Speech: Product Launching Festival

Speech of Prof. Richard S. Celeste, MBM during the 2nd Product Launching Festival of the Entrep 103 Class of the Marketing Department, Mindanao State University, Marawi City.

 

Everything great starts from an idea. An innovative idea worth transforming into a tangible product. An idea with the goal of satisfying people’s needs and make their lives better.

I would like to request the Entrep 103 students to please stand and be recognized. Tap the shoulder of the person to your right and say, Congrats, you have made this far. And then tap the shoulder of the person to your left and say “It feels great to be learning with you. A round of applause. My warmest congratulations to all of you for surpassing the many challenges of pursuing this activity. To the class officers and members of the core team, please remain standing as others take their seats, I commend you for your persistence, motivation and dedication to lead the class and the entire Entrep 103 students towards the achievement of a common goal. You deserve a resounding round of applause. Requesting Sir Cha to stand. You deserve acknowledgement for guiding the students in practicing what they learn. Continue to push them harder so they could appreciate the benefits of having all these. Thank you. If I may borrow the lines of the Little Prince that goes, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eyes.” Some people might only focus on the tangibles without minding how you went through because behind this is a series of struggles, sacrifices and selfless acts just to get things done and so with that you all deserve another resounding round of applause.

There lies an entrepreneurial child in each one of us: a child who is daring, confident, determined and courageous, a child who always thinks he can do anything, and a child who believes everything is possible. Question: Do you think you still have that great confidence, courage and determination now?

Over the years, the level of self-confidence diminishes not because we are not capable but because we have been programmed or influenced unconsciously by the people around us like our parents, even teachers and the society at large who would tell us that we cannot do things. Example: You say, Gusto kong maging Doctor and your mother would reply, Pag sure dira Nak, di gani ka kabasa og tarong. How about the teachers reprimanding the students if they fail the exam or if they fail to memorize the definition of a term? How about the larger society with negative people who would laugh at us when we fail? We have then become conscious of what other people may think of us which adds to the limiting beliefs we set to ourselves. And then we say, Hindi ko nga talaga kaya, so when opportunities call you to do so, you hold back and retreat.

Added to that is our educational system with the requisites and emphasis reflected in 3 purposive statements: Study hard, get good grades and land a good job. These draw serious implications. For instance, the fear of committing mistakes hinders the creativity of the students. One becomes static and dependent largely on books because a minor mistake can be fatal. I can’t help myself but be amazed with a 20 year old boy in the name of Gian Javelona who is the Chief Executive Officer of his company Orange Apps. He said, “I think education is the main problem. All of us are molded to be employees – not employers. If you ask a student today, what they want to do after graduation, most will say that they want to work for a big, local company or go abroad and earn big money.” This is a sad reality but it’s never too late to do some things.

For example, today is the Grand Launching of your New Products in Entrep 103. It is an opportunity for you to learn how it is to become an entrepreneur. More than this launching is a series of tests and challenges on your time management, teamwork, creativity, marketing, entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

First, the time management test. I understand that you have struggled much to make both ends meet to the extent of missing other priorities not to mention the missed classes. To those who maintained a balance in all of your subjects, good for you and to those who did not, make it a goal to balance things and manage well your time. Have a to-do list as your guide and reminder. Write the tasks on your notes a night before the day begins because while you are asleep, your mind works as to how you will accomplish the tasks and so when the day comes, everything flows smoothly, allowing you to accomplish most if not all of the tasks written because some of these will need more time.

Second, the test of how it is to work with the team. I want to emphasize this: Each one of you is a significant part of the team and when you as a parcel of a subsystem do not function well, others will be affected. Imagine how much of a delay you would cause if you don’t cooperate. Always remember that your individual contributions would lead to a group success. Create a synergy for a successful undertaking.

3^rd, the creativity test. You were given the task to represent a festival in the country and you have done it so well. With your output, you deserve a grade higher than your average score in your major written exams :D

4^th, the actual marketing test, you sure have strategies to attract customers like putting up of the streamers, facilitating gimmicks and having convincing techniques to make customers buy your product. I want you to know that you will always encounter rejections but don’t take it seriously because for every 1 No from a customer is a several Yeses from other customers. You just have to believe that as long as you have something to sell, you can make a sale.

5^th, the test on your entrepreneurial skills. Starting up a business, organizing a product exhibit and selling products are really challenging. It demands much of your time, energy and yes money. But activities like this serve as one of the ways for you to appreciate what your course is all about. BSBA Entrepreneurial Marketing calls for students and faculty alike to explore entrepreneurship by engaging into it. May this grand launching and all other selling activities be an eye opener to everyone of us to consider engaging entrepreneurship worth venturing into.

6^th, the leadership test. How patient have you become in calling for a group meeting with no one in coming. How effective you are in facilitating group consensus and agreement so you could work well together towards a common goal.

All these tests are but a training ground for you - a learning avenue where you get to develop the values of being responsible, diligent, patient, disciplined and time conscious.  

 

The theme: Today’s Innovation – World Class Delights for World Class Individuals is timely and relevant as it is in consonance with MSU’s goal to be a world class institution in 2020. It poses a challenge to both young and seasoned entrepreneurs to offer innovative products so customers will be satisfied.  With a thorough and detailed focus on the stages of the product development process, anyone can come up with a brilliant idea, transform this idea into a tangible output and satisfy customer’s needs. I highly suggest that you tap the social media in your promotional activities by posting photos and update in facebook and twitter so a lot of people will know of your products who will eventually become your customers in the years to come. More so with telling the world that Mindanao is not that horrible and horrid; that we can actually do activities safely, peacefully and successfully.

Indeed, Entrep 103 is a very good foundation for your entry to the terminal or final courses Entrep 109 for the business plan and Entrep 197 for the practicum. Make your experiences here your guide posts as you continue schooling. And I encourage you to be bolder, more daring and more passionate in the future.

Before I end my speech, I would like to leave you these pieces of advice that you can keep and apply. I call it 5 Be’s.

1.      Be hungry for learning. Take every course requirement as an opportunity for you to learn, grow and be responsible. If your instructor gives you tasks to do, don’t complain right away. Always think of the benefits it could give you and find ways to learn from it. And I tell you, there’s so much learning if theories are supplemented with applications because it is through application that everything will be put to test.

2.      Be positive and be faithful. Each one of us go through struggles and some of these challenges seem to pull us down leading to decisions of giving up. As Napoleon Hill puts it, “Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the Seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.” So, don’t worry of what you are going though right now because it has a positive equivalent. Whatever struggles you have, just stay positive and never give up when you are on the verge of doing it. I want to emphasize this: Do not stop when you are tired. Stop when you are done. Also, Call unto God for interventions and believe in Him that everything will be well.

3.      Believe in yourself. Venus Williams, an Olympic Gold Medalist said, You have to believe in yourself when no else does, that’s what makes you a winner. Never mind other people who would tell you, you cannot do things. One of the joys in life is actually doing what others think you can’t because it seems impossible. Two of the powerful statements available to mankind are: I can and I am… Can everyone say I can do it…. I can make it through the rain… And say I am confident, I am diligent, I am responsible, I am productive, I am determined, I am courageous, I am talented.

4.      Be in love. There can be no law greater than Love and there can be no emotion stronger than love. Find love in everything that you do and it will make you happy. How I wish though that I could stay in love longer with what I presently do for the years to come. To the students, learn to love your course and the things you do in your major subjects because you are on the right track. Feel proud you are a BSBA Entrepreneurial Marketing student because you have a vital role as a practicing young entrepreneur in the economic development of the country. It even gives you a rare opportunity to make a difference. And so when people ask you what course are you taking, confidently say, I am taking BSBA Entrepreneurial Marketing – a course giving me the option to the path less travelled by – that is becoming an entrepreneur. Most importantly, be in love with the Almighty, the source of everything for without Him, we are nothing.  

5.      Be thankful. There is power in gratitude that could change our lives because for every thank you we say welcomes more blessings and abundance. Say thank you to your parents, to the saleslady, to the tricycle driver and to anyone you come in contact with. More so with being grateful to the Almighty for all the good things He has done for us. Even be grateful for the green fields, fresh air, and everything that you have now. Learn to appreciate.

And so I am ending this message with “Who wants this?” Taking actions is indeed key towards success and may take one action at a time towards the achievement of our dreams in life. We can have so many goals and aspirations but only if we take actions can we make these dreams real.

Thank you so much everyone for listening. May you have more sales today and for the days coming so you could also appreciate earning a profit and satisfying people’s needs. Have a great day ahead. And May God bless us all.

Do you Like this story..?

Get Free Email Updates Daily!	Follow us!