The king of franchises

At 32, Amable Cruz Aguiluz IX is no longer just the "video king" but also the "franchise king". Under his ACA Franchising Group, Aguiluz has more than 300 company-owned and franchised stores with total revenues of P900 million.

Aguiluz’s success is simple: develop a new product, run it for a year or so and then franchise it out. Franchising has been a win-win strategy for everybody involved. For ACA Franchising Group, franchising allows expansion nationwide at the fastest time possible. For franchisees, it means buying into a tried business with a high return on investment.

Aguiluz has come up with businesses for franchise to suit every capital requirement. For those with very little capital, he has developed repair shops each with its own corporate identity, that fix everything from watches to refrigerators to computers. Some of these ACA-developed franchises are Fix It, for electronic home/office equipment; Cellphone Lab, for cell phones; Dr. Watch, for watches; PC-Aid, for personal computers; Megashine, for shoes; and Mr. Appliance, for refrigerators and air-conditioners.

For those with money, there’s the ACA Video Shop. And for those with even more money, there’s the AMA Computer Learning Center.

In the blood

AMA Computer is a subsidiary of AMA Computer College, which was established by Aguiluz’s father, Amable Aguiluz V.

In his teens and early adulthood, the younger Aguiluz accompanied his father in his travels and saw how his father negotiated and closed business deals.

During one of those trips to the United States, Aguiluz saw and entered a video shop that offered only original and high-quality video products and was part of a franchised chain. He brought home the concept, using P100,000 of his own money and borrowing P5 million from his family.

Aguiluz put up the first ACA Video Store in 1991. Within four years, 14 more stores were set up in strategic places in the city.

When pirated films in betamax format invaded the industry, he shifted to VHS form and introduced laser technology. He introduced the VCD and DVD format ahead of everybody else. He also stuck to the store’s original concept of renting out only original copies.

To expand, Aguiluz decided to franchise, at a time when the word was synonymous to food and imported goods. A total of 133 video stores have been sold as franchises.

Realizing the need to deliver service to its customers, Aguiluz put up a training center to standardize the training program for service crews and store managers.

"To succeed in franchising, you must commit to supporting the business by providing developmental training, effective advertising, continuous product development and research, and responsive management in the spirit of long-term and mutual partnership," Aguiluz said.

Helping dad out

In 1998, when his father was appointed Presidential Adviser and Y2K Commission chairman, Aguiluz took over as president of the AMA Group of Companies. Aside from being the son of the owner, Aguiluz had already made a name for himself as an entrepreneur. It didn’t hurt that he also had an MBA from the Ateneo Graduate School and had taken post-graduate courses at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Without a doubt, Aguiluz is a chip off the old block.