Top 10 successful entrepreneurs in the philippines story.

1. Top 10 Successful
Entrepreneurs in the
Philippines Story

3. 1. Henry Sy, Shoe Mart
henry-sy SM is more than just a shopping mall. It is a beloved institution. Many of my favorite
memories happened in SM. From shopping, watching blockbuster movies, date night, ice skating
to food tripping, SM has it all.
However, this gigantic chain of more than 44 large-scale shopping centers in the Philippines and
throughout Asia has very humble beginnings.
Henry Sy came from an impoverished family in Jinjiang, a town near Xiamen, China. The entire
family left China in 1936 to help the family patriarch manage a thriving convenience store in
Manila.
Unfortunately for the family, their store was burned down during World War II. However,
business-minded Henry saw an opportunity selling used military combat boots and other postwar
goods from supportive American soldiers!
His success led to the opening of his first shoe store, the SM in Avenida, Manila. Henry had
problems finding shoe manufacturers who could design shoes according to what he had in mind,
but he persisted. He spoke to customers and built his own network of suppliers and
manufacturers.
That never-say-die attitude got Henry Sy to where he is now: one of the richest men in the world
and a world-class commercial center developer who provides opportunities to both
entrepreneurs and the working class!

5. 2. Tony Tan Caktiong, Jollibee
tony-tan-caktiongIf you thought you only loved The Champ and Chicken Joy, then
be prepared to be inspired by the man behind the franchise.
Also coming from an immigrant family from China, Tony learned the value of hard
work and dedication from his father who worked as a cook in a Buddhist temple.
Tony’s father started a Chinese restaurant in Manila with his savings so he can
send him to college.
In 1975, Tony bought a Magnolia ice cream parlor. However, it was not generating
enough business. After talking with his customers and people within the
neighborhood, Tony decided to include sandwiches, fried chicken, and French
fries in the menu. In time, the restaurant found itself packed to overflowing
capacity.
By 1978, Tony had opened six more restaurants, but the main item was no longer
ice cream. Tony then decided to adapt the McDonald’s concept and named his
franchise after his work ethic of being as “busy as a bee.”
Today Jollibee has grown to more than 2,500 stores in the Philippines plus
locations in the US, China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Brunei.

7. 3. John Gokongwei Jr., JG
Holdings
john-gokongwei-jrJohn’s life story is a “rich-to-rags-to riches” story. John Jr. was
born in China to the scion of one of the wealthiest families in Cebu.
When the father died, so did the business and the family fortune was soon gone.
John Jr. supported his family by peddling items along the streets of Cebu by bike.
Soon, he was trading items by boat to Lucena City and to Manila by truck.
Eventually, he started importing items from the US.
John Jr. soon realized that importing carried too much risk and low margins. Thus,
in 1957, he borrowed Php 500,000 from China Bank and started a corn milling
business named Universal Corn Products.
By 1961, Universal started diversifying its products and launched several popular
brands such as Blend 45. Universal Corn Products was renamed Universal
Robina Corporation.
Today, the Gokongwei family owns several successful and highly diversified
businesses. Among these are Robina Land Corporation and Cebu Pacific.

9. 4. Socorro C. Ramos, National
Bookstore
socorro-ramos The next time you buy your batch of new school supplies and textbooks, do not
forget to thank Ms. Socorro C. Ramos!
Her story is a stuff for telenovela, and frankly, I’m surprised the networks and movie outfits have
not caught on. How’s this for a plot teaser?
Girl’s brother marries scion of a wealthy bookstore owner in Manila. The girl finds job as a
saleslady at 18, meets and falls in love with the son of the owner; thus, he is technically her in-
law! Their parents forbid the relationship and sends the girl back to the province. However, their
love is so strong, girl and boy stand up to the parents, get married, and have twins.
The boy takes over a branch with the girl, and they renamed it in National Book Store. However,
a war breaks out, and the store is destroyed! They rebuild the store, but everything is held under
suspicion of being “questionable.” They relocate the store in Avenida, but as the business picks
up, a storm destroys their roof. Soon, they rebuild the store, and every centavo is used to build a
nine-story National Book Store.
The girl is Socorro and the boy is Jose. Today, National Bookstore has grown to over 100 stores.
Despite digital technology, it continues to flourish!

11. 5. Cecilio Kwok Pedro,
Lamoiyan Corporation
cecilio-kwok-pedroCecilio’s life is not a typical rags-to-riches story; instead, it embodies the
entrepreneurial spirit of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds.
Cecilio used to head Aluminum Container Inc., which produced the aluminum toothpaste tubes
for Procter and Gamble, Philippine Refining Company (now Unilever), and Colgate-Palmolive.
However, environmental concerns led his clients to shift to plastic-laminated toothpaste tubes.
Aluminum Container Inc. failed and closed its shop in 1986.
He put up Lamoiyan Corporation and manufactured toothpaste that was priced 50% lower than
his competitors. These included the still-popular brands Hapee and Kutitap. Although the foreign
brands countered by lowering their brands by 20%, Cecilio responded by introducing toothpaste
targeted for children that featured the characters from Sesame Street.
Cecilio’s brands have made it to other markets in Asia, such as China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Cecilio’s greatest accomplishment was not limited to manufacturing. He is also known for his
advocacy to help hearing-impaired people find employment in the country.
His programs include free housing for more than 30 deaf–mute staffs. To date, more than 180
hearing-impaired students have received college education through DEAF or Deaf Evangelistic
Alliance Foundation.

13. 6. Mariano Que, Mercury
Drugstores
mariano-queMany of today’s entrepreneurs would learn the value of customer experience and innovation
through Mariano Que.
Like many of the entrepreneurs discussed so far, Mariano found opportunities for entrepreneurship after
World War 2. Mariano had been working in a local drugstore when the war destroyed several businesses in
the city.
Mariano saw the need to supply sulfa drugs, which were used to treat bacterial infections. He started to buy
sulfa tablets and sold them at affordable prices. Soon, other people followed and adapted Mariano’s
strategy.
However, only Mariano sold high-quality sulfa tablets, which ensured him a steady clientele. With his hard
work and dedication to build up savings, he was able to put up his first drug store in 1945, which he named
Mercury Drug. The Roman god Mercury is known for speed. He also carries the caduceus, which is a
symbol in the medical industry.
Mariano invested his earnings into the company and introduced many innovations in the service. Among
these innovations were a drug-delivery service to clients and locations that are open 24/7 because he knew
people would be needing medicines any time of the day.
By the time Mariano opened his second Mercury Drug at the newly constructed Ayala shopping center in
Makati, he had invested in technological innovations, such as biological refrigerators and computer-guided
controls.
Mariano’s dedication to his business has allowed Mercury Drug into 700 stores and a widely recognized
name for quality pharmaceuticals.

15. 7. Alfredo M. Yao, Zest-O
alfredo-yaoThe next time you pass a vendor peddling goods on the street, keep in mind that he or she can be supporting the next
Alfredo M. Yao.
When Alfredo lost his dad at age 12, his mother was left to support him and his siblings by becoming a sidewalk vendor. A relative
was able to give financial aid, which allowed Alfredo to reach, but not complete, college at the Mapúa Institute of Technology.
Alfredo took several odd jobs, which included time at a printing press. During his stay there, Alfredo learned how to print cellophane
wrappers for candies and biscuits. His experience prompted him to start his own printing business.
His printing business was doing well. However, his discovery of the Doy Packaging system from Europe was the turning point of his
entrepreneurial career. He tried to sell the system to juice manufacturers, but no one was interested. Thus, Alfredo ventured into the
juice business by concocting flavors in his kitchen.
These juices were not only delicious but also appealing to parents as they found the light and brightly colored packs easy to include
in their children’s lunch boxes. Best of all, the packaging allowed the juice to stay chilled longer. Zest-O was born!
Today, Zest-O controls 80% of the juice market, and it has expanded to markets in Australia, China, New Zealand, Korea,
Singapore, US, and several countries in Europe. Alfredo’s entrepreneurial success has revitalized the juice region in the Philippines
particularly farmers growing dalandan. The Doy packs are also recycled by local cottage industries into handbags for export to other
countries!
The boy who once faced the harsh realities of life now become a successful juice manufacturer. Alfredo has diversified his business
interests into airlines by acquiring Asian Spirit Airlines and renaming it as Zest Air.
Alfredo is now literally on top of the world!

17. 8. Corazon D. Ong, CDO
Foodsphere
corazon-dayro-ongCorazon represented the value of having passion in what you
do as a motivating factor in finding success as an entrepreneur.
Corazon was a dietitian by profession. She used her knowledge to create
processed meats that were affordable enough to compete with the popular foreign
brands. She developed corned beef, hamburger patties, meat loaf, and hotdogs,
which were sold purely as a home business.
By 1975, Corazon decided to scale her newfound business and established CDO
Foodsphere. The company’s reputation to develop high-quality but low-priced
processed meats quickly spread and made CDO a regular staple in every
shopping cart.
As a mother herself Corazon understood the value of having meals that can be
prepared easily, taste good, and fit the family budget.
In time, CDO expanded to industrial markets. Today, CDO supplies processed
meats to 90% of quick service restaurants or QSRs in the country.

19. 9. Gregorio G. Sanchez Jr.,
LactoPAFI
engr-gregorio-g-sanchez-jrWhile working as a provincial board
member in Cebu, Gregorio noticed that pigs sold to market were
apparently malnourished.
He decided to look into the cause of malnutrition by doing research in
his spare time. Using only pots and pans in his home, Gregorio
conducted several tests and experiments on how to alleviate the state
of malnutrition of Cebu’s livestock.
Despite numerous failures, his persistence finally paid off. He
discovered the pigs were suffering from a type of bad bacteria. His
solution was a probiotic bacteria that would increase the level of good
bacteria in the body.
The bacteria would be called LactoPAFI Probiotic Bacteria. Gregorio’s
discovery would reach global acclaim as a leader in probiotics. It is
now exported to New Zealand, Norway, France, Australia, Hong Kong,
Japan, and US.

21. 10. Diosdado Banatao,
Computer Chips
diosdado-banataoDiosdado’s life story exhibits perseverance, hope, determination, and the
power of self-belief. The son of a farmer in Cagayan, Diosdado would walk barefoot just to
complete his high school education. His resilience made him a Magna Cum Laude graduate in
electrical engineering.
His excellence in the academe paved the way for Diosdado to become a pilot-trainee at the
Philippines Airlines or PAL, which would eventually open doors for a design engineer position at
Boeing Co. The opportunity brought Diosdado to the US where he completed a master’s degree
in electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University.
Diosdado’s experience working with the top technology companies led to his design of the first
single-chip 16-bit microprocessor calculator. By 1981, Diosdado was commissioned by Seeq
Technologies to assist the Ethernet to find an efficient way of linking computers. Disodado
designed the single- chip controller that provided data-link control and the transceiver in the first
10-bit Ethernet CMOS.
His success opened doors to build his own company, Monstroni, in 1985 and Chips and
Technology, which made US$ 12 million in the first quarter alone. By 1996, Diosdado sold Chips
and Technology to Intel for US$ 430 million!
Throughout his success, Diosdado never forgot his roots and Filipino heritage. He set up the
Banatao Filipino American Fund to lend support to Filipino American students in Northern
California who aspire to become electrical engineers.

22. The ones who succeed are the ones who
persevere…
After reading these inspiring stories from our own
successful Filipino entrepreneurs, one quality easily
stands out among their many admirable traits; that is,
the quality of embracing failure as a necessity to
achieve long-term sustainable success.
These entrepreneurs went through so many
adversities and challenges in their lives. Truth be
told, condensing their life stories in paragraphs does
not do them justice. A better way to understand what
they went through would be by imagining how we
would have felt or acted if we were in the same
situation.

23. Ask yourself:
1. What would you do if your business or only source of
income was destroyed like what happened to Henry Sy,
Socorro Ramos, and Mariano Que?
2. How would you react if you had lost everything you had
gained in a blink of an eye like what happened to John
Gokongwei Jr. and Cecilio Pedro?
3.How would you overcome the challenge of large-sized
powerful competitors as Corazon D. Ong and Cecilio Pedro
faced?
4. What would you do if you woke up one morning and
realized you were living in extreme poverty as what Alfredo
Yao, Tony Tan Catkiong, and Diosdado Banatao experienced?