Monday, October 1, 2007
Business Beat

The passion of entrepreneurs
Melito Salazar Jr.

At the conference proper of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines in the Camp John Hay Convention Center in Baguio City last Thursday and Friday, the delegates were inspired by the experiences of entrepreneurs, a number of whom were FINEX members.

As President Billy Cortez put it — While the theme of FINEX for the year is "Be Ahead in a Globalized Economy," it is the entrepreneurs who will make the Philippines move forward, thus the focus on entrepreneurship.

Since Secretary Peter Favila was in New York with his president, Mr. Benel Lagua, president of the Small Business Guarantee & Finance Corporation read his speech committing that the Department of Trade and Industry will "continue to streamline its frontline services to reduce the cost of doing business and eradiate red tape in business transactions for the benefit of investors, particularly SMEs."

It is necessary for DTI not only to internally improve but to reach out to other government units. I recall an incident during my years as DTI undersecretary where an investor had located in a town farther from its source of raw materials. I told the DTI staff that the investor should have placed his plant in the other town but the staff told me that the mayor of that better location had asked the investor to "come across." I’m not sure if the mayor asked, "May 200 ba ako dyan?" But I do know that when I shared that story with the mayors of that province during the BOI’s Networking with Local Executives for Investment Promotion, they looked around meaningfully at each other. I did honor the mayor of the town who did not ask for anything, who even had a road constructed linking the plant to the national highway and got for his constituencies 50 new jobs. I told the group that whatever we did at the national level, it was what they did that determined if investors will come and stay. Many of those mayors responded by coming up with their own local investment promotion programs.

The entrepreneurs voiced similar concerns and cited the example of Singapore where enterprises without environmental and health implications were immediately registered and could operate instantly. Despite the obstacles and it would seem minimal government assistance, the entrepreneurs persevered and set up enterprises that created jobs. Ed Limon of Intex Holdings Corporation came in when texting was just beginning and established his linkages with Nokia. Loyalty to his original customer and doing his best, even coming up with a complete system (involving sending engineers to Hong Kong to dismantle the equipment and bringing it to Manila on a regular commercial flight) for a client in just two weeks summed up his passion to service. Manny Duenas of Actron Industries, Inc. emphasized that being true to oneself; knowing when to say "No" and standing up for his beliefs have made his enterprise a leader in the food ingredient business. His "software’ and "hardware" combination in the food industry has resulted in products and services which international clients are surprised to learn are innovations of a proudly Filipino company. Nina Malvar of Kartini Asia transformed a landscape firm into a well-integrated and seamless undertaking offering furniture, interiors, accessories, spa and café in a Balinese-inspired setting with just the right Filipino touch. These FINEX members coming from the corporate world or academe have shown how financial executives can graduate to become successful entrepreneurs.

Mr. Senen Bacani of La Frutera, Inc. and Filipino Entrepreneur of the Year awardee shared how through entrepreneurship, one could bring about a transformation in the community. It is not just the jobs; it’s the way of life of working together. Its not just profits for the company, it’s the total development of individuals and the group. Mr. Samie Lim, President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairman Emeritus of the Philippine Franchise Association impressed everyone with the national strategy to create enterprises and jobs through franchising. The well thought out plans and marketing programs in the tourism and wellness industry assured everyone that there will be millions of tourists coming in. His idea of bringing the aging foreigners into the country to live in retirement havens rather than sending caregivers abroad was well received by many who had seen the negative social effects on children without mothers or fathers at home.

Non-FINEX entrepreneurs, Bobby Claudio of TOBY’S Group of Companies, Les Reyes of Reyes Hair Cutters and Carlo Anthony Dobles and Andrew Mercado of Spoofs Unlimited Inc. displayed the entrepreneurs’ zeal in offering a distinctly unique product or service. TOBY’S started as a toy retail store and grew to become the country’s biggest sports equipment outlet, seeing many of its competitors disappearing from the scene. Les Reyes’ passion to offer the Filipino "masa" a reasonably priced but complete salon experience, which previously was available only to a few has spread all over the archipelago with 200 establishments, many of them franchisees. SPOOFS UNLIMITED INC illustrated how a classroom project became a successful pioneering enterprise for two of the six original classmates in Ateneo, progressing from specialty shirt retailing to its own manufacturing facilities.

Entrepreneurial diagnostics experts Rex and Angie Resurreccion summed the sharings into the entrepreneurial characteristics of being passionate; always looking for opportunities; always focused on doing things better; living one’s work; dreaming miles ahead while focused on the present task; being strongly confident; a strategist; a builder; and wanting control. The most important ingredient is passion for perfection which all of the FINEX participants saw in the entrepreneurs who were generous in sharing their experiences.

Business Bits. Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista Jr. and the officials of Baguio City should be commended for their initiatives to strengthen the summer city’s attraction to tourists. Their utilizing their own local resources and lessening dependence on the national government is worthy of emulation by other local government units.