By Paulo Loreto Lim

Facebook Philippines, through its #SheMeansBusiness initiative, which seeks to encourage female entrepreneurship, hosted an event in Bacolod City yesterday, led by Connected Women, an organization that provides venues to train and guide female entrepreneurs.

“At Connected Women, we aim to educate women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs on digital tools so they can scale their business,” explained Connected Women CEO and co-founder Gina Romero. “We hope women entrepreneurs who attended our event in Bacolod City can take the lessons from the workshop to bring their business ideas to life.”

Romero explained women, at times, need a push to start their business because of, what she referred to as, “location dependence,” or when women feel the need to stay where they are or to follow their husbands.

She noted, women often feel the need to leave the workplace and put family first.

Another matter Romero took note of was the common practice for Filipinos, females in particular, to take jobs overseas and, in doing so, leave their families behind.

“Why do we have to leave our homes?” she asked. “We can achieve our dream here.”

One of the primary avenues Connected Women encourages participants to take is the social media aspect of marketing.

According to Facebook Philippines Public Policy Manager Christopher Kuzhuppilly, four out of five women in the Philippine have expressed a desire to start their own business.

He explained, if given such an opportunity, that could potentially create 1.3 million new jobs.

The event has traveled throughout the country, with around 42,000 taking part in in-person trainings and 50,000 participating online./PLL, WDJ