Cebuano bizmen still optimistic

A true businessman is able to adapt to different economic situations and is resilient against any form of crises.

 This was the message put across by Cebuano entrepreneurs in a recent interview.

“We talk about crisis but in reality we can’t really fathom the effect of it right now. But even if there is really a crisis, it should not stop us from continuing with our businesses. Despite worries about crises we should go on,” said Johnie Lim, president of the Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu (SWAC) during a press briefing for the upcoming Beauty, Health and Wellness Show this November.

Lim is the proprietor of spa chain Body and Sole and the traditional Filipino spa Alibyo in Asia Town IT Park in Lahug.

He said that businessmen should not be discouraged with the glooming global economic crisis and should otherwise maintain their positive mindset towards business in order to succeed.

In fact at the height of crises these days, Lim did not see drastic decline of spa goers and he even went on with his expansion plans for some segment of his business.

He announced that this coming November, he will be putting up another Alibyo branch at the City Sports Club, which still shows his optimism in business.

“Crisis is the primary sentiment of most businessmen and this is the reason why most of them are putting their investments on hold. But as businessmen, we should not get discouraged first especially that it seems most of our day to day transactions are normal. There is no drastic decline of sales, closures of businesses or whatsoever,” he said.

He stressed that the crisis is just a matter of perception and it depends upon individual mindsets.

“Business should be optimistic because if all businessmen would complain that they feel the crunch, the business community will be in a gloomy state. My personal view is that as long as a business is able to sustain itself and employs people there is still so much reason to be optimistic,” he added.

Even furniture exporter Michael Basubas agreed that crises is a matter of perception and stressed that there is always opportunities in these trying times.

“There are always opportunities in times of crises and because there is a crisis, all the more reason for us to work harder. Now is the time to make calculated risks because your success will depend on your line of business,” he said.

Basubas said that there are lines of business that are badly hit by crises and one of which is the export sector which had been hit for years already.

He advised that, “if your line of business is affected with the ongoing crisis, then you should put on hold risky decisions and instead work for other types of business because there are some which will thrive during times of crisis,” he said.

Basubas said that businesses that could still thrive even in times of crises are those in line with food.

Recently, Basubas invested on a franchise of Figaro, a local coffee shop brand which he opened in Cebu.

“Crises could also be a positive thing for some lines of businesses. But with this situation, the more you should try to attract the market, the more you have to win them if you have lost them and try harder to win them if you still have not,” he said.

 He also said that despite crisis, the BHW show will push through this November 13 to 16 at the Ayala Center Cebu as they are optimistic that events like this will show that there are still many reasons to be hopeful.