{"id":35650,"date":"2019-06-21T11:01:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T03:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=35650"},"modified":"2019-06-21T11:02:48","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T03:02:48","slug":"70-of-filipino-freelancers-say-they-have-a-business-plan-in-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2019\/06\/21\/70-of-filipino-freelancers-say-they-have-a-business-plan-in-place\/","title":{"rendered":"70% of Filipino freelancers say they have a business plan in place"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More freelancers are turning into \u201csolopreneurs\u201d, seeing the need for a business plan and more business training as essential to their success as a freelancer. In a recent online survey of Filipino freelancers by PayPal, nearly 70 percent of respondents said they have a business plan in place to support their work. Despite that, 95 percent still indicated the need for additional training in business management.<\/strong>[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFreelancers represent a growing and increasingly influential segment of the work force that is vital to the economic engine of the Philippines,\u201d said Nagesh Devata, GM for PayPal Southeast Asia Cross-Border Trade. \u201cThe survey results are reflective of how the idea of freelancer turned ‘solopreneur’ has been gaining traction in the Philippines, given the flexibility and freedom that freelancing offers. But unlike full-time employees, freelancers often lack the back-channel support to manage their enterprises. While most full-time employees can often just focus on their job scope, freelancers will need to have a full range of skills, with business management and planning skills as key ones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the\nsurvey, which was conducted in April 2019, 65 percent of the respondents said\nthat having a business plan is essential to success in freelancing\u2014underscoring\nthe importance of business management capacities in overseeing their enterprise.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIncreasingly, we\u2019re\nseeing more freelancers treating themselves as business entities. Freelancing\nis more than the service they provide to clients. It also involves branding,\nmarketing, and finance as part of the work,\u201d added Devata. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survey\nrespondents cited \u2018Financial Planning\u2019 (39%) as the most important aspect of\ntheir business plan, followed by \u2018having a client-acquisition strategy\u2019 (38%),\n\u2018project pipeline\u2019 (12%) and \u2018rate cards\u2019 (8%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if a majority\nof freelancers already have a business plan, almost all of them see a clear\nneed for additional training in this area. This shows a strong appetite for\nknowledge and constant improvement, which are crucial in this globally\ncompetitive playing field,\u201d said Devata. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enabling\nSolopreneurs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anchored by a\nrising millennial population, the development of digital platforms, and the\nevolution of business models, the Philippines is home to a growing gig economy\nwith approximately 1.5 million freelancers, according to a 2018 estimate from\nthe Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)[2]<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nthe gig economy has opened doors and helped many Filipinos improve their\nlivelihoods, it continues to present challenges, such as increased global\ncompetition, a lack of organizational support and a lack of reliable means to\nget paid, especially when cross-border transactions are involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a champion\nfor freelancers, PayPal helps freelancers address these challenges through its Freelancer\nCommunity Program and PayPal Business App. Launched in 2017, the PayPal\nFreelancer Community Program<\/strong> provides mentorship support to equip\nfreelancers-turned-solopreneurs with skills to brand and market themselves,\nmanage their business, and file for taxes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PayPal\nBusiness App, <\/strong>is a mobile application that enables solopreneurs to conduct\nbusiness and manage finances on-the-go. With the app,\nthey can review transactions, check balances in all currencies, send customized\ninvoices to clients, track unpaid accounts and streamline their communications\nwith clients wherever they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n2018, PayPal hosted its first ever Southeast Asia Gig Economy Summit in Manila,\nwhich sought to empower freelancers and social sellers with insights on\nopportunities, challenges and new-generation solutions that are key in\nunlocking the country\u2019s potential and fast-growing freelancer economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRisks are true for any business, but the impact is greatly felt among freelancers who often rely on their own facilities without aid from an organization. As their own business, they would have to be equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills, and support to stay competitive,” Devata added. \u201cPayPal not only provides them a safer and more secure way to get paid, minimizing their financial risks, it also provides them access to an immense network of merchants and consumers, through our global reach and partnerships. We want to enable freelancers and solopreneurs to build a stable and fulfilling career as part of our mission to democratize finance.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a>The survey was conducted online and promoted through Facebook from 18\nApril 2019 to 19 April 2019. The results gathered were based on responses from\n173 participants who took the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> http:\/\/www.manilastandard.net\/tech\/business0\/266639\/piscon-2018-talks-future-of-online-freelancing.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent online survey of Filipino freelancers by PayPal, nearly 70 percent of respondents said they have a business plan in place to support their work. Despite that, 95 percent still indicated the need for additional training in business management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,22],"tags":[4634,3318,828,96],"class_list":["post-35650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-spotlight","tag-freelancer","tag-freelancing","tag-paypal","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}