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THE coronavirus pandemic shuttered a number of businesses amid lockdowns, but it also harnessed the entrepreneurial spirit of Filipinos.

鈥淭he biggest trend is that more people are getting into business, which is good,鈥 Kendrick C. Co, head of strategic partnerships at nonbank financing company Esquire, said at a recent small business forum.

鈥淎 lot of people got into that mindset of seeing a need and then thinking 鈥極h, maybe I can fulfill that need,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the root of entrepreneurship.鈥

Another factor was the work-from-home setup that made erstwhile corporate workers reluctant to return to the office, Mr. Co said.

鈥淲ebinars and online events are another trend that became popular, so people got into that rabbit hole of learning about entrepreneurship,鈥 he separately told 大象传媒.

Entrepreneurship is 鈥渙ne of those things that鈥檚 hard to shut off鈥 once you get a taste of it, he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l want to keep on trying.鈥澛

Esquire offers noncollateral loans to small and medium enterprises.

Small businesses account for 99.59% of companies in the Philippines, according to data from the local statistics agency.

With the interest in entrepreneurship growing, 鈥渢he aim is to make small businesses graduate from one level to the next,鈥 said Trixie Esguerra-Abrenilla, managing director at the Philippine SME (PHILSME), which organized the business expo earlier this month.

鈥淭he expo鈥檚 overall objective is to help them come together, collaborate with each other, and have them showcase their business solutions,鈥 she added.聽

Ms. Abrenilla said these activities for SMEs go beyond the expo through the Philippine Business Network, a monthly gathering of business owners where they get updated on offers from different companies, as well as interact with other service providers.聽

鈥淲ith PHILSME, we will continue to support these businesses. We will continue to give valuable resources and opportunities to them,鈥 she told a news briefing on the sidelines of the expo. 鈥 PBM

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