Filipino-Owned Businesses (Locally and Abroad)

[Sinjin P.]

What are the issues relating to starting and growing - from brainstorming to business plan construction - a business? Are you an entrepreneur? Share your stories. Post away

[Rene Ybardolaza]

I’ll take a stab at this thread. My responses below are random thoughts that popped up strictly from experience (versus MBA school) and limited to what I’ve done here in the US.

Don’t believe everything you hear including what I say here. Validate the information to make sure the advice you hear is true or false. When we started our health care business four years ago, we got advice left and right from well meaning people who seem to be in “the know”. For example, we were told that our capital need will be in excess of $250,000 in order for us to succeed. We were able to do it at less than $100,000 by avoiding consultants, Do ItYourself whenever possible, and learning the business like the back of your hand.

Going into a business with a partner is like going on a long trip with someone. It is always easy to find someone to come along with you, but not as easy to get rid of them if the relationship sours. If you can do it alone, grab the opportunity. Don’t go into partnership with someone just because he’s you’re old classmate or he’s your best drinking buddy. Compatibility in personality, values, integrity and goals are more important. What is that potential partner bringing on the table to increase the viability of success for the business? How does this person take winning or losing? Can they hang with you when the going gets tough? What about you? Can you work with someone or are you better at working alone?

Are you a risk taker? Can you walk down Tondo in the middle of the night and yell “Stelllllllaaaa”? (A la Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire) Accept risk like a wicked mother in law. You’re stuck with her as long you’re married to her daughter called Business. If you’re truly serious about pursuing Business, ask yourself this question, “What’s the worst that can happen to me if I fail?” If you can get up after you stumble, go for it. Otherwise, look for other opportunities.

It takes money to make money. Do the budget and determine how much it will take to make the business succeed. Some people go into business with lots of inspiration but very little capital, not understanding that there’s a period of time when all you do is bleed before seeing any green.

Can you herd cats? Running a business means wearing many hats, knowing to juggle multiple tasks and working long hours for peanuts. If you have the skills and willing to make the sacrifice, the rewards are there.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better.

[sugarboy]

my first venture into entrepreneurship was at the age of 10. my dad gave me an idea and that was to sell "agogo" (hindi yung dancer ha ). agogo in negros refers to ice candy.

ang target market ko...mga laborers from the farm who would converge in the house to get their week's wages. they would be there in the front yard the entire saturday morning waiting for their names to be called by the office personnel supervising the payroll. in the meantime, umiikot ako with my styrofoam ice box selling agogo at 25 centavos per. mga 150 agogos yung binebenta ko per saturday. gross sales...P 37.50 . capital ko mga P15 to P18. going home with an extra P 20.00 per week wasn't all too bad in 1978

i will always treasure that time when i was a kid. it did well to lay a foundation for future ventures.

[sugarboy]

I was supposed to email this to one of the forumers with whom I share a start-up project. Initially email was in mind but then I thought of posting it here instead for the benefit of all

The 20 Most Important Questions In Business
Brett Nelson, 11.21.07, 6:30 PM ET
Forbes.com

excerpts.....


Companies fail for a host of reasons. Bad luck plays a role, sure, but disaster usually strikes because of a more fundamental flaw--in the original idea, the strategy, the execution or all of the above.

When it comes to building a business, even Warren Buffett would agree that no one can spot every opportunity or anticipate every threat. There are simply too many variables. And in an increasingly competitive global economy, those variables are changing faster than ever before.

What entrepreneurs can do is ask the core set of tough questions that govern the fate of any enterprise. Armed with those answers, they stand the best chance of beating some fairly dire odds: Studies estimate that just two-thirds of all start-ups survive the first two years, and less than half make it to the fourth.

Make no mistake: Digging for those answers is a grueling exercise--one that takes serious intellectual and emotional honesty. With any hope, the process begins long before money's been spent, products are built and customers are lost.

The real challenge, though, is to keep digging as the business grows. New opportunities and threats emerge, and yesterday's answers may not--and probably won't--suffice. Relentlessly asking the tough questions is how behemoths like Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ), Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) and General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ) stay on top.

With that in mind, we present the 20 most important questions entrepreneurs need to answer--and keep answering--to build their businesses. Some highlights:

What is your value proposition?

This is the single most important question of the bunch. If you can't explain--in three, jargon-free sentences or less--why customers need your product, you do not have a value proposition. Without a need, there is no incentive for customers to pay. And without sales, you have no business. Period.

Does your product address a viable market?

Entrepreneurs are passionate to a fault. Many fall in love with an idea before confirming that there's any viable market for it, let alone one large enough to attract investment capital. If a market doesn't yet exist--the toxic term of art here is "white space"--they assume they can create one. (Hint: There may be a reason for all that white space.)


What differentiates your product from the competitors'?

Few companies can rely on--let alone afford--clever marketing schemes to separate themselves from the competition. Yes, Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) made people believe they wanted $4 caffeinated concoctions, and Louis Vuitton lulled people into shelling out $1,500 for denim handbags, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. If you want to win in business, you need to offer something tangibly valuable that the competition doesn't. Examples: rock-bottom prices (Wal-Mart); ingenious product design (Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )); extreme convenience (Fed Ex (nyse: FDX - news - people )).

How much cash do you need to survive the early years?

It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash.

What are your strengths?

Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) writes powerful search algorithms; Steinway works wonders with wood; Cisco (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ) sniffs out promising new technologies and buys them. Figure out what you're good at and stick to it. An obvious notion, perhaps, but plenty of zealous entrepreneurs lose their way--especially when the world seems so full of possibilities.

How big is the threat of new entrants?

If you're smart enough to spy a profitable business opportunity, you can bet competition isn't far behind. Some barriers to entry--patented technology, a storied brand--are more fortified than others, but eventually someone will find a way to do what you do faster, cheaper and maybe even better. If not a direct competitor, then a substitute technology might take a chunk out of your hide. (Think what digital film did to Kodak.) The trick: building a loyal following before that happens.

How much power do your suppliers have?

Convincing customers to buy your products is tough enough without suppliers breaking your back. Basic rule of thumb: The fewer the number of suppliers, the more sway they have. Take the steel industry, which relies on a handful of companies for its iron feedstock. If two of those big guys should get together--as BHP Billiton (nyse: BBL - news - people ) and Rio Tinto (nyse: RTP - news - people ) have been discussing--they would have significant pricing power, potentially crimping steel producers' margins. On the flipside, beware getting hooked on low-cost providers who don't keep an eye on quality. ("Lead-laced" Barbie, anyone?)

Does the business scale?

Bill Gates plowed piles of money into developing the first copy of Microsoft Office. The beauty: Each additional copy of that software program costs next to nothing to produce. That's called scale--and it's the difference between modest wealth and obscene riches. What models don't scale? Think service businesses, where the need for people grows along with revenues.

What price will your customers pay?

Get this answer wrong and you could leave bags of money on the table--or worse, send customers running into the arms of the competition. When Apple sliced the price of its iPhone by a third after only two months on the market, even loyal customers screamed, forcing chief Steve Jobs to apologize and offer a partial rebate. Consultants get paid handsomely to help companies arrive at the right price. For more affordable advice, check out The Six-Step Guide To Pricing Your Product. Wannabe consultants should read How To Price Your Consulting Services.

How committed are you to making this happen?

About a year ago, Chuck Prince, recently resigned chief executive of Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ), addressed a group at New York University's Stern School of Business. An audience member asked what life looked like at the helm of such a colossal firm. Prince responded that, save for a few exceptions, every evening for the next five months was already accounted for. Fair warning: If you want to run the show, get ready to give everything--and then some.

[death327]

This is one skill that I don't have. I hope someone can teach me how to sell something.

I remember back in HS, we were selling pina polvoron for our entrepreneurship class and each of us had daily quota to meet. Just to meet my quota I sold my polvoron 50% off the original price. I just paid the loss I incurred just to meet the quota.

In elementary I already recognized that I don't have the faculty to do business.

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by Sinjin P.

What are the issues relating to starting and growing - from brainstorming to business plan construction - a business? Are you an entrepreneur? Share your stories. Post away

@sinj... maybe you should post this in the Samahan or in the Economy subforum to get more responses. Suggestion lang.

[sugarboy]

Originally Posted by soulmaker27

This is one skill that I don't have. I hope someone can teach me how to sell something.

I remember back in HS, we were selling pina polvoron for our entrepreneurship class and each of us had daily quota to meet. Just to meet my quota I sold my polvoron 50% off the original price. I just paid the loss I incurred just to meet the quota.

In elementary I already recognized that I don't have the faculty to do business.

You can learn it @soul. It just needs one good start-up project that you really believe in such that you can throw your heart and soul behind the venture. You'll be surprised you can do it.

Besides, business nowadays is not limited to selling or moving products.

[amigo32]

Originally Posted by soulmaker27

This is one skill that I don't have. I hope someone can teach me how to sell something.

I remember back in HS, we were selling pina polvoron for our entrepreneurship class and each of us had daily quota to meet. Just to meet my quota I sold my polvoron 50% off the original price. I just paid the loss I incurred just to meet the quota.

In elementary I already recognized that I don't have the faculty to do business.

Got this from a book:

Forget about selling. People love to buy but hate to be sold. Concentrate on HELPING customers buy what's best for them.


meron na bang lumapit sa yo at pinilit kang bumili ng encyclopedia?

[death327]

@amigo and @sugarboy - Thank you for the insights. Maybe one of these days I can have my own business... Let's see.

[sugarboy]

Question @soul. You seem to be a good writer. What kind of stuff do you like writing about? Something which you can really say you have a fair amount of expertise on.

?

Originally Posted by -TC-

@sinj... maybe you should post this in the Samahan or in the Economy subforum to get more responses. Suggestion lang.

I agree.

[death327]

Originally Posted by sugarboy

Question @soul. You seem to be a good writer. What kind of stuff do you like writing about? Something which you can really say you have a fair amount of expertise on.

?

Actually any topic under the sun as long as I know what I want to say to my readers. But most of my writings are personal perceptions, understandings, opinions, or ideas. Before I establish my views I always make sure that they are supported by theories, usually theories from mix fields.

Basta kung ano lang masagi sa utak ko.

[sugarboy]

mods, would it be possible to move this to the Economy Thread/Category?

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by -TC-

@sinj... maybe you should post this in the Samahan or in the Economy subforum to get more responses. Suggestion lang.

Originally Posted by sugarboy

mods, would it be possible to move this to the Economy Thread/Category?

Hope this is moved or else sayang itong thread na ito.

[Manila-X]

I always see alot of threads on Filipinos working abroad or foreign investments in The Philippines. How about Philippine businesses and their investments abroad.

Alot of Philippine companies big or small have invested overseas and some of them are very sucessful. And their list of clients doesn't just cater to Filipinos abroad but also the locals.

One prominent example would be San Miguel. San Miguel is one of the most successful Philippine companies in HK. It is also one of the leading beer products and are endorsed but some top HK celebrities such as Stephen Chow and Jet Li



What do you think?

[tigidig14]

those philippine dried mangoes from cebu along w/pnoy mango drink
i see them at costco
knorr sinigang/tamarind mix, i see them on our local mexican stores
so as mang thomas lechon salsa, theyre there

[amigo32]

are you sure it's from cebu? hehehe, baka sa mexico galing yan.

[kevinb]

Yeah, Cebu is already exporting dried mangoes.

-----

@WANCH: The Lamoiyan Corp. has started to go abroad. Their first product to circulate in SE Asia is their Hapee toothpaste. Another one is SM, but to the Chinese market only since their malls abroad are all in China. I hope more and more Filipino companies would start to meet the world market. And I hope the world would accept the Philippines as a global market player as well.

[kiretoce]

Originally Posted by amigo32

are you sure it's from cebu? hehehe, baka sa mexico galing yan.

Dried mangoes are allowed into the US. Fresh mangoes from the Philippines aren't, but "Manila Mangoes" from Mexico are.

[amigo32]

Originally Posted by kiretoce

Dried mangoes are allowed into the US. Fresh mangoes from the Philippines aren't, but "Manila Mangoes" from Mexico are.

wala kayo nito?


sayang naman ang sarap nito, ang tamis hindi ko natiis kinain ko yung isa kahit wala pa ako sa bahay. hindi ko napigil zambales galing yan

[kiretoce]

By way of Mexico, yes! There are even little stickers on the fruit that says "Manila Mango, product of Mexico." Things that makes you go hmm....right?