Home Activity no. 1: Entrepreneurial Renato V.R. Edao Jr.
BSME
Mindset 3A
Jeff Bezo, founder and CEO of Amazon once said, “I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t
regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.” Every human is subjected to
error; it is always up to us if these failure is worth the risk. Entrepreneurs are known to be risk
takers. They tend to take lots of decision that would probably lead to failure as well as success in
the near future. How about you? Do you got what it takes to take the risk? Well if you have the
guts, someday you might be next to other great and successful entrepreneurs around the globe.
Philippines have our own Elon Musk, Jeff Bezo, and Bill Gates material entrepreneurs
here. These people take a lot of risk in their business just to attain what they right now.
Our first entrepreneur is Mr. Tony Tan Caktiong used to operate an ice cream parlor,
before converting it into a fast food restaurant called Jollibee. With a starting capital of
P350,000, the young Caktiong opened two branches in Cubao and Quiapo, together with friends
who supported his idea. Caktiong decided to serve hamburgers, fried chicken, and spaghetti to
customers when they started looking beyond the usual ice cream. Eventually, the business grew,
and he had to hire more employees. By knowing the Filipino market, Jollibee managed to excel
as a fast food powerhouse.
Second, Socorro Ramos entered the publishing and retail industry by working as a
salesgirl at a bookstore. At the age of 19, she opened National Book Store in Escolta with her
husband with a capital of P200, selling books and school supplies to students. At that time,
Manila was under the control of the Japanese, who imposed censorship on books and periodicals.
To augment their earnings, she and her husband resorted to selling other items like candles and
soaps. After the post-war boom proved profitable for the company, ushering in bigger revenues,
the Ramoses opened a nine-story building along Avenida. At 95, she still believes in the time-
honored tradition of “hands-on approach” in business. She even designed the company’s logo
herself.
Alfredo M. Yao was born on November 23, 1943 to the simplest of families. The eldest
among his siblings, he lost his father and became the family breadwinner at the age of 12. He
started a printing business at age 17 with a Php 3,000 loan from what is today known as the
Development Bank of the Philippines. In 1979, while on a business tour of Europe, he stumbled
across a new way of packaging: Doypack, a sealed bag made of plastic and aluminum that's
designed to stand upright. He would soon corner the market on juice drinks, thanks to the
convenience of his doypacks. At 2008, he launched Zest Airways and sought to compete with
other low-cost carriers of the country. Last 2016, Zest Airlines was fully integrated with AirAsia
as AirAsia Zest. He's still at the helm of Zest Group and Zest-O Corporation as its chairman. but
that didn’t stop him from innovating and diversifying into other businesses. With his
determination to make something out of nothing, he was able to achieve beyond what he could
ever imagine. One important life lesson for Alfredo Yao is to just work hard and never lose hope.
Next is Mr. Lucio Tan, a Chinese-born Filipino entrepreneur who headed such companies
as Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery, Inc., and Philippine Airlines, Inc.Tan was the oldest of
eight children. He studied chemical engineering at Far Eastern University in Manila. Tan and
Ferdinand Marcos reportedly met in the early 1960s when Marcos was a senator. Tan served as a
janitor in a cigarette factory before his promotion to tobacco "cook" In 1966 Tan started his own
tobacco company, Fortune Tobacco Corp. In 1992, Tan secretly financed the purchase of the
newly privatized Philippine Airlines, Inc. Tan was considered the richest man in the Philippines
in 1996, with an estimated net worth between $1 billion and $8 billion. In 2007 the Supreme
Court upheld the decision that voided the state's orders of sequestration of Tan's companies. A
look at some of the stories you may have heard about Tan.
Our fifth entrepreneur is Mr. Henry Sy. Some of you may not believe that Henry Sy’s
story was a ‘rags to riches’ kind of tale. Born in Xiamen, China in November 1924, Henry Sy
was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Wanting to escape poverty, Henry followed his
father to the Philippines only to experience a miserable youth in a foreign country. Sy struggled
hard living in a foreign country as an immigrant and had to learn the local language. Sy started
out with a small sari-sari store business that helped them in their day-to-day life. Henry Sy
stayed in the Philippines and built his own shoe business in Marikina. After a series of failures in
his business, Henry Sy stood back up and persevered to attain his goal. He established a small
shoe store in Quiapo, Manila in 1958 named "Shoe Mart" that eventually marked the
establishment of SM Prime Holdings. Now with three of the most valuable companies in the
Philippines: SM Investments Corp. and SM Prime Holdings Inc., valued at over Php 1 trillion
each, and BDO Unibank, valued at around Php 635 million, he has become the richest man in the
country for 11 consecutive years since 2005 and ranked 52nd in Forbes World Billionaires List
of 2018.
Sixth is Mr. Edgar Sia. Hailing from Iloilo City, Edgar Sia dropped out of college to
pursue his own laundry and photo-developing business at the age of 19. In 2003, 26-year old Sia
decided to open the barbecue fast food restaurant Mang Inasal—Ilonggo for “Mr. Barbecue.”
The first branch was built at a mall parking lot in his home city. The restaurant took off. When
Tony Caktiong heard about Sia’s burgeoning business, he decided to buy Mang Inasal for a total
of P5 billion. Sia eventually put the sales of Mang Inasal to other investments like banking and
healthcare. At 42, he’s considered the country’s youngest billionaire.
Seventh is Mr. Ben Chan of Bench Apparel. Beginning in 1987 with a small store selling
men’s t-shirts, Bench has grown to include a ladies’ line, underwear, fragrances, house wares,
snacks, and a wide array of other lifestyle products with retail space in the Philippines, and a
total of 678 stores nationwide. “It was Francorp,” according to Mr. Chan. Francorp & its team of
franchise consultants also helped professionalize the franchising industry. To boost Bench’s
growth, it pioneered in the use of celebrity endorsers, television and giant billboards to create
awareness for a fashion brand that offers premium quality products at affordable prices. Ben
Chan is the man behind the Bench brand, founder of what is now the Philippines’ largest
clothing chain, under Suyen Corporation. His style is world class fashion and his work ethics
impeccable, after learning the definition of “hardworking” from his Chinese forebears.
Next is Milagros Clarita. With only two cake displays and ten employees, Milagros,
Clarita, and Doris Leelin started Goldilocks at a 70-sq-m building space in Makati. Sisters
Milagros and Clarita loved baking and decided to pursue their passion into business. With the
help of their sister-in-law Doris, the Leelins opened their first branch. In 1991, Goldilocks
launched its franchising program. As of 2015, the bakeshop chain had almost 400 stores across
the country, with other branches in the USA, Canada, and Southeast Asia. From a modest capital
of P66,000, Goldilocks is now a multi-million food enterprise with more than 4,000 employees.
Our ninth entrepreneur are Araceli and Jun Manas. Utilizing the formulas they learned
from a Chinese chef and a capital of P30,000, Araceli and Jun Manas begun Hen Lin in 1983.
Jun worked for an protections firm whereas his spouse Araceli worked in a bank. The couple had
to memorize the complexities of the commerce themselves. At night, they practiced making
siomai or dumplings. The Manas couple opened the primary Hen Lin store in SM Makati, which
was well gotten for its scrumptious dim entirety offerings. 30 a long time on, Hen Lin is
prevalent in numerous shopping centers, advertising different items such as hopia, noodles,
congee, rice garnishes, and breakfast nourishment.
Lastly, Cresida Tueres. In 1971, Cresida Tueres begun Greenwich as a little over-the-
counter pizza store in Greenhills. Tueres had a skill for cooking. Her companions cherished the
nourishment she served so much that they chose to purchase their claim Greenwich
establishment. Awed with Tueres’s commerce insight and the development of Greenwich,
Jollibee Nourishments Organization gotten a bargain in 1994 to procure 80% of Greenwich’s
shareholding. Since at that point, the pizza parlor branched out to incorporate other dishes in its
menu. In 1997, Greenwich had a record deal of P1 billion.
In every business ventures, no matter you start from scratch or not. As long as you have
the hardwork and perseverance to make your business successful, as well as the courage to take
risk. For sure every business will be fruitful. Just like our great entrepreneurs, even though we
stumble and fall caused by decisions we made, we must learn how to stand up and redo the
mistakes we did. As long as you have these, you also have what it takes to be a great
entrepreneur.
SOURCE:
[Eight Successful Filipino Entrepreneurs]. (n.d.). Inquirer. Retreived from
https://business.inquirer.net/273445/eight-successful-filipino-entrepreneurs-who-started-
small#ixzz6kwlRYPOM
[Success Story of Alfredo Yao]. (n.d). Primer. Retrieved from
https://primer.com.ph/business/2017/06/19/success-story-of-alfredo-yao-the-juice-king/
[Famous FIilipino Entrepreneurs]. (n.d). Business tips. Retrieved from
https://businesstips.ph/list-of-famous-filipino-entrepreneurs-and-their-brands/
[Success Story; Henry Sy Sr.]. (n.d.). Primer. Retrieved from
https://primer.com.ph/business/2015/12/27/success-story-henry-sy-sr/
[Biography of Lucio Tan]. (n.d.). Britannica. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucio-Tan
[Bench story]. (n.d.). Francorp. Retrieved from https://www.francorp.com.ph/post/bench
