Group seeks to inspire with award

TO inspire entrepreneurship, Ernst & Young and its local partner, the SGV Foundation, hope the stories of successful entrepreneurs will be heard through the Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Maria Madeira Vestil of the SGV Foundation hopes members of the Cebu community and other sectors can inspire entrepreneurial activity by nominating candidates for the Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

She said they are looking for success stories, especially those who have beat the odds despite the unavailability of capital and the lack of support from family members.

The Philippine winner will represent the country in the World Entrepreneur of the Year awards hosted by Ernst &Young in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June next year.

Vestil said the award does not offer a cash prize but the prestige earned by the winner serves as a bonus for all the hard work.

Low profile

She explained that the award serves as an avenue for entrepreneurs to tell their story and inspire others to persevere.

Justin Uy of Profood International, a finalist of the awards, said that since he started the business in 1978, he did not participate in activities that would involve publicity, saying he preferred to keep a low profile.

However, he said that sharing his experience encouraged younger people to go into business, after he shared such experiences like getting turned down by the bank for his loan application for P20,000.

He said the key to his success was to share it with his family, who later worked for him and enabled him to expand with people he knew and trusted.

“Nothing is impossible, even if you have nothing,” he said. Uy said that meeting other finalists showed him there are so many other business opportunities that can be made.

New ideas

For his part, William Liu of Primary Structures Corp. said the award has created awareness for the younger generation and it helps breed new ideas, hope and passion.

He admitted that meeting other finalists has helped him develop better friendships, which later carried on to his business network.

The search is open to all Filipino entrepreneurs who are owners or founders and are primarily responsible for the growth of the company. Nominees should also still be active in the business and the business must have been in operation for at least two years.

US Articles » Typical Stories of Successful Filipino Entrepreneurs.

Reading the life stories of successful entrepreneurs anywhere in the globe will almost always have that charming element. Building something out of obscurity, the initial success, problems encountered and the person sticking to it trying to overcome the hurdles, (sometimes at the point of giving up), and then an unknown force from somewhere pushes the entrepreneur up slowly and steadily.

For some it is the failing in a business or two and then, finding the vein so to speak- sticks it out and eventually succeeds.

For those who succeeded, however modest, there is also always that factor of relentless pushing forward. It is the ability to maintain focus even when faced with hard work and discouragement.

I too found these tales a little mushy at times, too romanticized and often over stretched until I failed in four businesses big time and found out that the same principles work for me.

Whatever your views may be, there is an undeniable over riding characteristic in most entrepreneurs and that is enthusiasm, and the desire to keep on. I dont believe in the Midas touch either, that is bull, a showing off if you will. Aptitude yes, acumen yes, but just the same, every success has a history of hard work behind it, A kind of preparation.

This is almost the same everywhere. Even in third world countries where the economy could sometimes be so tangled up.

Let us have the Philippines. Successful Filipino entrepreneurs would have done a greater effort here than in many of their counterparts in some places of the world. You may disagree, that is fine. But you see business people thrive on predictability and stability that could result to margins. On the other hand, fluctuating economies would give you a different result. Couple that with a colonial mentality that until today has not yet been totally forgotten and you are in for a sanity check especially when trying to compete with a European or American brand. No way could it work.

But it did. Take for example Tony Tan, a Filipino entrepreneur who started his way, washing the dishes and waiting on tables in his fathers small restaurant. In 1975, with the help of his family this Filipino acquired an ice cream franchise. Ice cream parlors were popular then and it was supposed to be a decent and proven formula. But like most popular businesses that are copied, the Ice cream parlor has eventually to be given up. After a good start, the Ice cream business failed. Tony Tan has to start all over again this time it was not ice cream but selling hamburgers. He gave the hamburgers his own twist, and with the help of family members, tweaked on other fast food items and that was supposed to be the story of it. Obscure beginnings from a country that was supposed to flock to Mc Donald for hamburgers. No one could, in a sane mind, hope to compete with Mc Donalds right?

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The Filipino manufacturing entrepreneur, agent and product of change

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The state, development and identity in multi-ethnic societies, ethnicity, equity and the nation

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