Happy Ongpauco-Tiu achieves work-life balance, thanks to IT

MANILA, Philippines - If there is one thing that people always wonder about Happy Ongpauco-Tiu that would be how she manages her time as an entrepreneur, a wife, and a mom. Taking care of her family, running a household, handling several business ventures, and supervising their family business — such a full plate.

But true to her name, she is happy managing all the businesses she is involved with. Thanks to modern telecommunications, Happy, a Globe Business ambassador, has been able to simplify her business operations and meet the goals of the Happy Concept Group of Companies.

Happy was chosen as one of the Globe Business ambassadors because she is able to achieve work-life balance and pursue things that she loves. Through the help of Globe products and services, she has been able to make her businesses profitable for the lowest possible cost.

Staying connected

Happy manages her Middle East operations and acts as the corporate secretary for the Barrio Fiesta Group, a family-owned business. Her own company, meanwhile, handles restaurants, including World Topps, Bento Box, Hawaiian Bar-B-Que Restaurant (in Boracay and Tagaytay), I Luv Backyard BBQ (in Boracay), and Pamana Restaurant in Tagaytay.

She also owns Catering Kitchen, which offers her homemade specialties, and My Happy Carts that carries themed food carts for kiddie parties. She has also diversified and ventured into the hotel accommodation business with her Boutique Bed & Breakfast in Tagaytay. Her latest project is Slim at Home, a mobile slimming clinic.

Since most of her business ventures are not in Manila, Happy always ensures that she stays connected to her employees and offices, through her mobile phone and e-mail. Being updated with all the operations and happenings in her businesses is a must for her.

“Running my businesses is so manageable with my landline and mobile phone. I make a lot of phone calls every day to check on my management teams and get daily updates on my restaurants and other businesses,” Happy shared.

Her responsibilities at home prevent her from being physically present at her business outlets, so she sends out e-mails to her staff to delegate tasks and assignments.

“As an entrepreneur, we know that no business will ever succeed without the owner’s presence. With a reliable Internet connection, however, I am able to delegate, manage and connect with my staff and businesses wherever I am.

“I need to stay connected so that I can always reach my management team and monitor what’s going on in my restaurants or offices — anytime, anywhere. In the kind of business I’m in, monitoring is a 24-hour thing. Sometimes I get calls in the middle of the night to solve problems or answer queries. The communication technology we have today enables me to fulfill my responsibilities as well as help my businesses operate efficiently,” Happy said.

Happy is also considering the Globe Business Text Connect service to help promote her catering business, her food carts and her bed and breakfast establishment.

Globe Business Text Connect allows entrepreneurs to send and receive unlimited text messages to employees, suppliers, clients and customers through a high-volume text broadcast. Entrepreneurs can now send an unlimited number of text messages at a lower cost compared to regular texting rates.

Family first

Happy may be a busy entrepreneur but she always has time for her family. A doting mother to her two sons and a loving wife to her husband, she always makes them her number one priority.

“Most of my business outlets are out of town so I cannot go there at all times because my presence at home for my husband and sons is the first on my list of priorities. Thanks to modern communications technology, I can manage my businesses even if I am home. My job and schedule are flexible because of them,” she said. 

Happy is also considering a subscription to the Globe Business WebEye service in order to better monitor her business outlets, even when she’s away. WebEye is a video surveillance system that allows entrepreneurs to view activities in their place of business in real time. The images captured on video may be accessed by the business owner through the Internet by computer, laptop, smartphone or a similar device.

For people who want to start their own business, the successful entrepreneur has an important advice to them: “Anybody can be an entrepreneur. You have to have the drive to work hard to reach your goals to be happy with what you are doing and use technology to simplify your business. More so, with the changing times, you also have to be updated with the latest techniques in your chosen field. Never stop learning, and trust only a partner like Globe to simplify your business.”

Globe Business, the corporate arm of Globe Telecom, provides wireless and wireline solutions for a diverse set of industries, businesses, and commercial enterprises. It assures SMEs of affordable, reliable and dependable services for all communication needs, both wireless and wireline solutions, to generate the highest possible profit at the lowest possible cost.

For more information, call +632 730-1288 or log on to http://globe.com.ph/business.