Business on an upbeat?

Entrepreneurship has really gone a long way here and this is one big happy development in this country. Going by the large associations of these enthusiastic entrepreneurs, we have at least three big ones that annually stage fairs and expos, and they are all well-planned, well-staged and definitely well-attended.

The most recent one is the 19th National Retailers Convention & Exhibition chaired by the youthful Mr. Frederick Go, president of Robinson’s Recreation Corp. This is the biggest event for the country’s retailers, as Mr. Bernie Liu, president of the big Philippine Retailers Association and CEO of Golden ABC said. The eminent speaker in the convention was Mr. Tony Tancaktiong, head of the phenomenally successful Jollibee Food Corp. If you know this shy, self-effacing gentleman, you would know it’s not easy to invite him to speak in a big convention like this, but the organizers, themselves busy businessmen who selflessly spent months of precious time to organize this big event knew that, like them, Mr. Tan was willing to share and impart knowledge to this group of retailers because, once upon a time, he was young, eager and hungry like them. Jollibee started as a small hamburger shop somewhere in Cubao, if I’m not mistaken, and his company’s success story is worth re-telling several times over, if only to inspire.

The organizing group in itself is an assemblage of success stories. Bernie Liu has now 24 stores nationwide, and Frederick Go’s family is into retailing (malls), real estate (high-rise developments) and printing. The other indefatigable organizer is Mr. Samie Lim, chairman Emeritus of the Philippine Franchising Association who was quoted as saying that retailing is now a huge part of tourism. Between 40 to 60 percent of tourism expenditures come from plain shopping, so he urges manufacturers and retailers to improve our concepts of branding and packaging.

Of the hundreds of participants in the expo, a few caught our attention. There is a company called Click Licensing Asia. Ms. Marilu Magsaysay Corpus, CEO of Click says there is a new trend now in retailing where you can get exclusivity through licensing. Think Mascots, brand logos for apparel, etc. One of their licensors which own the rights to Mr. Men and Little Miss (of Korea, I think) joined the exhibit to promote their brands. Another is Circuit Solutions providing access controls via close circuit television (CCTV), etc. Did you notice how these things have proliferated in the last three years? And all the establishments using these CCTVs have benefited well from this security cameras.

I cited Samie Lim earlier here. Samie himself was one of the moving spirits behind the two-day 18th Franchise Conference held in June this year chaired by the young Mr.Victor Paterno, president of Philippine Seven Corporation (7-11 stores). This conference was just as big, with over 300 concepts and 30,000 delegates, with an international pavilion and an Incubation Center that featured award-winning concepts from different universities and chambers of commerce.

Samie has been indefatigable in his promotion of franchising in the country. He is one of the few who wears the Certificate Franchise Executive pin outside of the United States. In Asia, only about 50 to 60 can rightfully wear this pin, and of this number, more than half are Filipinos. That really points to the fact that the Philippines is the hub of franchising in Asia, truly the No. 1 in franchising. In fact, Samie dares to say that even China learned franchising from us.

The thriving franchise industry is helped greatly by the proliferation and popularity of huge malls that lend themselves to this industry. Ms. Bing Limjoco, chairperson of Franchise Asia 2011, claims that the success rate of franchising is a whopping 90 percent. Actually, it was a pleasant shock for me to discover that more and more parents have wisely opted to gift their children who have just recently graduated from college or who have just tied the knot with a business franchise rather than the standard car or travel. That’s teaching them business early, and teaching them value for money.

Now that the country is entering the golden years of franchising, and with the economic difficulties besetting many big countries in the West, they are looking at Asia, including the Philippines, India, China and Thailand for expansion. Expect to see more of those big restaurant chains opening here.

Earlier on, the Philippine Business & Entrepreneur Expo 2010 was also held, with proudly Filipino brands holding court in the fair that had 70 exhibitors. Here, I noticed that the ventures were not as large but greatly successful just the same. There was Lugaw Republic started only in 2005 by Mr. Benjo Cruz. It now has 48 outlets all over, from Tagaytay to Baguio and even Nueva Viscaya. Don Henio Food Products of Arnold Alberto has been around for 15 years and they offer food packages ranging from coffee to water refilling. Then there was Diana Stalder by Dermaline Inc. The Stalder comes from the owner’s married name, but a Filipina started it all. Dermaline Facial Skin Care opened in 1996 and now distribute to the US, United Kingdom and Singapore with ten distributors. Their Diana Stalder line started direct selling only in 2004. And yet another is Ink More, a modest ink refilling business set up eight years ago. They now have 24 business partners and 84 franchises all over the country! The more amazing thing with this company is that they offer franchises for as low as P35,000 and this already includes the consumables that you as franchisee will sell. I don’t know how they can do this, but with 84 franchises in just eight years, they must be doing something right.

And now even ABS-CBN is already in the business of holding trade fairs for entrepreneurs. Backed by their TV station, this is gaining success among small entrepreneurs, and inspiring wannabes as well. The Go-Negosyo seed that Mr. Joey Conception has planted is reaping sweet success indeed.

Which brings us to the problem of financing. Most of these entrepreneurs, while they have the guts and perseverance to take the risks, are utterly in need of financing. The government has recognized this need early on and has come out with a legislation mandating banks and government financing institutions to provide micro, small and medium entrepreneurs access to financing. The business community has seen the need to modify the Magna Carta on Micro, Small and medium Enterprises. The law provides that all private and public banks should set aside 10 percent of their loanable funds to these entrepreneurs, and there are corresponding administrative sanctions from BSP.

The Philippine Exporters Confederation (PhilExport), through its president, Sergio Luis-Ortiz Jr. has taken up the cudgels for these small businessmen who lament their lack of access to financing. Banks have somehow found alternative modes of compliance to the law mandating them to provide financing. This they deplore. They are also proposing that the penalties be increased to P500,000 which would no longer be peanuts to any bank. Before this, the penalties were too small that some banks would rather pay up than give credit to the small businessmen. However, the penalties, as proposed by the group, should not go exclusively to Bangko Sentral as was the case with the old implementing rules. Rather, 90 percent should go to the SMED council, with only 10 percent going to BSP for administrative expenses.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino. 

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