Various demands and needs, new or old, can now be catered online whether it’s food, clothing, art, entertainment, workshops, or even transportation and accommodations (hi Grab and Airbnb!) – you name it. This has been further amplified by the changes in our lifestyle. With work from home set-ups, one can pursue their dreams of becoming an entrepreneur while being successful at their day job.
Digitalization has elevated both our capabilities and the possibilities that we can explore. It’s possible that you have a business plan that might be able to cater to a market that doesn’t exist yet – remember the old days when we thought we could only enjoy watching movies in theaters with friends and strangers? Or that there wouldn’t be any more convenient ways of watching at home other than through DVDs? But several streaming platforms have found another way and now it’s almost a part of our everyday routine to see what’s next on these apps!
If that’s not enough to convince you, just know that the Philippines is in a period of eCommerce hypergrowth. In fact, a lot of Filipinos recently seized the opportunity to start their own businesses. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Business Name Registration division reported a staggering 916,000 new business registration in 2021, a year into the pandemic.
“Filipinos are naturally creative and resourceful people who actively seek opportunities to support themselves and grow. We at Xendit want to enable this mindset to support these new businesses with the tools they need to capitalize on this period of hypergrowth in eCommerce,” says Yang Yang Zhang, the Managing Director of Xendit Philippines.
Xendit is the leading payment gateway in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, and has helped countless micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) accept and send payments on one integrated platform.
To help aspiring business owners like you get started this season, Xendit is holding the Diskarteng Summer promo where over 30 new merchants can win prizes valued at more than P500,000.
Individual/social sellers and SMEs need only to sign up at the website and start transacting with Xendit. The more business owners and their customers transact through Xendit, the higher the cashback and the chances of winning prizes. This limited-time offer runs until May 31, 2022.
To further help you on this journey, here are more diskarteng summer tips from Xendit:
Explore easier ways to build your capital. You will need to have some funds ready even before you start your business. This is called capital and is the money you will use for day-to-day operations and fund its growth. Generally, you will need funds to cover startup costs like licenses and permits, inventory, your launch, and ongoing expenses for six to 12 months so it’s good to find tools and partners to help cut those costs (i.e. charge on usage/sale rather than upfront costs)
Connect with your audience and customers. Stay updated on what’s trending and prioritize not only knowing your market but really understanding their needs and aspirations. Don’t underestimate the power of forming close relationships with them as this will bring authentic patronage to your business. Nothing beats great promotion and recommendations through word of mouth!
Capture opportunities to grow exponentially, digitally. The pandemic has seen a boom in digital payments so it’s important to offer this from the start. To get ahead, choose an online payment platform that’s simple, secure, and easy to use for your customers.
Xendit accepts payments from credit and debit cards; the country’s top banks; and e-Wallets like GCash, GrabPay, and Paymaya. Through Xendit, customers can also pay over-the-counter at retail stores like 7-Eleven, Palawan Pawnshop, M Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier, and ECPay. Another exciting offering is BillEase, a Buy Now Pay Later solution.
What’s more, with the Diskarteng Summer promo, you get a chance of winning prizes that can accelerate your operations—tools like MacBooks and iPads, a shout out from some of our partner influencers that will help get more visibility for your brand, and even business mentorship sessions from Apprentice Asia winner Jonathan Yabut.
Aside from these, all small or medium enterprises can enjoy cashback fee waivers for all the payments processed through Xendit. You can use these savings to further expand your business or simply reward yourself during the summer.
Flex your creativity through social media. Now that you have a secured online payments platform to provide your customers with a hassle-free experience, it’s time to utilize the power of social media. A strong and active social media presence plays an important role in running businesses, especially amid the pandemic. You can use platforms like Facebook and Instagram to increase brand awareness, receive feedback, and even take orders.
You can also find a wealth of accessible resources to help you with your social media content, which in turn will help you gain more engagements and traffic for your business. For example, Canva helps you create curated content posts using various free templates available on its site. To take things further, you can even study boosting ads to amplify your visibility and custom-target your audience.
Stay innovative and adaptive. With a rapidly changing environment and so many other things to consider when operating a business: monitoring sales, sending invoices, paying employees and suppliers, and making sure it is protected from fraud – it’s best to have a reliable partner that will allow you to be agile.
Xendit makes running a business easier with its suite of innovative solutions, allowing you to fulfill sales and put more focus on growing. A centralized dashboard gives an overview of sales and payments, with detailed financial reports. Xeninvoice creates tailored statements customized with the business logo, message, and brand colors. Meanwhile, xendisburse automates payouts any day of the week. Lastly, an in-house fraud detection system uses machine learning to protect you from cybercrimes.
“When we build a seamless payment infrastructure for the Philippines, it is easier for MSMEs to start their businesses. Since our mission at Xendit is to empower Filipino entrepreneurs through safe and easy-to-use payment solutions, we make sure our services cover the end to end process of running a business, from raising capital to creating financial reports and hosting webinars and mentoring sessions,” shares Yang Yang Zhang, Managing Director of Xendit Philippines.
To officially get started, simply go to Xendit’s Diskarteng Summer website and sign up.