POF Business

The future of business is in the cloud!
Cloud storage presents businesses with the opportunity to store, share, and collaborate on files quickly and securely. With cloud storage, businesses have access to their data, wherever and whenever they need it.

Introducing the latest for business software – a smarter way to manage your business! With this intuitive design, you can easily view data, track progress, and make timely decisions. It's simple, effective, and efficient – what more could you ask for? Try it out now and see how it can help you succeed!

Clients are the most important person in a business. They are the blood that keeps the business going. That is why it is very important to make them satisfied with the services that you offer

We are now living in a modern society where the reputation of a certain business can easily be destroyed with just a single click and post on the internet. Read more...https://blogs-personal.pofsis.com/how-to-provide-quality-service/

Words to ponder today!

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀 𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐎 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐘'𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐘𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍: 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
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𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒐 𝑻𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂 𝒋𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓, 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚’𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

Lucio Tan’s journey was not at all easy, he is born in China on July 17, 1934 in the province of Fujian. Lucio’s family migrated in the Philippines when he was still very young. Lucio is the eldest of eight children of their parents. 𝐇𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭.His father manage to try his luck here in the Philippines in hope of better fortune. He took up Chemistry Engineering in Far Eastern University but didn’t able to finished to focus on his small scrap buy and sell business. Not long after, the scrap business didn’t work out, he then move in to a to***co factory and work as a 𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, because of young Lucio’s hard work, he was promoted as a to***co cook and eventually assigned to be a to***co leaf dealer in Ilocos Region.

𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞

Tan’s exposure to to***co processing became his key in opening his very own to***co company he named Fortune To***co in 1966. The production process came very swift for him as his experience in the to***co industry greatly contributed in the success of his own company. His introduction to an affordable cigarette brand called “Hope” indeed made it very successful in no time. In just nearly 15 years, Fortune To***co leads the To***co Industry being the largest local manufacturer of ci******es in the Philippines in 1980

𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤

Lucio Tan’s closeness to then President Ferdinand Marcos gained so much controversy. Critics says that Lucio were able to get what he wanted because of the power radius he shared with President Marcos. Then government owned bankrupt General Bank and Trust Co. (Genbank) was acquired by Tan for only Php.500,000.00. Many says it was such a sweetheart deal for Lucio. The amount he paid for, for the acquisition of Genbank is relatively low compared to a regular company merging cost. The bank was later renamed as Allied Bank.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐲

In 1982, Lucio turn to opening Asia Brewery as his very close friend President Marcos lifted the ban on establishing liquor company in the country. Asia Brewery was able to stand along the competition between the then industry leader San Miguel Corporation. By width standing the competition, Asia Brewery were able to develop innovative products that are openly patronized by the consumer not long after.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐧

After the Marcos regime, Tan faces controversies about corruption and tax evasion but instead of stumbling down, Tan continued to grow as he acquire the government owned airline Philippine Airline. He also acquire Tanduay Holdings, Philippines National Bank, Macro Asia Corporation, Eton Properties and University of the East.

Cases were filed against him on tax evasion and corruption allegation which later dismissed by the courts. In year 2017, President Duterte accused Tan of tax evasion case amounting $600 million, which until now has underwent investigation for future decision of the court. Tan appeal to have the tax evasion fine payment be done in terms but the government refuse the proposal.

𝐀 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧

For those who have known Tan as their boss, they can only describe him as being a simple guy with an empire built in his hard work. His humiliation is very profound, he treats his employee with utmost respect and fairness. His kindness glows in his philanthropic works as he shares his gratitude with humility in helping others.

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

Not everyone knows that hunger is a very good driven force of success. In times of difficult time, we are pushed to strive harder in order to overcome the challenges. Challenges in life can help develop interpersonal attributes of which you will value every achievement you have accomplished and do more on even prospering it. Always find opportunity in the most difficult times of your life and never let it slip.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝

Being simple is the key. Despite all achievements you have achieved staying grounded can help you attract good working ethics and better moral value. Lucio Tan is known for his kindness and humility, he was able to establish good working relationship with his employees that has caused him to be able to build loyalty and trust within his network..

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

It is an open book that Lucio Tan and former President Ferdinand Marcos are close friends and use his connection with Marcos to his benefit. Surround yourself with people that has the same goal as you have. The importance of collaborating and working with others to achieve the same goal as you are. Sometimes you need to share your ideas and thoughts without having anybody to steal your ideas, involvement of your networks can help you in materializing them.

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲

Money can’t buy you everything. Lucio Tan’s key to a genuine happiness is to treasure his real source of happiness, his family, his good relationship with his peers and co-workers and his employees. The vibrancy of his relationship with others make him develop true meaning of joy. Tan’s good value had made him even richer in terms of appreciation from his inner circle.

Lucio Tan’s story may just be another classic rags to riches story but his values and kindness makes him differ from the rest.

Sources: https://ifranchise.ph/lucio-tan-life-and-success-story/ https://stockbytes.net/lucio-tan-success-story/

Organizations must be able to excel at working together while giving their employees the tools to foster better communication and access to information. The more the workplace becomes connected by open offices, distributed teams, and remote technology to get things done, the more that effective teambonding becomes as critical a skill as organization or critical thinking.

Those teams that excel at collaboration tend to innovate better and respond to market conditions faster. They tend to experience higher levels of morale and, as a result, productivity. Finally, better and more tembond & collaboration equals fewer mistakes and surprises.

Yes, we all get it: teambond is fantastic. Unfortunately, from time to time we all fall short of the promise of teambond. Even our most sincere efforts at teambond can cause more harm than good.

Needless to say, no matter how good we think we are at teambonding & collaborating, we could all use a reminder and hearty helping of teambonding tips.

Here are the 5 tips for effective teambonding that will surely help you and your team to become extraordinary ones

Be inspired by these words from one of the most best selling author and entrepreneur, Seth Godin.

Be inspired by these words from a best selling author and entrepreneur, Robert Kiyosaki.

Life is full of lessons!

When you are flying high, it can be difficult to understand the struggles of those that aren’t on your path. It can also be difficult to understand the ways of the successful when you are shuffling with the chickens.

Rock bottom will teach you lessons that mountain tops never will, so keep your eyes and ears open, constantly learn from what you're going through. The lessons at the bottom are the ones that will pull you out and let you fly higher than you ever thought possible.

It’s a known fact that over thirty percent of startups fail within two years. This isn’t meant to scare you into avoiding starting your own business, but to showcase the reality of entrepreneurship. Successful entrepreneurship involves taking risks.
Countless entrepreneurs have taken risks to get their businesses to where they are now. Taking risks, however, does not mean going into business blindly and then expecting great results. Instead, successfully approaching risks requires careful planning and an underlying strategy.

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐀𝐏𝐎 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒: 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐲'𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 "𝐑𝐚𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬" 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

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Humble Beginnings

Henry Sy was not born with the silver spoon in mouth. He was born in Xiamen, in China in October 1924. Since a toddler, he had aimed to become the best businessman, so went to try his luck in other countries. At the age of 12, he went to Philippines to change the miserable life of his father in a foreign country.
He was always committed with his goal to get succeed. He did everything that helps him to alleviate life and work hard 'til night.

Henry Sy. would buy goods from “Divisoria Flea market”. He carries all goods on his back and then sells them in a small store of her father called (sari-sari). When both going to close the store, they would sleep in a small space to makes their way of living much better.
He decided to make some extra income, so he had no time to play with friends. World war-2 came and the store of his father eventually burned and robbed. He did lots of selling and buying many odds things during war and helped his family to survive. After the war, he ventured into purchasing American Shoes that were imported by the Enterprising Gis.

Evolution of SM Mall:

He enrolled himself to a school. He gets graduation degree in commerce from “Far Eastern University”. He sold overrun and rejected shoes. He wants to change his life. He never gives up and always try hard to achieve the best success. After failures in business, he stood back-up and attain a goal.
In 1958, he established a shoe store in Quiapo, Manila. The name of the store was “Shoe Mart”. For the time, he was purchasing many shoes, leather goods, and accessories. He hopes to change the way of shoe manufacturer strategy.

He senses lots of opportunities that enable him to open Shoe Mart “SM” which the world first air-conditioned shoe store. The store merchandise shoes in a classy and inviting format. With the best success story of the store, he decided to open more stores. But his dream not came true because he was unable to get more suppliers. Most manufacturers refuse to listen to him at that time. He did not cooperate with the volume that he needed. Because of these reasons, he shifted gradually toward apparel and other merchandise with the help of her mother.

Learning from others:

Henry Sy Learn lots of innovative things from his suppliers, employees, and customers. With intensive on-site job research, he got enough confidence to expand his business to the department store chain.

In life many needs are grow-out and to fulfills these needs, you should become determined. With strong determination, you can easily take some extra challenges and can easily be done things differently to get better success.
In 1970, the store became the full-line department stores that change the name from “Shoemart” to SM with the pioneering store at the Makati City. He invested in the properties for malls that were patterned after the suburban shopping centers.

Problems occur during the construction of the first mall:
In 1972, he opened department store after two months of Martial laws. At the start, the business worked slow but get succeed with time. He continued to open more exceeding departmental stores in such a way that one time came, he had no space in exciting shopping centers. He thought about long-term goals.

On November 25, 1985, 1st supermall opened in the city of Quezon. Today there are 43-malls across the country Philippines and the branches in China.

With lots of criticism and armed with the optimism and sheer determination, he opened supermarket, departmental store, and tenants.
At the same time, the “Shoemart Makati” was faced with severe strikes. At that time, he was so disappointed, but his employees and customer encourage him to proceed. At this difficult time, he never discourages and boosts his confidence to continue his business. He was committed to achieving a valuable goal for an organization. He not only convinces himself but also his team members to follow his enthusiasm.

Later on, the Henry Sy focus to expand their business. The building was constructed slowly at the start. During construction of the new building, delays in constructions because of cement shortage and coups of 1989.

During 1997, when the Asian crisis came, the team of Henry Sy. continued to plan an expansion of mall that includes the “Mall of Asia” which was envisioned the biggest and most renowned mall in the region of Asia. But planning stopped because Henry recognized the Tsunami-like effects in Asia. They went on progressively and open other malls.

The business grew in numbers instead of the size and serving various more modest markets. The business also expands from departmental stores to hardware stores, supermarkets, appliance superstore, and others.

As we mentioned above that Henry Sy. was one of the greatest bankers so he also looked into the banking business. He established the “Banco de Oro” bank that was a medium-sized bank. The members of the business were considered conservative in the lending process. The business strengthened and reorganize while developing the best growth strategies that started working in 2000.

SM Investment; Greater Achievement of Henry Sy:

SM Megamall is the world second largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the 9th largest mall in the world. Sy’s family-owned SM investment is the holding venture for SM Retail and is the largest chain of departmental stores of supermarkets.

Based on the 2018 Forbes World’s Billionaires, the estimated net worth of Sy is $20 billion. It is three times larger than the upcoming fortune of the richest Tycoon.

In 2017, Sy stepped down as the chairman of SM investment Co. He gets the honorary title of “Chairman Emeritus” as the recognition for the founder of SM group.

With the inspiring story of Henry Sy, you can learn about the ideals of success. The story of Henry Sy tells us that never give up from a failure. Failure is the first step to success. According to Henry Sy, if you fail, never discourage but try again. When you do something well, then never change your ways. Success is not always good luck but is the combination of good credits standing hard work, time, readiness and opportunity. Success will never last when you don’t take care of this precious wealth.

Sources: https://ifranchise.ph/henry-sy-life-and-success-story/ https://ifranchise.ph/henry-sy-life-and-success-story/

The 2% Mindset

Every entrepreneur and small business owner has a different reason for wanting to start their own business. That means that you and every other entrepreneur are deciding to take different risks specific to your idea. However, the actual reason why entrepreneurs decide to take risks can be narrowed down to the following five reasons.
Read here

Churchill lead Britain through one of its darkest periods. With enemies threatening to advance across the English Channel, bombing London daily, the pressure to survive was paramount. But Churchill, like any entrepreneur worth their salt, understood that failure was part of the process. One learned from their mistakes, and the greatest lesson was that there was always another day to fight on.

With the Launching of POFTeambond Business, POFSIS is very happy to support its 1st client Sison Corillo Parone & Co. objectives of providing their employees a fast and reliable request management system.

A total of 51 employees participated in the launching and experience our paperless transaction system that process and manage variety of service requests.

We are thrilled with the positive feedback from all the employees.
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Ms. Ruby Manuzon
Accounting Manager
"I would like to congratulate the team maganda ung face ng system this will be very helpful talaga sa operations."
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Indeed, we are just at the beginning of something exciting!
The system will surely help more businesses to grow and convert their small teams into great teams!

The long wait is over!

POFTeambond team will be conducting an Internal Beta testing on April 1 & April 4, 2022!

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 : 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐬' 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

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The name Socorro “Coring” Ramos may not ring any bells for some people. She, however, is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the Philippines for founding the largest bookstore chain in the country – National Book Store. Back in 1940, she and Jose Ramos, her husband, established a small stall in Escolta where they sold supplies. They, however, did not have a steady road towards success. In fact, they endured many trials together that would have discouraged most entrepreneurs.

During World War II, the Japanese soldiers occupying the country considered many of the books sold in their store to be objectionable. What the couple did was to hide the books and then sell candies, slippers, soaps and other goods instead. The books they managed to save were later sold in their store after the end of the war.

Also, they had to relocate to Avenida because their first building was badly damaged by the war. Three years after that, their bookstore was struck by a heavy typhoon, blowing the roof and damaging many of their merchandise. This, however, did not deter Coring. Like the mythical phoenix, she rose from the ashes and built the business back up once more. In the 1970s, National Book Store became popular by selling reprinted versions of foreign textbooks for 75% lesser than the actual price. Parents and students loved the idea of being able to purchase such books for lower costs. These days, National Book Store already has 160 branches throughout the Philippines along with some mini outlets (National Book Store-Book Express) and specialty bookstores (Powerbooks). As if that wasn’t enough, the Ramos family also operates three publishing imprints, a department store, a music store, plus several convenience and gift shops. All three of Coring’s children are employed in high-level jobs along with several grandchildren and relatives. After 70 years of running the business, Coring can really say that persistence is one of the most important keys of achieving great things.

Struggling about how you to manage your time and be productive? Read these tips, apply these in you daily routine and ace higher productivity!!

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐒, 𝐒𝐎𝐀𝐏𝐒, 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒, & 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐘'𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐊𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐖𝐄𝐈 𝐉𝐑'𝐒 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

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𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. This is John Gokongwei Jr.’s story.

You may have heard of Universal Robina Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, Cebu Pacific, and the Robinsons Corporation. These are all John Gokongwei Jr. ’s fruits of labor which he got from pure determination to survive.

Gokongwei Jr. was once a scion of a wealthy Filipino-Chinese clan. He was born with a silver spoon—he was studying in one of Cebu’s premiere schools (San Carlos University), and their family was known to be one of the richest in Cebu. Unfortunately, one day, all these things he enjoyed were taken away from him when his father died. The creditor seized their home and cars, their business were gone and suddenly everything he had had disappeared.

They became flat broke. 𝐀𝐭 𝟏𝟓, 𝐆𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐞𝐢 𝐉𝐫. 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. His mother had to sell her jewelries. His siblings were sent to China where the cost of living was cheaper. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐩, 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲. Determined as he was, Gokongwei Jr. knew he had an advantage as he was younger, therefore he used this as a strength in his job.

It was in 1943 when Gokongwei Jr. began trading goods from Cebu to Manila. When the World War II ended, he saw this as an opportunity to trade goods in the Philippines. He put up Amasia Trading with his brother which helped bring back his siblings home to help out with the business. He then went on to pursue other business ventures: from cornstarch manufacturing, to food production, to purchasing shares in San Miguel Corporation, the then leading business in the 70s. He had a vision to make every Filipino fly thus the creation of the low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific, in 2003 he established a mobile company, in 2004 he introduced C2 beverage, and all that comprise Gokongwei Jr.’s empire, the JG Summit holdings.

It didn’t always go smoothly—in between these success come failure. He had a hard time to get a loan, but fortunately one bank trusted him. He started getting recognized at the business scene but before that he had to fight for a position. His loss and failures were broadcasted. But still he succeeded—and is now considered as a key player when it comes to the powerful business sector.

Now, John Gokongwei Jr. is the second richest Filipino in 2016, according to Forbes Magazine. Aside from being a business magnate, he is also a philanthropist. And with all the businesses he owns in the country, he provides thousands of jobs to people. With his story, he hopes to inspire people to have the determination to bounce back in life without ever quitting.

Be inspired by these words from Oprah Winfrey

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄-𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐘'𝐒 𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐘: 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐍 𝐃. 𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

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Unrelenting passion and the need for financial betterment, is what drove the young Corazon D. Ong to establish his business empire. With the right amount of knowledge, skills, and liking for what she does, Corazon rose from a simple homemaker to a very successful businesswoman. Let us look at how she managed to flip the tables around!

Corazon D. Ong, was a simple homemaker then; a good wife to his husband Jose who is a professor at the very prestigious Ateneo de Manila University, and a loving mother to his three kids – Jerome, Jason & Sharmaine. Aside from that, she is also a licensed dietician. So, what she did then, as part of her daily routine is to prepare food for the family. Being a dietician, she keeps in mind the significance of a balanced healthy meal to the body, so to make sure that her family will be getting the best meals, she prepares them herself. Little did she knew, that this hobby of her will be the root of their success.

As mentioned, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲. She prepares them tocino, longganisa, and other easy-to-make processed food. It was initially for the family only, but she noticed that many moms in their neighborhood also likes these products, she started to sell out. She saw the need of these moms to prepare a quick-fix yet healthy lunch for their kids, so to help them she started retailing small amounts of these products. It was highly praised, and Corazon received a lot of positive feedbacks. So, what she did was, borrow from a local bank a total amount of P60, 000 to put up an official business. It was in June 25, 1975 when she established CDO Food Products at the backyard of their humble home. The first product they released was longganisa and tocino among others.

Bouncing back from that, CDO became even more eager to expand their products horizon. From then on, different innovations of products were continuously being researched to satisfy the palates of the consumers especially Filipinos. From Longanizas to tocino, hotdogs and many others, the company tried to develop more and more products to cater the masses based on their consumption. In 2001, the company introduced carne norte which suited the Filipino taste at a very reasonable price and another innovation in the industry. CDO-Foodsphere has emerged as the number one producer of carne norte in the land. She was also the brain behind the San Marino Corned Tuna, which is now a hit in the market. CDO Foodsphere has established its success based on the needs of the consumers. Ong’s core vision came to reality that is to provide affordable food products to the most number of Filipino households.

Looking back, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬? Yes, CDO’s Corazon really proved that 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫. Because of her successes, she has received a lot of awards in her field of interest. These are: Most Outstanding Nutritionist of the Year in 1996, Agora Awardee for the Most Outstanding Medium-Scale Entrepreneur in 1997, Most Outstanding Professional in the Field of Dietetics in 1999, Most Outstanding Woman in Valenzuela in 2006, and Woman Entrepreneur Award in 2009. But above all these achievements, her most satisfying award is the way he has brought up their children.

In 1981, Foodsphere Inc. was duly registered and CDO was retained as the flagship name of its food products. Innovations and modernizations followed to ran after the growing industry. The company was converted into a family corporation. Her whole family worked together to make the business more successful. However, tragedies cannot be avoided. It was in 1987 when a fire broke out in the company’s processing area, destroying most of their advanced processing equipments. It was one of the incidents that really challenged the faith and dedication of Corazon. But she stood above it, nevertheless. Two days after the fire, Corazon called her staff to plan about what they will be doing next. Because of that, CDO Foodsphere Inc., was again back on its feet to serve the Filipino people.

Source: https://josephbuarao.com/blog/corazon-d-ong-the-woman-behind-the-success-of-cdo-foodsphere-inc/

Be inspired by the story of KFC Founder Colonel Harland Sanders.
It's never too late to start something that you've always been wanted.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐈𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞: 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

Born in a poor family who migrated from southeastern China to the Philippines in search of a better life, he became involved in the restaurant business from an early age when his father opened a restaurant. The restaurant became profitable with the help of all family members and this success enabled Mr. Caktiong to pursue a degree in chemical engineering in Manila.

At the age of 22, inspired by a visit to an ice cream plant, he set out to gain his own foothold in the restaurant business: relying on family savings, he seized a franchising opportunity with Magnolia Dairy Ice Cream and opened two ice cream parlors. In response to customer requests, he added hot meals and sandwiches to the menu, which soon proved a lot more popular than ice cream. Three years later, in 1978, he decided to capitalize on this development, discontinued the Magnolia franchise and converted his parlors into fast food outlets.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
Realizing that he needed a brand name and logo for his new business, Mr. Caktiong and his family decided on using a smiling red bee. They chose a bee because of its association with hard work, and because honey represents the sweet things in life. The “jolly” prefix was intended to connote happiness and enjoyment. Jollibee invested millions of pesos to register the “bee” trademark in the Philippines and other key countries.

Helped by smart marketing and advertising strategies, the mark struck a chord with the public: “From a rather crude, strange-looking bee that no bank dared to touch back in 1978, Jollibee and his cheeky smile today have become synonymous with a truly Filipino success story that is now a source of patriotic pride. It is estimated that the Jollibee brand is now worth several billion pesos”, Mr. Caktiong points out.

“Trademarks increased a lot of value to our business”, he explains. “To the consumer, they represent either trust in the company or trust in the brand…they will remember that the brand connotes very tasty food and also the experience, the ambiance, the service, and they are also proud to be a part of that brand”.

Today, Jollibee Foods Corporation uses 8 proprietary brands (including “Jollibee” for their core fast food business, “Greenwich” for their pizza and pasta chain, and “Chowking” for their oriental food outlets), owns many trademarks (including “Bee Happy”, “Yumburger”, “Chickenjoy” and “Amazing Aloha”) and has registered all of its logos, some of them in several countries.

The strong Jollibee brand name and its positive connotations have made it a target for free-riders and counterfeiters: “We have some cases where people will do other things like garments or shoes and they call it “Jollibee”. Overseas, they will open a restaurant or a fast food also called Jollibee, even with the same drawing”, Mr. Caktiong reports.

Conscious of the importance of protecting their brand, Jollibee Foods Corporation reacts to trademark infringements: “We have to enforce [our trademarks] properly. If you do not enforce it properly, your brand image will get diluted over time”, he continues.

Mr. Caktiong is also aware of the long-term consequences of counterfeiting for the economy and society as a whole: “Counterfeiting will destroy society in the long run…this will hurt everybody because counterfeit does not have the right quality: customers get confused by this and they are not happy…then they lose confidence in the real brand and everything will be destroyed. Therefore, overall the whole society will also be hurt”, he concludes.

Jollibee Foods Corporation relies on a franchising model for the exploitation of about half of its outlets in the Philippines. In order to protect the company’s high quality and service standards, potential franchisees have to conform to a specific profile (self-driven entrepreneurs with good management skills, good community standing and excellent interpersonal skills).

Successful franchising applicants undergo a 3-month full time Operations Training Program (BOTP) at a designated training restaurant, supplemented with other programs that will enrich the franchisee's management and analytical skills needed in the operation of the restaurant.

However, support for franchisees does not end there: Jollibee provides advice for and assistance with restaurant layout and design, equipment specifications, furniture and fixtures, and construction management. Field personnel renders consulting services once the outlets are operational. Creative advertising and marketing programs, product development, manufacturing and logistics facilities provide further support to franchisee restaurants.

𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬
Since its establishment at the end of the 1970s, Jollibee Foods Corporation has grown spectacularly: today, Jollibee is the leading fast food chain in the Philippines with over 50% market share and hundreds of restaurants all over the country. The company’s public listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange in 1993 broadened its capital and allowed for the acquisition of the “Greenwich” pizza and pasta chain in 1994. Other major acquisitions include the Chinese fast food chain Yonghe Dawang (in 2004) and the Chowking oriental food outlets (in 2000).

The company is also present in Brunei Darussalam, China, Hong Kong (SAR of China), Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Viet Nam. By 2020, the group plans to roughly double the number of restaurants to 4,000 outlets worldwide. Jollibee’s business success relies on its smart branding strategy, complemented by strong customer orientation, superior menu line-up, innovative new products, creative marketing programs and efficient manufacturing and logistics facilities.

In a recent survey, the Jollibee group was the only Philippine company that made it to the top 20 of Asia’s best employers list, ranking 16th. Jollibee Foods Corporation ranked third among Asia’s most admired companies in 2000 and was cited as number one in overall leadership among the top ten Philippine companies. In 2004, Mr. Caktiong received the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Award.

Through the Jollibee Foundation, the company has established an institutionalized mechanism of giving back to the community through projects in the areas of education, leadership development, livelihood, environment, and housing and disaster relief.

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝

Protecting their brands through national and international trademark registration has been instrumental in Jollibee’s remarkable success – without an easily recognizable brand associated with highest quality and customer service standards, it would have been difficult to prevail in the extremely competitive fast food market. “Intellectual property is becoming very important because you need to distinguish yourself from the others – it’s a very competitive world [in which] you need to create something unique”, concludes Mr. Caktiong.

source:https://www.wipo.int/ipadvantage/en/articles/article_0030.html