Successful filipino entrepreneurs

HELE

1. SU CCESSFUL FILIPINO ENTREPRENEURS

2. According to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep .” 

3. Mariano Que, Mercury Drug Starting as an employee in a drugstore prior to World War II, Mariano Que found his opportunities when he saw the need for antibiotics. Using his knowledge in pharmaceuticals, he procured sulfathiazole antibiotics and sold them in single doses in extremely poor areas. Fueled by the booming demand from the masses, he was able to make a profit from his P100 capital and built a  kariton ,  which allowed him to sell even more antibiotics and reach more areas. Because of his dedication and hard work, he was able to work his way through and build his first drugstore in 1945.

4. Alfredo M. Yao, Zest-O Through the help of his relatives, he was able to finish elementary and high school. However, even as a working student, he was unable to finance and finish his college degree. Despite the hardships, the young Alfredo did not stop reaching for his dreams. Born to a sidewalk vendor and a brother to five siblings, Alfredo Yao saw the value of hustling at an early age. Yao’s parents sold just about anything a sidewalk vendor could sell to survive poverty. Due to his father’s early demise, he was forced to do odd jobs at the age of 12 to help feed their family .

5. With lots of valuable experiences in the printing industry, he was able to establish his own printing business and later-on discovered the potential use of “ doy ” packs or flexible foil packs as a promising technology to juice packaging and tried to promote it to local juice companies but nobody accepted it . This led him into venturing and making his own juice manufacturing business launching it as Zest-O juice drink and the rest was history.

6. Socorro Ramos, National Bookstore When her elder sister married the son of the owner of the reputable Goodwill Bookstore, it helped land her a position as a salesgirl in one of their stalls. Soon enough, she learned the workings of the business and met her would-be husband, Jose Ramos. Socorro Ramos, known by many as Nanay Coring, worked different jobs as a young girl to sustain the income of her family. She would even peel off the paper from discarded cigarettes only to earn five centavos. Her siblings also did jobs in candy factories for a living.

7. With just P211 in investment and sheer determination, they were able to build their own business. Although the odds were initially not in their favor and they had to rebuild their bookstore three times from scratch, her true entrepreneurial spirit brought saw her through. She soon achieved her much-awaited success. Today, National Bookstore has become an institution in Filipino society and has more than 150 branches scattered nationwide.

8. Julie Gandionco , Julie’s Bakeshop For Julie Gandionco , there’s no such thing as too late if you want to succeed in life. Busy managing their sari-sari store and with a sideline of sewing jobs from their neighborhood wherever her husband is assigned for work, Julie had early exposure to life as an entrepreneur. When her husband decided to leave his job to focus on managing their 30-hectare sugar plantation in Dumaguete , Julie worked with him hand-in-hand to supervise their farm. But, due to the sudden drop in the price of sugar worldwide, they soon lost their farm and the couple decided to move back to Cebu.

9. Eager to continue their life even after the huge loss, Julie applied as a canteen concessionaire in a rattan export company. Her exposure to the field made her realize the customer’s demand for bread, she risked opening her first bakeshop which she named after her—Julie’s Bakeshop—at the age of 50.

10. Tony Tan Caktiong , Jollibee Tony Tan Caktiong as a young boy started as a helper in their family business. He grew up cleaning tables, washing the dishes, and serving the customers. Because of his family and his own perseverance as well, he was able to earn a degree in BS Chemical Engineering from the University of Sto . Tomas. He ventured into the restaurant business following the path of his father and franchised the then famous Magnolia Ice Cream House from the money he borrowed from his family’s savings. Soon enough, he expanded his ice cream parlor and offered chicken and burgers on his menu. Soon it was his burgers that outsold the ice cream products.

11. Tony and his siblings immediately decided to transform their ice cream parlors to burger restaurants, which they named Jollibee. Today, Jollibee Foods Corporation is one of the leading restaurant brands not only in the country but also all over the world .

12. Edgar “Injap” Sia, Mang Inasal With a clear vision, he decided to embark on a new journey capitalizing at the property business sector with his siblings and Tony Tan Caktiong , the man behind JFC. Their partnership was able to accumulate a total of one million square meters of leasable space now known as Double Dragon. A true-blue provincial guy, Edgar “ Injap ” Sia started his fast-food chain Mang Inasal from scratch in 2003. From its humble beginnings with a sole branch in Iloilo City to more than 300 branches nationwide today, he was able to sell its full operations to Jollibee Foods Corporation for a total of P5 billion.

13. His may not be your typical rags-to-riches story but his meek and modest start at the province, to now competing with the giants in the industry, his story remains as an inspiration to all the  probinsiyano   entrepreneurs in the Philippines.

14. Henry Sy , SM Born on Christmas Day, 1923 in Xiamen, China, Henry Sy was introduced to retail early despite the poverty. In his early teens, the entire family moved to the Philippines and his father opened up a small variety store in Manila. Life was hard and with nowhere to sleep, the young Sy had to sleep inside the store clearing up the counters to do so. WWII , however, destroyed that store to the sorrow of his father. Instead of giving up, Henry Sy pushed through earning income via buying and selling shoes from enterprising American G.I.s. The little success of his shoe-selling business inspired him to open up a small shoe store in Quiapo , Manila in 1958. He named it Shoe Mart.

15. By 1972, Henry Sy had transformed his small shoe store into his first standalone department store. Today, Mr. Sy is the richest business magnate in the Philippines, worth over $11.9 billion (2014) with a handful of his malls gracing the Top 25 biggest malls of the world .

16. Corazon D. Ong, CDO Foodsphere Now, a heartwarming story of a mother turned businesswoman. Corazon Ong was working as a dietitian for a hospital. However, she decided to give up her job to focus on her family. She put her dietitian skills to good use in preparing “ baon ” for her husband Jose and native snacks for her 2 kids. She experimented with a new filling for siopao for instance. Eventually , she developed a skinless longanisa for her homemade siopao. Once the neighbors tasted it, it became such a hit. Word spread fast. And soon enough she had to borrow PhP 60,000 to fill in on all the incoming orders . Eventually , she founded CDO Foodsphere in 1995 which soon become a household name in quality food products. The business united them as her son and husband are now full time in  helping her grow the business.