In the Philippines, micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are considered the backbone of economic development. In 2012, 99.6 per cent of the almost 945,000 registered business enterprises were MSMEs. These generated almost 5 million jobs or roughly 61 per cent of the country’s total employment. As of October 2017, there are about 7,600 registered MSMEs in ARMM. Over the last five years, there has been an average annual growth of 1,600 MSMEs in the region.
Despite the rapid growth, studies suggest that there is a poor survival rate of MSMEs in the country. Ninety per cent of MSMEs fail in their first 18 months of operations. Poor planning and cash mismanagement are some of the factors linked to such failure. This is where Anaya Solutions intends to intervene.
Anaya Solutions is a business development support firm that intends to help MSMEs in ARMM improve their operations by providing business management solutions at a reasonable price. Mr Hobaib A. Saiben, a Certified Public Accountant, is the person behind Anaya Solutions. He is a graduate of BS Accountancy from the Mindanao State University in Marawi City. Mr Saiben, along with his social enterprise partners, believes that by assisting MSMEs achieve their organizational goals, he is also helping the marginalised sectors of the community through sustained economic growth.