to being able to catch up through online education through edutech platforms. Our vision for these children is to be able to be provided free, accessible online, or even offline, education in order for them continue their schooling and eventually have better opportunities in the future.