Krhisha May C.

Mendoza BSTM – 2C

Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Hospitality

1. Tony Tan Caktiong

Known to be the man behind the country’s famous bee, Tony

Tan Caktiong is another rags-to-riches story—from owning a
small ice cream franchise to heading some of the Philippines’
most famous food chains. He is a Filipino billionaire
businessman who is the founder and chairman of Jollibee Foods
Corporation and the co-chairman of DoubleDragon Properties.
Born the third of seven siblings, Tony Tan Caktiong was from a
poor family in China who immigrated to the Philippines in the
hope that they may have a better life. His family helped each
other out, establishing a restaurant business in Davao, which
enabled young Tony to study chemical engineering at the
University of Santo Tomas. When he was 22, Caktiong decided
to shell out P350,000 for an ice cream parlor franchise. He opened Cubao Ice Cream House and Quiapo
Ice Cream House. As their business became more and more successful, they started to hire more people
to help them manage it. Two years later, he decided to serve hamburgers, fried chicken, and spaghetti
as people began to tell him that they didn’t want to eat ice cream all the time. It was then that they
decided to rebrand and change their name to "Jollibee," as it represents them as a company and the
people that they cater to hardworking and happy.

McDonald’s came into the picture not many years later, but they failed to take over Jollibee’s popularity
as, according to Caktiong, they don’t know the local food culture. Filipinos have a sweet taste in food, so
Jollibee decided to serve spaghetti with a sweeter flavor. Filipinos like to smell everything they eat,
which is the reason behind the "Langhap Sarap" tagline they have been using for a while now. The
Jollibee group grew in size over time. Caktiong partnered up and established a couple of other food
chains, including Chowking, Red Ribbon, Greenwich, and Delifrance. Aside from bringing Jollibee,
Chowking, and Red Ribbon to other countries, they’ve also established new food chains in China and
Taiwan that suit the tastes of the people there. As of 2016, Tony Tan Caktiong ranked 6th in Forbes’ list
of the Philippines’ 50 richest. He was also awarded Entrepreneur of the Year and Ernst and Young
Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004. Forbes Magazine has ranked Tony Tan Caktiong as the 9th richest man
in the Philippines as of January 2021, with a net worth of $2.4 billion.

2. Henry Sy

Henry Sy, who was born in Xiamen, China, in November 1924, was not born with a silver spoon in his
mouth. Henry followed his father to the Philippines to escape poverty, only to have a miserable
childhood in a foreign country. Sy struggled as an immigrant to live in a different country and learn the
local language. He worked hard day and night to provide for his needs, determined to succeed. Sy began
with a tiny sari sari store that helped them in their daily lives. Sy and his father lived in a small space
until the fruits of their labor made them successful in the years
that followed. When the Philippine economy collapsed during
WWII, their store burned down, forcing his father to go to China.
Henry Sy stayed in the Philippines and established his shoe store
in Marikina. Sy did not achieve success suddenly. He enrolled in
school and graduated from Far Eastern University with a degree
in commerce. Sy also changed legal names, sold rejected and
overrun shoes, and had a slew of other misfortunes in his early
life. He didn't give up and pushed through, perhaps because he
sensed something big, like what he has now, was on the way.
After a series of business failures, Henry Sy stood up to the
challenge and persevered in the pursuit of his goal. In 1958, he
opened a tiny shoe store in Quiapo, Manila, named "Shoe Mart," which resulted in the establishment of
SM Prime Holdings. With three of the most valuable companies in the Philippines: SM Investments Corp.
and SM Prime Holdings Inc., both valued at over Php 1 trillion, and BDO Unibank, valued at around Php
635 million, he has become the richest man in the country for 11 consecutive years since 2005, and he is
ranked 52nd on the Forbes World Billionaires List of 2018.

3. Socorro Ramos

The National Bookstore is probably one of the most visited shops

in the Philippines. National Bookstore is a part of every Filipino
household. All thanks to the hard work and perseverance of
Socorro Ramos, also known as Nanay Coring. Nanay Coring has
always been in the retail industry. As a young girl, she helped her
grandmother sell fruits at the local market in their home
province. Life was hard, and her mother decided to move to
Manila to find better opportunities. She attended a public school
and took on many jobs during summer vacation, from wrapping
bubble gum to sewing buttons on shirts. After she finished high
school, her family did not have enough money to send her to
college. She then worked as a salesgirl at a bookstore. It was
there that she met her would-be husband, Jose. They opened a stall shop in Escolta. They named it the
National Bookstore after their cash register. But things did not go uphill from there. In the 1940s, strict
censorship of books was implemented. Nanay Coring had to put the books away and resort to selling
soap, candies, and slippers. After the war, the whole of Escolta was burned down. This did not dampen
Nanay Coring and Jose’s souls. They opened another small store. This time, they sold the books they had
previously put away and the whisky. Gathering their earnings, the couple bought more school supplies
and books. They slowly rebuilt the national bookstore. They ventured into postcards and greeting cards.
They also partnered with international publishing houses and reprinted books at lower prices. Aside
from selling products of well-known brands, National Bookstore also now manufactures its school
supplies, Best Buy. Keeping up with the times, they have teamed up with Kobo, a Canadian-based e-
book seller. The National Bookstore is also visible on social media, and customers can even shop online
via their website. Students, office workers, and everyone else will find what they are looking for at the
National Bookstore.

In the words of Nanay Coring, "Work hard, very hard." "There is no express elevator to success; you
have to climb the stairs."

Socorro Ramos received some of the country's notable awards such as:

• Agora Award for Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship (1991)

• DTI Outstanding Filipino Retailer Award (2001) • Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (2004)

The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Award (2006)

• Filipino-Chinese Federation of Business and Professional Women of the Philippines Award for
Business (2007)

Reflection:

Tony Tan Caktiong, Henry Sy, and Socorro Ramos are all entrepreneurs. They have all succeeded in their
respective fields and have become successful because of the hard work they put in.

These three entrepreneurs all started small, but they're now doing incredibly well. It's not because
they're more talented than other entrepreneurs or that they're smarter or more driven than other
entrepreneurs. It's because they had the courage to take a risk and then keep going when things got
tough. They didn't give up on their dream because it seemed too big for them or because they were
afraid of failing. They knew that if they stayed true to themselves and their vision, then success would
follow. And it did!

They all have one thing in common: they were able to successfully start their own businesses by focusing
on what they knew best. They didn't try to do everything, or scale too quickly, but instead took their
time and did what worked for them. And now? They're living the dream!