Need help with your 'minigosyo'? Ask Mr. KaAsenso
MANILA, Philippines - PLDT KaAsenso will now have a face for its entrepreneurial education and advocacy. Entrepreneur-business consultant Jorge Noel Wieneke III, commissioned to be the go-to-guy of every “minigosyante,” graces the PLDT KaAsenso website and social-network accounts as Mr. KaAsenso.
“Facebook and Twitter accounts have been opened as a venue where I, as Mr. KaAsenso, will be able to inspire and teach aspiring entrepreneurs and businessmen planning to expand their operations,” Wieneke shared. He jokingly referred to himself as PLDT’s mascot representing the entrepreneurial spirit. Kidding aside, Wieneke is poised to take on the crucial role of being every minigosyante’s mentor, who dishes out valuable business tips and advice. He fills the need for a resource person who can guide entrepreneurs on business decisions, basic how-to’s, and concerns on who to link up with. Best of all, he can inspire, challenge, or caution the newbie businessman. Never has anything like this been done, especially by a commercial giant like PLDT, which is offering this valuable add-on service for free.
The role suits Wieneke, who aside from being part owner of several restaurants and a program director for the Ateneo Graduate School of Business Center for Continuing Education, is a staunch advocate of promoting entrepreneurship and doing it with the right values, attitudes, and information. He has been among GoNegosyo’s Angelpreneurs for some time now, traveling to the countryside to reach out to aspiring minigosyantes.
As the newly commissioned brand ambassador of PLDT KaAsenso, Wieneke explained what the brand and its advocacy is all about. “Its aim is to empower and enable progressive minigosyantes with the right communication and information tools to increase their profits and maximize their savings. With the help of various partner institutions, PLDT KaAsenso has been able to create programs that address their needs on Connectivity, Networking, Education, Financing and Extra Income. With these programs, minigosyantes are able to enjoy not only premium telco services but also value-added perks such as access to micro-financing, free business training, and a whole lot of opportunities to further their business reach.”
Wieneke earned the title Mr. KaAsenso for his long line of credentials. A seasoned negosyante who has started up and expanded a number of businesses, among his ventures are Japanese restaurant Jap-Ok, Korean restaurant K-bop, Cinema Snack Bar Buy-The Bucket, and Potato Corner. He is also a veteran consultant, providing assistance to now-successful business entities like the Manila Sinugba Restaurant, Soyami Chips and Olive Cell Phone. At various points he also served as a consultant for Waffle Time, Grams Diners, the foreign-owned Nachofast chain, Good Earth Restaurant and Hong Kong Choi, among many others. “One does not need to have huge amounts of money to be an entrepreneur,” Wieneke enthuses. “In fact, I started out with nothing.”
He seems to have imbibed the entrepreneurial spirit at a very young age. As a “teenegosyante,” he tried his hand as a viajero buying ready-to-wear clothes in Hong Kong and selling them to old commercial outlets such as Cash and Carry and Cartimar. He also sold surplus shoes from his girlfriend’s family’s shoe business in Marikina. In addition, he repackaged plastic wrap and named it Basu-Wrap in the ’80s, long before trash bags were in vogue.
“Most entrepreneurs have great ideas, a lot of passion, and the willingness to work hard and risk everything they’ve got. However, many of them are easily discouraged by the lack of capital and resources deemed necessary to make a business succeed. What people don’t know is that most of the time, all it takes is the right support system for a minigosyo to prosper — this is exactly what I aim to provide as Mr. KaAsenso.”
Like PLDT KaAsenso on Facebook www.facebook.com/pldtkaasenso and follow them on Twitter www.twitter.com/mrkaasenso to get free business tips from Mr. KaAsenso. You can also call 875-5050 or visit www.pldtkaasenso.com.ph for updates and more info.
