Rhia, business reporter of The Freeman, called me up a couple of days ago to get my opinion on the results of a international survey conducted by Grant Thorton and released in the Philippines by its local partner, Punongbayan & Araullo. The results were very intriguing as it showed that in a survey of privately held businesses, the country ranked third in the world for the most optimism, at 65%. First was India (83%) and followed by Botswana (81%). Fourth was Brazil (50%) and Armenia (46%). What was very revealing was the results of other Asian countries, Malaysia (2%), Hong Kong (-49%), Taiwan (-50%), and Thailand (-63%).

Rhia wanted to know as to why our country ranked that high especially in dramatic contrast against our Asian neighbors. It does get you thinking and reflecting. Why are we optimistic?

Here are some of my answers:

1. Our Country is the first Christian nation in Asia, and as a people we have a lot of Faith in God. It is very easy to discount this but it is the very reason that we were able to emerge from a dark dictatorship with a peaceful revolution. The sight of tanks being stopped on the street by nuns with rosaries is still one of the most moving images from that historical event.
   
2. This is nothing new. A lot of businessmen have seen this before, from the turbulent times in history to the Asian economic crisis or recently the uncertainties created by the last few moments of the Estrada presidency. This has caused our economy often to be labeled as a “Boom-Bust” cycle. Many have become used to this and are banking on the upward swing of the cycle rotation.

What do you think? Why is it that we are ranked 3^rd in the world for optimism. Keep in mind, that this was a survey of private business, so this are mostly the results of surveys of SMEs and medium enterprises. Please do email me and lets share notes. I find this very critical that we do understand and identify really the root cause for optimism, especially for businessmen.

If we are to emerge from the economic crisis raging many countries especially in the first world, we need to maintain and focus on having a positive and optimistic outlook. In a recent business conference in the United States, Brandon Steiener, founder and chairman of Steiner Sports Marketing (Biggest retailer and seller of sports memorabilia and collectables), said, “This is the best time to start a business and take a risk.” I’m sure a lot of people in the audience, entrepreneurs and businessmen, must have been shocked to hear that.

Last column we focused on the words resilience and innovation. We need to add another, aggression. Sun Tzu and recently John Kennedy said, "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters--one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity." We need to be aggressive. It is defined as “ making an all out effort to win or succeed, be competitive and vigorously energetic.” That definition can literally be exchanged for the meaning of an entrepreneur.

We already have a lot of Faith, lets do something about it. Lets look for the silver linings and focus on that. Brandon Steiner’s business selling sports memorabilia is one of the first sectors to normally take a plunge in a recession. He found new and creative ways of making his business relevant. He was able to recently book revenues of USD 1 million selling dirt. Dirt collected from the field of the soon to be torn down Yankee Stadium. Talk about tapping into nostalgia and selling them the dirt.

Have Faith. Be positive. Be resilient. Be innovative. Be aggressive. If not, we will be left wondering how the next guy ended up ahead.

I would like to take time out to congratulate Cherry Canete of Fairchild Semiconductor for winning eyebar’s Macbook Air Christmas promo. Congratulations Cherry for “seeing it your way.” I would also like to thank Alex Augusto and his Financial Management and Entrepreneurship MBA class of the University of San Jose Recoletos for inviting me to be their guest and to speak and participate in discussions on entrepreneurship tomorrow. I am excited to share and learn at the same time.

Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

For comments, suggestions or stories that you want to share, email me at stirspecialist@gmail.com , or visit http://www.stirspecialist.blogspot.com/