Q5: Some companies do not franchise their businesses because of quick ROI and significant positive cash flow. A few have been able to successfully expand quickly. What are pros and cons of this approach? Fruit Magic President Dr. Alan Escalona: A business that wants to increase its market reach and advance its brand value needs to expand rapidly. If the said business […]
The Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) is the Philippines’ pioneer and largest franchise association. It’s officers list includes the who’s who of business with Samie Lim of BLIMS Furniture as chairman emeritus, Yvette Orbeta of Wendy’s as chairperson, Bing Limjoco of Francorp and Robert Trota of Max’s Group as vice chairmen and Franklin Go of Goldilocks as president . Its membership […]
Question 1: Is franchising a better option than starting your own business from scratch? PFA Chair Emeritus & BLIMS President Samie Lim: While it is true that starting a business creates jobs and may even open more opportunities for other businesses, the sad reality – not only in the Philippines but throughout the world – is that many start-ups end […]
Execution involves having the capabilities to get the job done. In Mansmith’s implementation workshop, we call this the 3Cs of capabilities – coordination, competency and commitment. This helps in solving company’s execution obstacles by replacing traps with tools. A most fundamental problem in execution is when people create assumptions that someone else in the company will do certain tasks and […]
Q5: You have launched the BDJ Beauty Box. Is this your response to seasonality in your planner business A: We launched BDJ Box, our online beauty discovery service for women, in our desire to help our 30,000 plus members to explore their own definitions of beauty. Feeling beautiful and relating it to confidence has been an increasing concern of our […]
One of the questions often asked in my marketing seminars is about defending against attacks from competition and even substitutes. When brands become successful, they are bound to attract the attention of others who may want to share a piece of the pie. My advice to clients is to understand the pattern of competitive attacks and to never underestimate competition. Be sensitive to the obvious signs of a potential attacker – new […]
Q1: You created a new category – the first planner for women. What inspired you to launch the Belle de Jour planner in 2006? A: When we introduced the first Belle de Jour Power Planner in November 2006 (2007 BDJ Planner), my motivation was as simple as – there was no planner in the market that I felt could really help […]
A few years ago, I was one of the plenary speakers of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship’s Go Negosyo Youth Summit. Let me share the five highlights of my talk on “Grow from Failures” where I talked about many business failures from my early days, some of which I also wrote in my book “The WE Entrepreneur”. 1. I was 23 years […]
There are so many ways major retailers selling fast moving consumer products (FMCG) in the Philippines can make money beyond buy and sell. Mansmith conducted interviews with manufacturers on their cost of selling, which revealed a list of at least 30 different charges that are or can be imposed by key retailers one time or another. When introducing new products, […]
Q1: You are an industrial engineer and you started as a methods officer in the finance function in 1977 for Unilever (then PRC). How did this influence your thinking process in your long career in Customer Development? A: Industrial engineering, in my view, is the application of science in business. The professional advance of Customer Development (previously called Sales) from […]