The pandemic has caught everybody unprepared, and this is an understatement.
Truth be told, nobody can ever prepare for a global health crisis of this unexpected magnitude. Previous warnings were mostly dismissed or ignored as doomsday scenarios, and were rarely taken seriously enough by the powers that be. So, here we are now, living in terribly uncertain times, unable yet to see an end or the end.
Meanwhile, the virus is killing or threatening not only the lives of people but also their livelihoods. All the lockdowns, gobbling up almost half of the year by now in our country, have negatively affected or impacted businesses as well as jobs. Thousands of establishments have closed down and more are still closing down. Millions of workers have become unemployed and many others continue to lose their jobs as the months go by. These are, to say the least, truly trying times, in a way that present society has never experienced before.
Be that as it may, people need to find a way to survive and, maybe, perhaps, someday, overcome the challenges of the moment and triumph over this dystopian curse.
It is in this light that, while similarly experiencing unavoidable difficulties, IKOT.PH decided to try to help those who are helping themselves. There is no program or project with a fancy title; there is only a commitment and determination, using personnel of the company who willingly volunteered, the hard-earned resources of the company though limited, and the considerable online network of the company that it has nurtured through the years and is ready to share to all those who are interested.
Open to all online businesses who sell either goods or services, IKOT.PH will assist in the marketing, advertising and promotion of these small businesses.
The IKOT.PH Content Management Team will help develop catchy captions. The IKOT.PH Creatives Development Team will help design the social media cards. The IKOT.PH Audience Engagement and Online Operations Team will help disseminate the campaign materials in the IKOT.PH website and social media accounts as well as in all of the Pages and all of the Accounts that are part of the IKOT.PH digital campaign network. Hopefully, IKOT.PH can help all these small businesses not only reach more individuals and communities but also attract and engage more customers.
During the first round, IKOT.PH was able to feature 15 small businesses. 12 of them are selling food. Two of them offer services: one provides printing; the other provides cleaning. The last one sells household items.
These are the first-round small busineses:
Angkong Dimsum Camanava and QC
In the second round, as of this writing, IKOT.PH has already featured 15 additional small businesses out of the close to 300 (and counting) still waiting in line. Again, most of these small businesses are into food, but there are also some selling clothing and apparel as well as stoneware and ceramics, among other products. Whatever goods, or services, these small businesses sell, IKOT.PH will help market, advertise and promote. There are no requirements, minimum or otherwise. There are no qualifications, or disqualifications.
These are the second-round small businesses:
Martabak Cafe Indo-Malay Restaurant
In the same way that nobody is able to see an end to, or the end of, this pandemic, IKOT.PH is likewise unable to see yet when this support for small businesses will eventually wrap up. So long as there are still small businesses out there who may ask for help, and so long as they are also willing to share the love and likewise help others, IKOT.PH will do everything to keep going for as long and as far as it can. Until then, all online businesses offering goods or services who are willing to wait for their turn to be featured are welcome to join the IKOT.PH family of small businesses.
In the end, the only way for all of us to endure and outlast this pandemic is for each of us to help one another.