Superb Entrep classes at GSB

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This is a self praise.  No one has praised the hard work this post did at a GSB (probably contributed to high enrollment then).  Had courses in Cebu, Subic, Clark and the main campus in Makati.  This post taught for a decade plus

There was a lot of work for the students:

Topics subjects covered:

     1.  Self improvement:   speeches, self affirmation

     2.   Opportunties - scanning

     3.  Innovation

     4.  Business operations:   accounting, finance, marketing

     5.  Leadership

Individual:

    1.  Book report, videos on self affirmation

    2.  Making a 2 minute speech in class

    3.  Electronic assignments and submission

    4.  Preparing and submitting business plan

    5.  Serependity walk -  listing as many as possible business opportunities for an assigned area

Group:

    1.  Innovation (dry cooking)

    2.  Inviting an entrepreneur in class to tell stories about themselves to inspire tudents

    3.  Group report on a resto or food stall at Mercato or Makati Av.

When the management of the school decided to have grades submitted on time (that meant no time to submit a business plan) this post quit teaching.  This post believed that preparing a business plan is an essential gtaduation skill for an Entrep graduate

This class on three  occasions sponsored  talks that involved the whole GSB:    that of Dr. Belo, the head of BCDA on social entrepreneurship, and a famous motivator.   This was an entrep class project, not even that of the Management Department or the GSB

Thankfully the GSB sent me and several others to Bangkok and Seoul to advance my knowledge on the subject matter.  We attended lectures and workshop by Stanford University and Denver Colorado U.  

If this will be revived, I may teach again.  

A Parade of Business opportunities/technology/ideas does not make an entrepreneur

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This post has seen a series of posts on business opportunities and techniques:   say sweets baking, resto, water supply busoiness that would seem to impress many people to enter and invest in such business.  However nothing can be further from the truth.  There needs to be two other masteries in addition to the enterprise:   Mastery of Self, and Mastery of Opportunities.

This post and the academe believe that Mastery of the Self is the ground on which sound enterpreneurship is based   You must want and be passionate about the business.

As Toyoda said about Toyota, it is not a business born out of business plan but a business "born in our hearts.  "

3 Business Opportunity Scanning last May 1, 2025 Labor Day

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This post had 3 business opportunity tripping/scanning to Laguna last Thursday, May 1, 2025.  While labor was celebrating its efforts, we were trying to find ways to provide jobs to laborers

1.  Laguna   a 6 hectare project planted to fruit trees, overlooking the Laguna Lake.  For possible hospitality business  However it is 5 km from the Rapids a tourist attraction.    There is source of water.  However the site is far away from the market.  Nothing in mind for our line of business.

2.  Laguna a 33 hectare, elevated.   near the recently completed water filtration plant of Manila Water. For possible quarry and socialized housing for big developers.  There was an exisitng purchaser who forfetited or bounced check for P5M and unable to deliver.

    We discussed last Saturday for options

     1.  Quarrying - doubtful as there are no civil works nearby

     2.  Social housing - still looking 

    Rizal, aa 1.3 project owned by an Auntie.   There is existing CTS (dapat EJ with sale) and not all parties have signed.   Will make some money if the buyer gives up.  

3.  A 2.4 hectare project near our existing project.   Talked to the persons brokering the deal:   a govt official, and the secretary of the seller.   They wanted a sale.  We are not in a position to buy.  A JV perhaps.  We are in the middle of two large construction project with over 9 digits in amount.  

     It would be advantageous to the owner of the property to go into JV:

     1.  He would save paperwork in licnese;

     2.  He would be able to ride on our expertise

     3.   As it is jv, the owner would get more from his asking price

     4.   He does not seem to have expertise as his plans roads are of the wrong width - not according to  standards.

     5.  He can focus on his business which is LPG.   

Only 3 is feasibile It would give us inventory of 6,000 and sale of about  600M, substantial returns for both parties.  I hope we can get this one

New business inquiries -3 even while staying at home.

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Even while staying at home, no active business development assistant (which could cost anywhere from P20 to P40K a month)  three business opportunities in the area of memorialization  came my way 

1   A 1.4 hectare property which can become an all in business center for memorialization in Calabarzon

     Population of area is 290K  Open for joint venture    This is near the church only about 300 meters              away

2  Another 1.8 hectare project in a major city in Calabarzon with 290K population likewise..  It does not

    have our product yet  It is only 3.1 km from the Cathedral

3,  A 8 hectare project along the highway in Region 1 which could be had in a joint venture.  It serves 8 towns of a most populous vote rich province.   This would make our business number 3 in this province.  

This is 3.1 km away from the Cathedral.   

Quick and clean way to get wealthier

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rizal Philippines
August 16,2016

I have frequent meeting with a celebrity who became a millionaire at the age of twenty.  She was recently ambushed but survived the attempt. to kill her.  It stemmed from a case of forgery of title of property she owned.  She proved that it was estafa and  won the case.  However on the day of pronouncement of the judgement, the plaintiff who has been planning the crime all along executed the plan. The assailants sang and pinpointed the mastermind, namely the plaintiff in the case.

However there is another twist to the story.  The same person, paying somebody from DOJ filed a case of estafa against her which was widely publicized to embarrass and her. Proving that law in the Philippines is not just.

But the lesson to learn from her is that the way she grew up her wealth.  She says that every Christmas season (that means beginning end of August and September, she and 5 other wholesalers go to Bangkok where the dry goods, Christmas items are relatively cheap.  Her purchase amounts to almost a hundred million, and the traders issues her pdc for the amount of their purchase for 90 days + 20% (thats a clean 6% per month or 72% per annum)  She has been doing that for 10 years now and the traders always make good their checks.  She can double her money in two years doing that.

Now who said that those who do not have money can have more money.

MONEY BEGETS MORE MONEY IF YOU KNOW HOW TO INVEST AND MINIMIZE RISK.

Have you ever thought of that as an opportunity?  The old businesses are still the one that are safe and profitable.  High tech -- nice but risky

Opportunities abound even for a senior businessman/lecturer

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rizal Philippines
August 11, 2016

Three weeks ago, I was informed by a secretary of the GS that being 65:   I would not be renewed anymore for teaching load nor attend final defense of students.   It could be the occasion to be sad and start feeling useless.  The teaching job was a no money issue but simply that was love of leaving a legacy

However many things came out and they were opportunities, far better than teaching:

1.  Invitation to be director of a just bought rural bank.  It fits my background well because I worked in a rural bank, I put up a savings and loan association which was successful, it was bought by a govt agency.  I also established 2 financing companies and a lending investor.  I am now helping firm clarify its goals and objectives (write a business plan)

2. The owner of the said RB also invited me to help her develop her properties into subdivision and memorial park.  I had extensive experience in both.

3. Invitation from a member of the board to be their consultant, investor in the business he is organizing:

     1.  manufacturing of solar panels  (RE which includes solar is an advocacy.  I researched hard on solar financing, and this is serendipity.)

     2.  telecom, a solution to the slow internet in the Philippines  (its an advocacy too)

     3.  health care  (my teaching stint for MBAH served me well

Let me quote a portion of his email:

Jorge, I welcome your joining our organization because I feel that there is a lot that you can contribute not only in banking but the other business ventures that we are pursuing. We have for example the Solar Power company. This company I think will do so well that by the second hear I will do a back door listing which will create a value that is 1000% of our investment.

Aside from this I am pursuing a business opportunity  in the telecom industry which is going to be a game changer. I will give you more details once I close the deal. Suffice to say that it will be a partnership with Bill Wrigley whose family once owned Wrigley chewing gum but sold to the  Mars family  a few years ago for $22B. He is considered the 4oth richest man in America and I am meeting with him in Chicago on Sept 15.

He is now getting into the telecom business with a new product which they want to bring into the Philippines. What he has is capable to providing  wifi in the entire country and will also be able to enhance cellphone quality and coverage. No more drop calls. No more slow internet, plus the entire country will have a CCTV in every street where there is an electric pole. Its very exciting and I pray that I can introduce it into this country in partnership with Bill Wrigley.

So I hope that you can join us and together help me build a conglomerate that I once had. Unfortunately the conflict that I had with the family destroyed what we had successfully built over a 45 year period. This time it will not be the case. 

Every business strategist/owner should be entrepreneurial, ie spot the opportunity

Every generation needs a revolution - entrepreneurial revolution

Ateneo Professional School
Makati City
June 18, 2016

In the strama defense, there is a portion there that uses Porter;s five forces of competition.   If the competition is high for all the 4 sectors, that means to say, there is an opportunity in the industry where the enterprise is to make money.  If the competition is high, the more money is to be made. If there is more money and there is growth, there is a possibility for the enterprise to grow its sales, cash flow, and profit.

Thus the student for strama must have a keen eye on the opportunity and must balance the risk aversion vs the benefit the money to be made.

Thus:

1.  In the yarn factory that shifts to cotton toll manufacturing.  It makes a cotton bud each for 4 cents, which the the brand owner sells for 20 cents.  The l6 cents is the opportunity window. The brand owner makes a lot more money that the producer.  It is worth looking into the business of making and selling cotton buds.

Key learning from AGSB Iloilo guest entrepreneurs

Rizal   Philippines   |    January 10 2014

What were the key take home points from the two guest entrepreneurs we had:   Felix Tiu and Buddy Silva?.

Felix Tiu emphasized the importance of opportunity -  opportunity must be just beside you or within your experience.  His plane seat mate was source of important information in business which he referred to his friends.   Travelling abroad let him know about automatic candy making machine.   His inability to sell a foreclosed asset let him in the real estate development business.  That is why if you see his business, they are diverse and may  be unrelated to one another because they were driven by availability of the opportunity.

Buddy on the other hand underscored the context, the importance of the why rather than the how, and the adaptability, the openness (context) of the entrepreneur towards content to let him understand new business and innovate.

What are the purposes of the Special Reports?

The Special Reports are worth 10 points in our grading system.  The student makes the report in the class and I ask for comments, discussion.  Then they upload this at Slideshare for sharing with the class primarily.  The other students do not have to take notes and later on they will remember, in the Slideshare archive, what we did in class.  Lasting memories, eh.

1.  The SR is any of the following general classification:   self mastery, mastery of the environment/opportunity, and mastery of the enterprise.  This goes back to our debate on the first day.

2. The SR trains the student to be special (unique, differentiated, noticed), as with the inspirational video.  Every entrepreneur must have a compelling very noticeable, differentiated (not with diprensiya!) business to survive, flourish in the marketplace.

3.  At least the student must have remembered one thing in this entrep class - his special report, permanently archived at Slideshare.

4.  Posting at slideshare publicize the student.  Slideshare presentations are viral and places the students name and the topic at the top of Google Page Search.  Slideshare is owned by Linked In, a search engine for professionals.  It makes you visible to head hunters, recruiters, and other senior executives.  You will not be unemployed for a long time

So what are the following special reports all about?  self mastery, mastery of the opportunity, or the enterprise  (still about nature, nurture, and swerti)?

      1.  John Gokongwei?

      2.  Business and the Bible

      3.  Blue Ocean Strategy

      4.  Sun Tzu  (this is tricky)

      5. Confucianism

Danger or Opportunity? The attitude is up to you! submit by ZHAO YANAN

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Zhao Yanan (AH) <Vicky.zhaoyanan@huawei.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 9:31 AM
Subject: Danger or Opportunity? The attitude is up to you! submit by ZHAO YANAN
To: "profjorge.entrep@gmail.com" <profjorge.entrep@gmail.com>

Hi sir, can you help me to check is this one ok? Thank you.

NU 2 Danger or Opportunity ? The attitude is up to you! (S110174 ZHAO YANAN)

Recently ,My WeChat ( Chinese chat tool ,looks like MSN） has a very famous article.

It is said if A,B,C,D,E…X,Y,,Z is equal to 1,2,3,4,5….24,25,26

In our life, Hard work=98, Knowledge=96, Leadership=89, Money=72, Luck=47

However which words equal 100? That is attitude!

Different people have different attitude to life, some people think he can be lucky enough to get a good life easily, so they sleep in the class ,play computer games all day and night, go shopping frequently, they have so many day dreams, such as have a lot of money, be a famous people. I know if we want day dreams to be true, we should have a positive attitude to our life, it not a chance, but it depends on our attitude.

On September 10, I took my strategic management class, my professor show us two Chinese words (WEI JI):

A wēijī in Chinese is every bit as fearsome as a crisis in English. It is meaning there are always opportunities in a crisis situation. First time when I came Philippines, most of my friend in china said: “it is very dangerous in Philippines ,the environment is not good” ,actually they never come here before, only see in TV or heard of something. When I arrive Philippines, I found that there is different we image in china, the Filipinos are friendly and smile all the time. I like Philippines .Then I start my MBA life in AGSB. It is wonderful and I never regret to come in manila. It looks like dangerous, but it is an opportunity to improve myself.

So when you face crisis, your attitude is decide your direction.

发件人: Jorge Saguinsin [mailto:profjorge.entrep@gmail.com]
发送时间: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 9:27 AM
收件人: Zhao Yanan (AH)
主题: Re: Danger or Opportunity? The attitude is up to you! submit by ZHAO YANAN

Please submit a New One.  Thanks

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 2:53 PM, Zhao Yanan (AH) <Vicky.zhaoyanan@huawei.com> wrote:

Hi sir

Below is my NU 12-2,please check, I sent to your blog mail before ,but sir JC said may be have problem.

Thank youJ

---

From: Yanan Zhao <yananzhao10@yahoo.com>;
To: profjorge.entrep.nu12@blogger.com <profjorge.entrep.nu12@blogger.com>;
Subject: Danger or Opportunity? The attitude is up to you! submit by ZHAO YANAN
Sent: Sun, Sep 15, 2013 6:18:56 PM

NU 2 Danger or Opportunity ? The attitude is up to you! (S110174 ZHAO YANAN) Recently ,My WeChat ( Chinese chat tool ,looks like MSN） has a very famous article. It is said if A,B,C,D,E…X,Y,,Z is equal to 1,2,3,4,5….24,25,26 In our life, Hard work=98, Knowledge=96, Leadership=89, Money=72, Luck=47 However which words equal 100? That is attitude! Different people have different attitude to life, some people think he can be lucky enough to get a good life easily, so they sleep in the class ,play computer games all day and night, go shopping frequently, they have so many day dreams, such as have a lot of money, be a famous people. I know if we want day dreams to be true, we should have a positive attitude to our life, it not a chance, but it depends on our attitude. On September 10, I took my strategic management class, my professor show us two Chinese words (WEI JI): 错误！未指定文件名。 A wēijī in Chinese is every bit as fearsome as a crisis in English. It is meaning there are always opportunities in a crisis situation. First time when I came Philippines, most of my friend in china said: “it is very dangerous in Philippines ,the environment is not good” ,actually they never come here before, only see in TV or heard of something. When I arrive Philippines, I found that there is different we image in china, the Filipinos are friendly and smile all the time. I like Philippines .Then I start my MBA life in AGSB. It is wonderful and I never regret to come in manila. It looks like dangerous, but it is an opportunity to improve myself. So when you face crisis, your attitude is decide your direction.;  (please see Prof Jorge slideshare on opportunity seeking)

Economic crisis and low returns demands more innovation - HBR

From Harvard Business Review

There is economic crisis both in US and across the Atlantic;  and traditional business enterprises returns have been anemic;  the BRIC nations have not been doing so well lately.  As always it is noted that crisis breeds a lot of opportunities.   Recent developments in oil and energy explorations makes this a bright spot in US economy. Everywhere, human ingenuity powered by self empowerment will drive up economy

Some areas where growth will come from:

l.  Badges of skills (certification training.  This is a booming business for CCE at AGSB)

2. Making money from Multitasking ;   also movies and broadcasting, media have to adapt their business models/infrastructures to this development

3.  Recofriendation

4. Newer models of entrepreneurship for higher yields and returns

MIchael Schrage at HBR