Best Home-Based Business Ideas for Moms in the Philippines

Interested to learn the best home-based business ideas for moms in the Philippines?

According to salary.com, mothers spend an average of 95 hours per week working at home. Based on the website’s calculator, the average pay for a stay-at-home mom should be $112,962! I’m lucky my wife holds down a regular job because I cannot afford to pay her even 5% of that amount!

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any mother who does get paid for running the household. The good news is women who decide to become stay-at-home moms do not have to languish in daily, monotonous housework.

With the evolution of digital technology, the expansion of the Internet, and the proliferation of social media, women can be stay-at-home moms and still build a career. Here are 15 of the best home-based business ideas for moms in the Philippines:

Best Home-Based Business Ideas for Moms

1. Arts and Crafts

As a child, I used to remember seeing my mother involved in arts and crafts like clay pottery, painting, and sculpting. I believe mothers become great at arts and crafts because these serve as an outlet for all the work they do at home and their professional careers. I used to wonder why my mother did not want to make money out of her talent.

With the Internet nowadays, mothers have an avenue where they can build a career from their skills in arts and crafts. It’s easy to put up an e-commerce website and sell your products from there. Among the popular crafts are knitting, jewelry making, and crocheting.

2. Blogging

One of the most in-demand online jobs today is writing. You can open an account on an online job market platform such as Elance and find thousands of job postings for talented writers. Of the projects posted, blogging is among the most popular.

Businesses have seen the power of blogs and how consistency can translate to immediate returns on their bottom line. Blogging is in demand in several industries, and you don’t have to be a technically schooled writer to be one. Keywords and SEO knowledge are advantages, but for blogging, you need to write from the heart and get people to engage.

Among the blog niches on which moms can write are travel and tourism, food, and arts and culture. The Philippines has a rich but largely unappreciated culture, which is best represented by these areas.

3. Bakery

Cupcakes, cookies, bread, cakes. I am sure among your best childhood memories are waking up to the smell of goodies baking from mom’s kitchen, right? You can have your Krispy Kreme donuts, Bread Talk pastries, and Polly’s Chocolate Cake, but I’ll always choose mom’s creations!

Recipe books be damned, mothers have a special—almost magical way—in baking goodies. They always taste better than whatever you find elsewhere. It’s because when they bake, they use their secret ingredient: LOVE.

Whenever I go to a food market and there are rows of baked goods, I always go for the one where a mother is managing the booth. I can be assured it will be the best of all! Mark this as one of the most viable home-based business ideas for moms in the Philippines!

4. Food Delivery

People say I am a talented cook. I can follow cookbooks as well as create my own recipes. But for some reason, I cannot recreate my mom’s grilled pork chops with sweet BBQ baked beans recipe!

Mothers are great cooks because they know exactly what their families want—how the food should taste and how it should be packed. Put simply, nothing beats a meal that tastes home cooked. Just like baking, if you want to get into the food retail business, it would be advisable to have a separate kitchen.

This way, everything you need and the way it is organized are catered to how your food is prepared and packed. But please check with your home owner’s association if catering or delivery services within your subdivision are allowed.

Make sure you have dependable packaging; given the requirement for biodegradable material, this may become a significant factor in your pricing. You will need to hire a motorcycle rider to make deliveries. There are also companies, such as Food Panda, that offer food delivery services, but the drawback is that the required minimum order may be too high for a start-up business.

I suggest using a rider until such time that food volume orders are high enough to warrant third-party services.

5. Web Design

The scope and breadth of the Internet grow as the technology does. Consequently, the demand for websites grows as well. Web design services can be offered from home.

If you are planning to get into the web design business, you have to ensure that you have a reliable PC, the latest design software, and good Internet connection. If your specialization is limited to design, you should have a good web programmer on notice.

Coding is one of the most important areas in web design; thus having a good web programmer is a must-have skill in your roster. Other contacts that you should have within a phone call’s reach are graphics artist, SEO professional, digital marketer, and content writer.

6. Life Coaching

Who gives us better advice than our own mother right? They have to balance family life with their professional aspirations, as well as time for oneself. Doing so can be very stressful and mothers are largely underappreciated. Yet, they continue to persevere and manage everything that they need to do.

That’s why when we’re in trouble or have problems, chances are, the first person we look for is our mom. We know we can count on our mother to give us the best advice because they’ve been through it all. If you’re a life coach, people depend on you so you can help them guide through life’s most difficult moments.

These include career decisions and relationships; but oftentimes, you may come across those who are depressed and emotionally distressed. Some of these cases maybe beyond your capacity to manage.

So you should have specialists available as referenced. As a life coach, you should have a website with a blog page and features to allow for face time. If possible, include a chat option. If your practice begins to thrive, consider investing in authoring self-help books and videos. This is a great home-based business idea for moms!

7. Business Consultancy

Most work-at-home moms used to carry high positions in the corporate world before they decided to spend a significant time managing their children and household. But this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t offer their skills to the rest of the world. In fact, working online as a freelance business consultant opens your market to include the global community.

If you go through the jobs posted in Elance, UpWork, and PeoplePerHour, to name a few, there is great demand for business consultancy services specifically on business development front. Moreover, they pay well! Some companies from across the globe offer $5,000 to $10,000 per month for business consultancy services. That’s P225,000 to P450,000 per month while working in the comfort of your own home!

The most important quality in becoming a business consultant is accessibility. Companies want to make sure that they can reach you via different media.

8. Market Research

Companies also extensively outsource research work to save up on time and money.

Market research requires patience, effective time management, organizational skills, and attention to detail. If you have these qualities, you can start a career as a market researcher. These types of jobs require highly skilled workers, and they are paid well; these often command an hourly rate of $15 to $20 per hour or $1,500 to $5,000 if on a fixed budget. But companies are very strict on the deadlines especially if you are enrolled in an hourly schedule.

Some companies look for market researchers in the specific location where they are interested to establish a venture. They often include out-of-pocket and incidental expenses as part of the package.

9. Data Entry

This job is a constant fixture in all online job market platforms. There are always postings for data entry services. However, compensation can be on the low side so the key in generating significant income is volume.

If you are fast but accurate typist with exceptional spreadsheet skills, you may find great success as a data entry agent. But be wary. Because of its immense popularity, a significant portion of these projects is operated by scammers, namely, “clients” who hire your services but won’t pay once you’ve submitted the work.

My advice is to not accept data entry projects from clients who want work to be conducted outside the online job market’s premises. The advantage with platforms with Elance is that they have a virtual workplace that can track the time spent on work if you are on an hourly schedule. If it’s a fixed amount, Elance requires the client to establish an escrow; the release of which is contingent on the fulfillment of milestones.

10. Virtual Assistant

One of the fastest growing industries in the freelance market is for virtual assistants. It is difficult to come up with a clear or near-accurate estimate on the number of virtual assistants there are worldwide.

Estimates range from 5,000 to 20,000, and it could be quite higher. But I am certain that given the volume of job posts and websites offering VA services, the number is on the high side.

To become a reliable VA, you must have exceptional organizational skills because the primary objective is to free up the client from attending to nonessential tasks, such as e-mail filtering, calendar management, phone handling, and appointment setting.

The scope of VA work has evolved from being primarily a virtual secretary and a personal assistant to one that requires specific skill sets. Today, companies hire virtual assistants to handle accounting, transcription and telemarketing, and social media marketing, among others. The pay ranges from $4 to $7 per hour.

11. Fitness Instructor

Gone are the days when mothers would while away their free time by watching their favorite telenovelas.

While this remains true for some, there are those who have jumped unto the health and fitness bandwagon. Some have taken the next step to become certified instructors in a specific discipline, such as yoga, Pilates, or core fitness training.

You can convert a small, well-ventilated room in your house as a “fitness center” and promote your services online or within your subdivision. With the exception of Pilates, you do not need expensive equipment to host yoga and core fitness training. Given the worsening traffic conditions in the Philippines and atrocious gym membership fees, you will surely find a market for your services within your village.

12. English Tutor

Another in-demand skill is English tutorial. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of centers that offer English proficiency courses, because there is great demand for these services in neighboring countries, such as Japan and South Korea, where bilingual instruction can be very expensive.

If your command of the English language, both written and spoken, is good, then you may consider a career as an online English instructor. It is advisable to take a few months of a refresher course on the English language to make sure that you have a firm grasp on its principles and concepts. Most importantly, you must exhibit patience in teaching and a love for working with people.

13. Music Instructor

Is there any other country that loves to sing or make music than the Philippines?

In the last few years, local networks have been acquiring franchises, such as The Voice, whereas variety shows consistently feature singing contests. If you have talent for singing or playing musical instruments, a career in teaching music could be for you. But as a music teacher, you should have formal training in theory.

It would be great if you’ve had experience as a performer. Similar to a career in English instruction, you must be patient with teaching others because learning curve differs from one student to another.

14. Preschool / Day Care Center

Over the years, I’ve noticed an increase in the number of homeowners who are converting a section of their homes into a preschool or a day care center. And this is because the need for these types of services is in great demand as both parents have to work to meet the household monthly budget.

However, opening a preschool is not simply a matter of closing off an area in the house, placing safety mats on the floor, and buying in play sets. First, you have to check with the home owners association if they allow preschool or day care services in their subdivision. Second, you have to check with the local government if they have a checklist of requirements for these types of services.

When dealing with children, safety is always an issue. Third, you should have professionals who not only can teach but also can design an effective curriculum for learning. Finally, be prepared to deal with other parents who can be very overbearing and outspoken on their ideas on how their children should be educated.

15. Event Planner / Organizer

If you’re committed to work at home because you want to spend more time with the family, consider a career as an event planner or organizer. You only get to work every few days per month and the jobs could be seasonal if you are focusing on weddings.

As an event planner, you should have a database of suppliers that include coordinators, party hosts, entertainment contractors, caterers, tables and chairs, party amenities, photographers, videographers, and sound equipment suppliers, among others.

Although the volume of work is manageable, some actually mark their calendars for the entire year. Make no mistake about it, it can be very hectic. If you want to become an event planner, you should be highly organized with the ability to manage your people efficiently. Most of all, you must be patient with your clients because some can be very demanding on your services.

This career requires you to do extensive networking and marketing of your services.

Conclusion

I’m sure that there are other great home-based business ideas for moms. Managing a household is hard work, and managing the children can often times be a handful. But these should not prevent moms from pursuing a career and a means of generating income.

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The Famous Filipino Entrepreneurs and their Brands

Money and fame are two of the things that every person desires. However, when it comes to great business and excellent entrepreneurship, being rich and famous is not enough. Business aspirants should make a legacy, consisting of inspirations, reputations, outstanding brands and companies that help people lives. To present some of our country’s top business personalities, whom we can reflect, we have gathered names of famous Filipino Entrepreneurs and their brands in the Philippines. In an alphabetical order, you will find below a list of our nation’s prominent entrepreneurs and business magnates.

1. Alfonso T. Yuchengco – Heads Yuchengco Group of Companies, Chairman of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), Chairman of the Mapua Institute of Technology.

2. Alfredo M. Yao – Zest-O Corp. (Zest-O)

3. Amable R. Aguiluz V – AMA Institute of Computer Studies (AMA)

4. Axel Kornerup – Netopia Internet Café (Netopia)

5. Andrew Gotianun – runs the Filinvest Development Corporation.

6. Andrew Tan- runs the Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), Megaworld Corporation, Emperador Distillers, Golden Arches Development Corporation – Possesses a franchise of McDonald’s

7. Ben Chan – Bench Apparels (Bench)

8. Ben Colayco – Level Up

9. Bernie H. Liu – owner of Penshoppe

10. Bienvenido Tantoco, Sr – Rustans Department Stores and Supermarkets

11. Bryan Tiu – owner of Teriyaki Boy Restautant

12. Betty Ang – President of privately held Monde Nissin, maker of instant noodles, biscuits and snack foods (Lucky Me!, Monde and Bingo).

13. Cecilio Kwok Pedro – founder of Lamoiyan Corp. (Hapee toothpaste)

14. Dr.Rolando B. Hortaleza and Dra. Rosalinda Ang – Home Beauty Exclusives (HBC)

15. Edgar Sia II – Founder of Mang Inasal (70% share acquired by Jolibee Corporation in October 2010)

16. Emilio T. Yap – owns Manila Bulletin, chairman of the Manila Hotel and Chairman Emeritus of Philtrust Bank

17. Felipe L. Gozon – current chief executive and chair of GMA Network Inc. (GMA 7)

18. Frederick Dy – chairman of the publicly-listed universal bank, Security Bank Corporation

19. George Ty – founder of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank)

20. Henry Lim Bon Liong – Sterling Paper Group of Companies

21. Henry Sy – founder of SM Group and chairman of SM Prime Holdings, Shoe Mart (SM)

22. Jaime Zobel de Ayala – chairman emeritus of the Ayala Corporation (Ayala)

23. Jesus Tambunting – Chairman and CEO of Planters Development Bank

24. John Gokongwei – chairman of JG Summit Holdings, Cebu Pacific Air, Digital Telecommunications (Sun Cellular), owns Universal Robina Corporation, controls Robinsons Land and Malls (Robinsons)

25. Jon Ramon Aboitiz – President of the Aboitiz & Co., and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.

26. Jose S. Concepcion Jr. – CEO of RFM (Selecta Ice Cream, Swift Hotdogs, Sunkist beverages, Fiesta Spaghetti, Vitwater)

27. Les Reyes – President and CEO of Reyes Hair Cutters

28. Lucio Tan – owns Asia Brewery, Tanduay Holdings, Fortune Tobacco, Philippine Airlines (PAL)

29. Manuel V Pangilinan – Chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), owner of ABC/TV5 network, Cignal Digital TV and Smart Communications.

30. Oscar M. Lopez – Chairman Emeritus of the Lopez Holdings Corporation (formerly known as Benpres Holdings Corporation).

31. Pacita ‘Chit’ Juan – Figaro Coffe Company

32. Ricky Reyes – founder of Ricky Reyes

33. Roberto R. Gandionco – Julie’s Franchise Corp.

34. Roberto S. Claudio – Toby’s Sports and Hobbies Salon

35. Rolando Hortaleza – Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the publicly-listed company, Splash Corporation

36. Rommel Juan – President of Binalot Fiesta Foods

37. Sandy Javier – Andoks Litson Corporation (Andok’s)

38. Soccoro Ramos – founder of National Bookstore

39. Tess Ngan Tian – President and tresurer of Lots ‘A Pizza

40. Tony Tan Caktiong- Caktiong – founded the fast food chain Jollibee.

41. Victor Tan – Bobson Apparel

42. Vivian Que Azcona – President of Mercury Group (Mercury Drug Stores)

43. Washington Z. Sycip – cofounder of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and Sycip Gorres Velayo and Company (SGV).

44. Wilfred Uytengsu Jr.- President and Chief Executive Officer Alaska Milk Corporation

This list will be updated from time to time. If you know a Filipino entrepreneur that should be included in the list, please share it by making a comment below.

References:
Forbes
Wikipilipinas

The Top 10 Successful Entrepreneurs in the Philippines Story

We’ve been there before; that stolen moment in a day when we find ourselves daydreaming of owning a business. Perhaps we were motivated by an epiphany that whatever we do, we’ll always be wage earners. Our boss will always make more money than us.

We may have been influenced by a moment of inspiration to have the power to transform the lives of the downtrodden citizens in the society. Business after all is a powerful lever of transformation. Abundant resources result in the capacity to build lives and societies.

Regardless of the reason, everyone wants to own a business. However, not everyone is willing to put in the time, resources, and effort to manage one. Once the daydreaming starts and the reality of business and its inherent risks hits home, most budding entrepreneurs remain as they were: daydreamers.

Entrepreneurship requires a special kind of person; someone who is willing to risk it all for the fulfillment of a dream. The statistics are not encouraging for individuals who want to attempt entrepreneurship. Only55% of start-up businesses remain operational after five years.  Nearly 80% have closed by year 10.

These figures are downright frightening for anyone who wants to become an entrepreneur. However, risk is a constant companion in entrepreneurship.

By definition, entrepreneurs are risk takers. They want to be in the driver’s seat all the time. They take chances but do not mistake their risk-taking nature as that of gamblers. The difference between entrepreneurs and gamblers is that entrepreneurs take calculated and educated chances. Gamblers are reckless, have no discipline, and usually give in to their weaknesses.

If an entrepreneur is a special kind of person, what then is a successful entrepreneur?

Blessed?

Lucky?

Kissed by God?

A successful entrepreneur is all that and more! Despite the horrifying statistics, anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. Here is one way to look at the statistics:

Using 2012 World Bank data as basis, let us assume that 16,000 new businesses are registered in the Philippines every year. Assuming that 98% of new businesses are small, we can make an educated guess that 15,680 small businesses run by budding entrepreneurs are registered annually. In five years, only 8,624 of those businesses will still be around.

A total of 8,624 is still a considerable number! Whether they are profitable or not is another story. However, you should focus on enterprises that continue to stimulate the economy by generating aggregate demand and providing employment.

If you are still scratching or shaking your head in disbelief, give yourself time to process the information. In the meantime, be inspired of these stories from 10 of the most successful entrepreneurs in the Philippines.

At the end of the article, you will be able to determine the ONE quality that made them succeed while others failed.

Top 10 Successful Entrepreneurs in the Philippines Story

1. Henry Sy, Shoe Mart

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!

2. Tony Tan Caktiong, Jollibee

If 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.

3. John Gokongwei Jr., JG Holdings

John’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 areRobina Land Corporation and Cebu Pacific.

4. Socorro C. Ramos, National Bookstore

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!

5. Cecilio Kwok Pedro, Lamoiyan Corporation

Cecilio’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.

6. Mariano Que, Mercury Drugstores

Many 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.

7. Alfredo M. Yao, Zest-O

The 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!

8. Corazon D. Ong, CDO Foodsphere

Corazon 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.

9. Gregorio G. Sanchez Jr., LactoPAFI

While 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.

10. Diosdado Banatao, Computer Chips

Diosdado’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.

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.

Ask yourself:

• 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?

• 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?

• How would you overcome the challenge of large-sized powerful competitors as Corazon D. Ong and Cecilio Pedro faced?

• 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?

• If you saw a need or a concern, would you act on it out of passion as Corazon Ong and Engr. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. did? Or would you be compelled by greed?

Failure in any form is never easy to accept. Some have described the feeling of failure from being slapped in the face to getting stabbed in the gut. It is a very painful feeling that leaves even the most powerful men helpless and stripped of dignity.

However, the ones who succeed are the ones who persevere. They acknowledge failure not as a termination point but an educational experience. It is a wake-up call on what needs to get done. These entrepreneurs had three choices to make: fight, flight, or freeze. Every single one chose to FIGHT.

Is your life worth fighting for?

If you believe in your dream, FIGHT for it. If you believe in your vision, FIGHT for it. If you believe that success is just around the corner, FIGHT for it.

Deciding to become an entrepreneur is not enough. You have to commit to it. Whatever you do from that moment on will have repercussions on your life and on those you love.

Ask yourself: Is your life worth fighting for?