This document discusses a qualitative research study on the coping strategies of micro and small businesses regarding external factors that affect business survival. The study interviewed 10 small business owners in San Pablo City and Quezon Province. It describes the research methodology, which involved face-to-face and online interviews using semi-structured questions. The findings section summarizes the owners' responses to questions about startup costs, managing stress, using technology, dealing with inflation, the effect of economic conditions on profits, adapting to trends, and coping with competitors and changing technologies. Overall, the study sought to understand how small businesses survive external challenges.

1. Micro (5), Small (5) enterprise
coping strategies in external
factors survival in business
Aldrian F. Altoveros
Ma. Christina C. Bejer
Althea D. Agdan
Monique Joy U. Fernandez
Marius Louis M. Pino

2. INTRODUCTION
Venturing into the world of micro and small businesses is a journey filled with boundless
opportunities and unique challenges. Whether you're fueled by a revolutionary idea, a deep-
seated passion, or a desire for financial independence, the entrepreneurial path offers a
canvas to paint your vision of success. However, the road to prosperity is not without its
twists and turns.
These micro, small, and medium companies (MSMEs) are considered as the "backbone of
the Philippine economy," with small firms accounting for more than 99 percent of all
enterprises in the nation and employing 64.67 percent of the local workforce, according to
the Department of Trade and Industry.(Vanessa H., 2023) Every businesses have experience
challenges and issues regarding the external factors of a business.
This Qualitative Research study set out on a journey to discover and comprehend the
coping strategies regarding the external factors survival among the individuals and
entrepreneurs in the business industry. As we go on this journey of unraveling the secrets
behind how businesses cope up and survive with the issues in external factors of a business.

3. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Contact:
Manhu’s Kitchen
Freddie Casinas Jr.
manager@themanhu.co.nz
55 Wellesley Street Auckland CBD, Post code 1010

4. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Contact:
Upholstery
Arnold Brinas
09993673004
Barangay III - E, San Pablo City, Laguna

5. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Marian’s Store
Marian Abrenica
Brgy, San Cristobal, San Pablo City

6. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Contact:
Jepoy’s Fruit Stall
Jepoy Agdan
09758944007
Brgy. Bulakin II, Dolores Quezon

7. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Trish - Tan Minimart
Carlos Abrenica
Brgy. Pinagdanlayan Dolores, Quezon

8. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Contact:
Trish - Tan Minimart and General Merchandise
Mildred Abrenica
trishtanminimart@gmail.com
Sitio Bulalakaw, Pinagdanlayan Dolores, Quezon

9. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Claire Sari-sari store
Claire Cosico
Cosico Ave. San Pablo City, Laguna

10. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Contact:
EH KAPE
OFWs and their families
(049) 502 7984 /
houseofekolife@gmail.com
Ground Floor, APO Building, Dagatan Boulevard,
Sampalok Lake, San Pablo City, Laguna, San Pablo
City, Philippines

11. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Contact:
Marie sari-sari store
Marie Altoveros
(09496960767
Brgy. Sta. Maria, San Pablo City, Laguna

12. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Name of business:
Name of owner:
Address:
Contact:
DG PASALUBONG AND HANDICRAFTS
John Herbert Verain
09558045007 /
09163304132
Regidor st. San Pablo Shopping Mall, San Pablo City

13. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Design and Methods
The study employed a qualitative methods of research because it focuses on
obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication. Its focus is the coping
strategies of in external factors of a business. Qualitative methods are typically more
flexible - that is, they allow greater spontaneity and adaption of the interaction between the
researchers and the participants of the study.
Population and Locale of the Study
The participants of the study were five (5) Micro and five (5) Small businesses
and enterprises in San Pablo City and from Quezon Province. This study focuses on business
owners, and ten (10) of them were chosen in total. They had been chosen for the criteria of
being in different fields of business. Purposive sampling was used by the researchers during
the study, which included conducting interviews with participants, to obtain critical data
from them.

14. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Data Gathering Tool
The face-to-face interview and online interview using Google Forms was used as
the instrument of the research study. The researchers prepared a semi-structured
questions and have been followed up during the interview proper. The questions were
answered without persuasion of the interviewee. The interview cites information about the
experiences and thoughts of the respondents.
Data Gathering Procedures
A letter was given to both the Program Coordinator and Subject Adviser of BSOA
- CBAA to ask permission to conduct an interview on the entrepreneurs outside the campus
proper. An Individual consent form was also given to the participants as a proof that they
are willing to share their insights about the said study.

15. INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS
Results and Discussion
Question#1: How much your start -up money for your
business?
Respondent no. 1 2M pesos
Respondent no. 2 The starting capital is 20,000 to 30,000
Respondent no. 3 2,500
Respondent no. 4 200,000 pesos
Respondent no. 5 My start up money for my business is 10k-15k
Respondent no. 6 Php. 1M
Respondent no. 7 Php 500k
Respondent no. 8 Oh it’s big, I think between 100-200k
Respondent no. 9 Php 450,000
Respondent no. 10 I think my starting investment is about 80k to 100k

16. Question#2 : How do you prevent a situation from getting to
stressful to manage?
Respondent no. 1 Good planning specially on cash flow.
Respondent no. 2 By earning a money and not spending a money in nonsense.
Respondent no. 3 Changes are a part of any business, and learning to adapt to them can make the
job easier. Keep an open mind, be flexible, and embrace new ideas.
Respondent no. 4 I always only focus on a good outcome; when I get rotten fruit, I always think about
how I will return my investment.
Respondent no. 5 Having a plan in any situation.
Respondent no. 6 Proper accomplishment of daily task and Keeping work organized.
Respondent no. 7 Keeping everything organized.
Respondent no. 8 Ahm, for me I am doing everything because it is planned so that my business wont
experience stressful situations like that, for example in my business ahm,
everyday, I listed for example the supplies got out of stock, I am listing it. If ever I
have a time and I can go and buy in the afternoon I will buy immediately that
specific stock, instead of buying it the next day, I would lack on stock again and it’s
a waste, It’s a waste because it is still an income. So far I didn’t really encounter
things like that because I do advance planning always.
Respondent no. 9 By reporting to head office and meeting the staffs and management.
Respondent no. 10 For now we don’t encounter any kind of stress that that is stressful to manage.
everything is smooth sailing.

17. Question#3 : How do you use the advancement of technology to
provide more opportunities to your business?
Respondent no. 1 Technology helps us specially on social media platforms were our customers find
us.
Respondent no. 2 Putting your business in social media by using technology like having a
advertising in social media.
Respondent no. 3 Using social media marketing to expand the reach and connect with customers.
Respondent no. 4 I can use it to promote my business, especially on Facebook. Sometimes I post
here or I put it in the story so that people know that my watermelon products are
good and that they are available in our place.
Respondent no. 5 Help to know what customer demand.
Respondent no. 6 Using the advancement of technology to make our work easier and faster.
Respondent no. 7 By online strategy like online posting and selling.
Respondent no. 8 Oh of course the printer, ahm my windows are updated, my printers are updated,
oh.. eh.. because of that a lot of people can print with us. Sometimes they use
wps in printed, just like that you must always be updated like that. You must be
updated always, and install new version so that you are always in.
Respondent no. 9 By using social media like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube to promote our business.
Respondent no. 10 Posting in any kind of social media platform was very helpful for us especially in
Facebook because in that way we can easily sell our products. many customers
can see and know our product. in that way, our market will expand.

18. Question #4 : How are you dealing with high inflation
crisis?
Respondent no. 1 There's no easy way but we try to find ways to increase our sales to
cover our loss from inflation.
Respondent no. 2 Maintaining the expenses.
Respondent no. 3 Regularly reviewing financial statements and adjusting strategies
based on current market conditions can help businesses stay
ahead of inflation.
Respondent no. 4 I'm considering ways to expand my firm even further because the
rate of inflation is tough to keep up with due to the rapid rise in
pricing.
Respondent no. 5 Having a plan and adjusting in any type of situation.
Respondent no. 6 Adapt with the changes in inflation.
Respondent no. 7 Go with the flow and adjusting
Respondent no. 8 Ahhm, it is on… again in planning the budget so that you wont feel
the inflation rate, it was just like that.
Respondent no. 9 We just buy what is needed on our business.
Respondent no.
10
Ah, I think it’s in the proper budgeting, and also be thrifty. that’s the
secret.

19. Question #5 : How does the economic conditions affect the business
profitability?
Respondent no. 1 For economy where cost of everything is high and purchasing power of customers are low. The
only way to make money is volume over profit.
Respondent no. 2 Having a fair rate in business.
Respondent no. 3 Inflation is the rate at which the cost of goods and services is increasing over time. This can
affect businesses in a few ways. If the cost of goods and services increases, businesses may
have to raise their prices to maintain profitability. This can lead to decreased demand for their
products or services, depending on the price point. Additionally, inflation can affect the cost of
inputs—such as materials or labor—which can also eat into profits.
Respondent no. 4 When the economy of an area is not good, it affects my business because it means that the
income from the business I have may not be good.
Respondent no. 5 Having less profit and higher price of product.
Respondent no. 6 Low economic growth affects the business profitability.
Respondent no. 7 Low economic rate indicates low profit
Respondent no. 8 Yes, because almost every week the price of school supplies increases, so for me who’s near
the school I can’t increase the price immediately, because I still have to look at students budget,
because my consumers and customers are mostly students. You can’t for example increase the
price for print for like 3 pesos, sometime I even make it 1 peso if I am printing bunch, since it is
needed and the students have no budget.
Respondent no. 9 For example the crisis/pandemic Covid-19 the economic goes down, many business were
closed or down.
Respondent no. 10 Here in San Pablo, although my product is different because I don’t have local product from San
Pablo itself. I don’t feel the change because I usually get my products on other places.

20. Question #6 : How did you cope up with the growing trends in the
economy?
Respondent no. 1 Location of the business is really important. If the place of business is right then it
would earn profit even in times of economic downfall.
Respondent no. 2 Learning more about it how it does work and etcetera.
Respondent no. 3 Adapt to the changing market conditions by offering new products/services and
investing in new technologies to improve the operations.
Respondent no. 4 As for my product, it's not that much affected by the trend; maybe it's just online
promotion that I need to accompany to add more or help my business.
Respondent no. 5 Adopting any type of trend to manage the demand of customer.
Respondent no. 6 Go with the growing trends to be updated.
Respondent no. 7 Go with the flow.
Respondent no. 8 Also whatever the student is looking for whether or not it is a trending or what you
must have it as well, it is still an income.
Respondent no. 9 By using social media or other platform web used as a business technique.
Respondent no.
10
ah okay. So I saw that there are a lot of businesses that grow easily by the help of
social media. that’s why me and my wife , we also post our products on social media
to expand our market. because we could earn more customers if we post our
products in any social media platform and we can’t depend on walk in customers. just
like what we have experienced, we tried to post our product in Tiktok shop, then
someone ordered. so we just shipped out our product to them.

21. Question #7 : How did you manage to keep up with the growing competitors in the market?
Respondent no. 1 We tried to be unique in our own ways. Being in food business what matters most is the taste of
food.
Respondent no. 2 Having a quality product and stay inline of your business.
Respondent no. 3 Businesses can keep up with growing competition by continually analyzing and adjusting their
strategies based on market trends and customer feedback. They can also focus on offering
unique value propositions, providing excellent customer service, investing in technology and
innovation, and staying agile and adaptable to changes in the market.
Respondent no. 4 I simply keep the fruits that I produce beautiful, and of course, you must charge reasonable
pricing to your consumers and buyers so that they would return and be even more enticing to
buy from you.
Respondent no. 5 We are not competing any competitor but I will do anything I can for my business.
Respondent no. 6 Just continue offering goods and services that our customer need.
Respondent no. 7 Competition in the market is inevitable just do anything for business.
Respondent no. 8 None. I am sticking into what my price is. The price of my school supplies, prints, I didn’t lessen
or I didn’t compete with other since I have my own strategy. I also add some school supplies,
good quality prints, photo copy, so that I don’t have to compete. I lower the price for prints, lower
the price for school supplies, but ever since my business is sari-sari store way back 2007-2008 I
never compete in terms of pricing with my competitors up until now that I am selling school
supplies.
Respondent no. 9 By developing our product and prices.
Respondent no.
10
Ah, we just maintain our supplies. instead of reducing the product, we just make sure that we
add more products that our consumers could buy as “pasalubong” because in there are a lot of
competitors in this line of business.

22. Question #8 : How did the on going growth and changes of technologies affect your business
and how did you cope up with it?
Respondent no. 1 It does affect us in positive way. We try to adapt to new technologies that can help our business.
Respondent no. 2 In the modern technologies I'll keep up to them for my business same as them.
Respondent no. 3 In general, businesses have coped with the ongoing growth and changes of technologies by innovation
and adaptation. They constantly upgrade their systems and infrastructure, invest in emerging
technologies, conduct market research and analysis to understand the changing demands of
customers, and train their employees to adjust to new ways of doing things. Some businesses also
partner with technology providers and participate in industry events and conferences to stay up-to-date
with the latest trends and advancements. The ability to cope up with technological changes and growth
is critical to remaining competitive and relevant in today's fast-paced business environment.
Respondent no. 4 In the case of my business, there is not much impact; technology has helped my business.
Respondent no. 5 Having many competitors, I keep my product base on demand.
Respondent no. 6 The changes of technologies are advantage for us to offer more convenienceand service to customers.
Respondent no. 7 Use it to our advantage to cater the needs of our customers and keeping up with the trends.
Respondent no. 8 You know in business, specially in… the increasing price of school supplies, toner, and ink has a major
effect on us. That was one of the things I face on how will I going to adjust the price that would still fit
the students budget, because I always think of the students budget, because like what I have said my
consumers are mostly students.
Respondent no. 9 Easy, to promote our product because of change of technologies.
Respondent no. 10 Ah I think the disadvantage for us and for others too. sometimes we can’t usually update our social
media page unlike the others. because we are not hundred percent focused in posting. we are also
busy on other things, other business. other competitors are focused on posting because I think they
have an operator or an admin on their account.

23. Question #9 : What are you preparations in your business when it
comes to climate change?
Respondent no. 1 Business insurance is the best way to protect the business to unforeseencalamities.
Respondent no. 2 Advance preparation, learning, and researches for the future changes.
Respondent no. 3 Collaboration with stakeholders, such as suppliers, customers, and government
agencies, will help businesses better understand the risks associated with climate
change and develop effective strategies to address them.
Respondent no. 4 Of course, when there is climate change, sometimes it is difficult to get a supply of
watermelon and other fruits, so I immediately look for other contacts so that I can get
other fruits from them.
Respondent no. 5 Having a plan in any type of problem and having preparation.
Respondent no. 6 Minimal usage of plastic bags and proper management of garbage or waste.
Respondent no. 7 Waste management and minimal use of plastics.
Respondent no. 8 Ahh yes, so far ever since I started selling, the power shortage does not really affect
us. And the pandemic have affected me big time. All of the machines were not
damaged but I spent 30,000 for my 3 machines, so far the power shortage doesn’t
affect us because we never felt and encounter it yet.
Respondent no. 9 We have two variant of coffee for raining season or for hot days.
Respondent no. 10 Hmm!nothing much because my place is good. in case anything happen, rainy or
sunny. I’m ready.

24. Question #10 : How do you comply on legal policies issues by the
government?
Respondent no. 1 We always get proper updates on rules and regulations that covers our business.
Respondent no. 2 By following their rules having a fair rate and etcetera.
Respondent no. 3 Businesses should read and understand the legal policies issued by the government, and ensure
that their business practices are consistent with these policies.
Respondent no. 4 I pay an appropriate tax, have a permission, and, of course, keep my products at the proper pricing.
Respondent no. 5 Pass all the requirementin government.
Respondent no. 6 By complying to requirements before establishing the business and being registered to government
agencies.
Respondent no. 7 Simply registering and complying with the requirements.
Respondent no. 8 Oh! We have an accountant. Our accountant is the one who fixed every issues arising, we have
receipt, we are legal. In other words we are legal, we are meeting every rules, regulations and
policies of BIR and Kapitolyo, and even Fire, the Bureauof fire we have complete papers, as you
can see.
Respondent no. 9 Yellow card or health card, Business permit and Complying the requirements of BFA/fire protection.
Respondent no. 10 If you usually go to this part. our store sells native handicrafts way back twenty nineteen. but
suddenly, our sales became dull. so we immediately think the possible products that we could sell to
our customers. and because the place of our store is also a good place, where many people are
passing by and it is a way going to the mall. we came to a primary mindset to try the pasalubong
center and hoping that it would also click. and now, we are going two years, and so far the outcome
is okay. we started this I think February twenty twenty one. so what now as you can see we divided
our store. half of it is a pasalubong center and the other half is native handicrafts

25. CONCLUSIONS
The findings of the survey provide valuable insights into various aspects of
the respondent’s history and story of the business, capital of the business, high
inflation crisis, economic conditions affecting business profitability, growing
trends in the economy, growth and change in technology, preparations in climate
change, and complying legal policies issues by the government.
Overall, the findings emphasize the significance of positive thinking and
maintaining a good strategy to expand and help grow the business. they provide
valuable insights for individuals and organizations to understand the factors that
contribute to success and growth.

26. RECOMMENDATIONS
Here are the following recommendations made by researchers for online
sellers/retailers, small/large businesses, customers, and especially for future
researchers:
To the Online sellers/retailers.
To the Small/large Businesses.
To the Customers.
To the Future Researchers.

27. THANK YOU!