The Beautifont man is back

If there’s a person who should be credited with introducing direct selling in the Philippines, it’s Jose Tabora, the founder of Beautifont Inc. Very few today would remember, much less know, the Filipino brand of cosmetics that was such a phenomenal market success in the 1960s and the 1970s.

Tabora got the business idea while he was based in New York as a Philippine vice consul. At that time, many well-to-do Filipinas would ask him to accompany them to Charles of the Ritz to have their complexion analyzed and then to have cosmetics specially formulated for them.

"It occurred to me that if these women would travel all the way to the United States for that purpose, wouldn’t more Filipino women – those who don’t have the time or the money– be willing to pay for the service and the product if these are delivered directly to them?," he said.

In business

After 12 years in the foreign service, Tabora returned to Manila and linked up with old schoolmates like Augusto Syjuco to set up Beautifont Inc. It was at Beautifont that Tabora went through a complete transformation from a diplomat to a full-fledged entrepreneur.

For the 14 years of its existence, the pioneering direct selling company in the country had Tabora at the helm. At one time, Beautifont was number one in its category, ranking 389th in assets among the country’s top 1,000 corporations. In a decade of operations, assets grew by 1,555% from P600,000 in 1966 to P10.5 million in 1975. During the same period, sales went up from P770,000 to P32.2 million. By 1977, its last year of operation before it was acquired by a multinational company, it was generating close to P60 million in sales. By then, Beautifont had 15 branches, backed by an all female sales force of 64,378.

"It was a painful decision to sell. At first, I resisted the idea but I was prevailed upon by other members of the board," said Tabora.

eyeuri

After the sale of Beautifont, Tabora spent years as a consultant for both Avon Phils. and The House of Sara Lee. Recently, he accepted an offer to join Aia-Hinoki as chairman emeritus.

The offer was made by former Beautifont officers, Teddy Gutierrez and Neri Buenconsejo, who merged their cosmetics and skin care company, Aia Products Inc., with one of the biggest skin care companies in Japan, Hinoki Inc.

"It would be interesting to personally experience what is unique about Aia-Hinoki," Tabora said.

To generate more sales, Aia-Hinoki has developed a wide range of products that target different market segments, including men. Although it has only three branches, two in Metro Manila and one in Pampanga, the company has sales personnel in all key cities of the country.

"People discouraged Teddy and Neri from putting up Aia-Hinoki. At that time, the economy was down. But look where it is now," Tabora said. "I never expected it to grow this fast. And it is in a continued upswing. It will not be surprising–and it is my vision for the company–if it becomes a major player in the industry in the near future."