Good times are still with us

Yesterday, Dec. 8, a fourth batch of student-entrepreneurs passed the acid test to become master entrepreneurs.

In order to graduate, each one had to work out a five-year business plan and defend this at the culminating ME recital Akin to recitals at the end of one’s piano lessons, this was "show time" for them. More aptly, it was "show-off time" to display what had been learned over the past months. Each performer reported both on his/her enterprise growth while attending the ME program and the planned growth for the next five years.

This curious mix of city and countryside entrepreneurs, whose learning sessions were either held at the AIM’s Makati campus or at the ComClark facilities in the Clark Economic Zone (Pampanga) shared an inspiring litany of the transformations they experienced. The following selection is just a few of the best proofs that, notwithstanding the doomsday pronouncements about Philippine politics and economics, good times are still with us.

Great to go national

• This family entertainment center entrepreneur has boosted his company’s popularity in the provinces. They are now the recognized leader in entertainment arcades in the provinces. He has increased the number of branches from 18 to 22 while he was in the ME program. He has also improved his company’s control systems, thus allowing the pursuit of its franchising strategy in the next five years.

Upbeat in Central Luzon

• She owns a car care business that grew net sales over 20 times. Service net sales grew 3.5 times. Employee productivity increased over six times. From a negative net income position, the enterprise is now profitable.

• This cable TV business owner reported a 46% increase in revenue and a 52% increase in customer base. All these increases accrued without additional head count.

• A cement products manufacturer reduced rejects from 5% to 2% and experienced a 39% increase in sales.

• This egg businessman discovered that his entire tuition was paid for by one of the application projects of the ME. The process improvement led to a reduction of the breakage of eggs by 33.5%.

Lucky in Laguna

• An entrepreneur who owns a gasoline station has increased her car services revenue by 1,800%. This outcome was a result of an incentive scheme that also increased her employees’ take-home pay. Two of her employees have earned approximately two to four times their basic salary. Through this scheme, one of her employees was able to set up a small sari-sari store and bought a tricycle for his family.

Cool Cebuano

• A participant from the furniture industry registered a growth of almost three times in sales per employee. Factory capacity utilization went up five times. From being a purely local market player, the firm now exports more than 80% of its products.

• A processed seafood producer has increased revenues from seven digits to nine digits. He has not only improved his production quality during the program but his marketing programs and initiatives as well. The latter improvement led to an increase in the number of clients.

Palawan’s pride

• From an opportunistic lessee of a souvenir shop at a prestigious hotel in Palawan, this entrepreneur is now moving to become one of the concessionaires at the new airport. Her shop will become the main source of Philippines souvenirs for foreign travelers. She has also expanded her services from mere retailing to events management since she has defined her business as that of "promoting Philippine heritage."

Metro Manila magic

• In contrast to his 2001 performance, this entrepreneur in the company uniform business game reported a 111% increase in sales for the first 10 months of 2002. Net income for this period is already 33% over the net income of 2001. Cost of goods sold decreased from 61% in 2001 to 55% for the first 10 months of 2002.

• A branded casual wear manufacturer and retailer proudly reported a 10% increase in the number of outlets in 2002. Compared to 2001, the first 10 months’ sales of 2002 is up by 20%. Formal management systems and manuals are now in place.

• By analyzing the contribution margin of his products, a beverage manufacturer improved his company’s profitability. He decided to stop producing his losing product and concentrated on his other product line. Reviewing his profit and loss statements after making this decision put him in the black.

• Through one of her projects in operations, this drugstore owner was able to expand her stores and moved from being a retailer to being a wholesaler. Given her rapid expansion, she realized the importance of computerizing and integrating her operations. While on the ME program, she opened two additional retail stores plus a wholesale store.

More entrepreneurs doing great despite the bad times will be featured next week. Just like the earlier batches, the performance of this group underscores our often-repeated statement that real entrepreneurs see and seize opportunities at crunch time. The bigger the crisis, the better the opportunity.

(Alejandrino Ferreria is the dean of the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship of the Asian Institute of Management. For further comments and inquiries, you may contact him at: ace@aim.edu.ph. Published "Entrepreneur’s Helpline" columns can be viewed on the AIM website at http//: www.aim.edu.ph).