To be a good steward, a shepherd, a gardener

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Most business or government leaders must be a good steward.  Most however deal with their jobs with their interest in mind.   That they own it, and their positions mean entitlement/perks of the job.   Hence there is abuse and even corruption or graft in their jobs.

But the role is that of a shepherd, or gardener - to take care of the business and or the garden, without eating the fruits and plants of the garden.    We grow the garden, and we do not feast on the produce of the garden.

Find your gift and find out how you can use this to serve others.

The one who wins is the one who serve best

Business deals that are not pushing through because of extreme obstacles

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

1.  One is about legalities.   We need to have the property titled to get LTS from a govt agency   We all ready got the nod of local LGU exec.  But it would not be so because the titling needs to have an approval of two to three entities who have big time claim on untitled properties.  If there are 3, the expenses would be huge.  There is a way to go around it by having proxies, but its risky.

2.  The other one concerns the lack of maturity on the part of the future business partners.  They showed their inability to be on long term mature relationship (as we are experiencing right now)   They are impetuous impulsive and uncontrolled mouths   Our board does not want to do business with them.  

We did not invest in Kanlaon City; were we blessed.

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

We just learned that Kanlaon Volcano just erupted.   And heavy rains washed down lahar unto its rivers and roads.

Several years back, one of our business partners, a doctor (a famous skin care specialist) brought us on a trip for possible investment at the City:   subdivision, health care, storage facilities, a cemetery.

However we balked at the idea because of another risk:   peace and order.  Those on the left used the area for their R and R.  True enough, several days later at the neighboring town, there was an ambush of PNP personnel resulting in several deaths.   

Since it was cool at the area, all vegetables and flowers can be grown just like in Baguio.   We could go on chicken farming and cattle raising.   

We still balked at the idea, the target market being sparse.

And now the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano.   Were we right in our decision?

Setting up gasoline stations - is it an easy business?

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Once this post was approached by a former staff to invest in gasoline station.  This later was involved in what was labelled as a scam involving a former celebrity as a chairman

I would not believe their pitch because:   1. there is so much competition,  2.  there are so much dynmaism in the transportation industry, 3.  even in the fuel supply chain:  the ups and down of prices.   You must know and be able to estimate the high and low and plan your purchase accordinagly

Let us say you buy your supply at P40.00 and suddenly the new supply is at P35.00.  How do you manage the P5.00 down fall. Will you be supported by the oil company?

What about the renegade suppliers who do not pay taxes?

Even the managers of big oil who manage their own stations that the govt impose so much taxes, and their margins are so small.  They make more money and stable at that renting the spaces in expressway to stores, and foodstuff sellers.  

If they say that, how could you make profits😊

Better think of something else.

Business and success lessons from movie "Battleship"

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This post happened to watch "Battleship" at a video streaming app.  There are several lessons that are related to success and or business strategy:

  1.  Technology, even old ones can be used to defeat competition and/or adversary

       When communications radar and other facilities were jammed, locating the enemy alternataive

       was through the tsunami warning system of the Japanese.

       Even USS Missouri battleship 70 years old was useful in destroying the enemy.

      Conversely, high technology, if there are more superior alien technology cant defeat the enemy

2.  No one is ever too old or too young to contribute towards a goal

    Hooper was not too young.

    The USS Missouri officers were not too old to run an old ship and fire their cannons.  (when 

     the destroyer John Paul Jones was destroyed by alien firepower.

    The crippled (but with prosthetic Lt Commander black retired Navy officer  (who had self doubts

     in the beginning was very useful in fighting the aliens

3.  Every strong adversary have weakness and chinks in their armor.

    That was all that was needed by Hopper to defeat the aliens:  ie that they hate bright lights  Sun

    So they took them on battle facing the sunset or sun rise.  Being blinded by bright light was

    used to the hilt and to the advantage by Hooper.

4.  Those who were weak become strong

     It was said in Corinthings.  I am weak now I am strong.   That was Hooper.

5.  The difficulties with personal life can be tougher than the job or challenges.

     Like Hooper getting the OK of the Father in Law commander.

Providing tips to an old realtor has not produced results - entrepreneurship, is it the key?

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Somebody requested me to advise him, and so far it has been pro bono regarding the business we are engaged in.  And I said yes.

So far, he has indicated he has been negotiating for 4 sites all ready and has not progressed much.

      1.  1 untitled in his hometown.  7 hectares

      2.  1 titled adjacent to the to the site number 1 - titled 15 hectares

      3   1.titled  to the eastern side of the town, adjacent to next town 3 hectares

      4.   Untitled part of an estate, at the Eastern part of the province  7 hectare

While my timeline for the project is anytime this year and I am readying the operations, marketing, and financial plans, nothing from his end, ie producing the land has not prospered.  He keeps on changing his tack and probably he will not get anywhere.  

Since he has no Php I have emphasized on selling and negotiating skills and emphasizing long term benefits for the land owner, which we did as we built up our business long time ago.

What can be done to change his trajectory in business development?

Investing in businesses that serve everyday needs - in cash

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Look at the Philippines tycoons.  What are their businesses?   The wealthiest are in basic necessities:

water, telecons, tollways, electricity, airports, infrastructures

That is the problem:   they have monopolized the business and the large cap ex excludes everybody else.

One time I joined a roadshow on govt offices for energy.  I talked to some Japanese keiretsu representatives.  And they said that they will consider anything that is basic necessity as an investment worth looking into:   food like - galunggong shrimp

You do not need to be rocket scientist to find out about attractive business.

Mastery of craft, technique or business is not entrepreneurship

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Many mistake mastering a craft or even taking MBA as road to success as an entrepreneur.

Michael Gerber made this clear that mastery of technique (being a technician) or being a business manager  do not make a business man/entrepreneur.  (Mastery of business and enterprise)

The first component is mastery of self.  It is about your courage, tenacity, determination, enthusiasm, leadership and discipline.  Without these.  you can not make it  Also about your goal.

If it is goal is merely to make money and to enjoy its perks;   cars, luxury, entertainment, pleasure, then you can not be an entrepreneur.  

It is about believing in creating something good for humanity.  It is about fulfuling your role in the Lords prayer ie the to be vessel of the peoples daily break. Or spiritually to fulfill our mandate in Genesis:  1:28.  to gain dominion over the earth.  

A big time Chinese businessman (now deceased) told me about that.  While essentially a Buddhist, we immersed himself in local religion and helped generously and a mover in the Chinese chamber

Reversal of fortunes of business leader - fate or lack of successors

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

As we observe trend in family fortunes, one can not help but notice two setbacks:   cancellation of franchise for their huge media company -  it is bleeding huge.  And the backing of off of two probable buyers backed off from the purchase of its another media company.

Well it has sold its interest in energy.   But the more important development is that there no able business leaders among its new generation.  So inheritance of PHP is not a guarantee for success.  Capable men, successors are.  

Evaluation of some recent business proposals

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

There were 3 business proposals on real estate that we recently evaluated and we had to conduct a tripping

1.  A dacion of subdivision plots, who owed a substantial amount, with purported value of P14K/sm

     However the subdivision was badly developed:   no open space, cracked concrete roads, no

     centralized water system.    (Despite Manila Water)  To somewhat add pain to our all ready difficult

     situation, we were even asked to submit proposal to develop the project.    (Just to think that this

     project is owned by a Congressman from Eastern Visayas, ex officer of a Pharma,   As a developer we

     made sure our development was completed and of high standards  (wide roads 3,000 psi strength)

     No deal.  We are merely collecting our money.   

2.  A 3,900 square meter in San Mateo near the church and Mun Hall,   It looked like a bargain at

     P12M net, however it would need at least P50M in backfilling and  slope protection.      That will

     make the lot prohibitive.  No wonder this has escaped the business development staff of nearby

    developers.    No deal

3.  A 9600 sm property purportedly owned by an acquaintance in elementary school whose asking price

     is 23,M.  It is located in a depressed area, accessed by narrow road but very near SM Save More.   

     The property has a 43 meters frontage, and just like in San Mateo, the front 400 sm is elevated.  and the

     rest is depressed which is a bad Feng Shui project.   I am looking for alternative entrance.  But it does

     not change the Feng Shui orientation, ie going to work from home on a steep exit.   Araw araw pagdu

    rusa.       No deal.   

Let us look for other properties that will be easier to develop and sell

Difference between an entrepreneur and project officer/assistant - business vision and insight

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

It really pays to have really gone to a business school and studied strategy and visioning.  

In the business, I was called out by a business assistant, project officer because of the seeming lack of concern of  cost and loss in the hard asset sales portion of the project.

He was right, because the loss was listed at the sector.  However we would make up at the services portion of the project:   interment, cremation, ash crypt sale ,chapel services

The subdivision projects from whence the said individual was honed in  is entirely different from the memorial business where we in now.  The loss , the low price of the hard assets, will let the foot in of the customer to buy from us services which were more profitable.   

The subordinates in the business must, as we studied earlier in grad school answer the question:  Who has the business insight?

Definitely not the young ones who assume they know everything and are smart enough to navigate business strategy.   The battle scarred veterans do. 

Just a handshake for business deal between fellow alumni

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This post met a Chinese businessmen, who together with 2 others are engaged in real estate development.

The meeting was arranged so that we can possibly be partners in subdivision projects which no longer our expertise, we having shifted since 1997 (the Asian financial crisis) to memorial park development (that is almost 26 years)

This post emphasized that in one of our projects in West Visayas, a joint venture partners we simply shook hands and he said we can start anytime, since we both graduated from same school, hence there is no need

for security.  

How we wish it could be done that way.   Other mature businessmen say, trust no 

2023 promises to be a challenging year for businesses

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Tougher times ahead in 2023. Manila Times

Difficult 2023 IMF

Its going to be challenging year 2023 for businesses. On the micro level, many businesses closed shop:   food outlet serving Ramen, coffee shops milk tea shops (hole in the wall type)  two big restaurants, bike shops   Many buko vendors and fruit vendors along Manila East road   

Challenging 2023 ahead of us

5 Changes in the Global markets

At the Macro level, there seems to be huge growth of 7.6% in 2022, but after discounting the inflation rate of 4%, we are left with nominal 3.6% not something to crow about   And if we compare the numbers to pre pandemic numbers, we were at the same level     Many big establishments are permanently closing   Even our airlines are heavily indebted  and could face financial downfall 

A slower growth, if any is expected in 2023   

A building supplier who went into airport business whose plant is nearby is reported to have difficulty meeting its payroll

The inflation, the high interest rate at US which drives down the Peso value vs the dollar, the high energy costs, the Ukaraine war, the China covid wildfire spread do not mean well for Philippine economy..

WE MUST WORK HARDER BE MORE INNOVATIVE BE MORE entrepreneurial    The telecon, the energy food too  travel sectors seem robust and steady.   Tourism,..?    The glamping bike tourism is on the way down.  Many sites priced themselves out of the market   We must engage in cost reduction, protecting our liquidity, focussing on sales and collection

We must be open to new opportunities,  and seek and screen them   All ready there are two projects that I must evaluate.  And trips to the provinces are plenty.  We are sewing one up and in the contract signing stage.  

Next week I will have a meeting with Puerto Princesa business men and we wil discuss possible projects

Business valuation using correct formulas using dubious data

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This post was shown a due diligence report but reporting a valuation of only 6 number for a business

coughing out P4 - 5 million a year

Some errors were observed in the work purportedly a certified public accountant.  It was neither a due diligence nor a proper valuation report

1.  In the asset portion, the cash of the business totaling P8 m was totally disregarded?  What?  You are valuing the asset of the business and not considering if the cash will be dissipated or not

2  The consultant arrived at a Weighted Average Cost of Capital which was achieved only on the 5th year  And conveniently used this as WACC (ergo for the discounted cash flow the intrinsic method, a high 55% WAC would result in lower valuation

3.  In the intrinsic portion (NPV) analysis, there was no current year cash flow (and in actuality, the current net  cash flow amounts to P4.5 million

    1  In the projected cash flow for the next five years, 2023 cash flow is only P9,k

    2.  The WAC again of 55% erroneously computed is used as the discount factor.  The high %

         results in a very low valuation

PSE lists WACC at only 6.84 % and the 55% /5 is only 11%

Not every body understands business valuation    At entrepreneurship we teach  this skill

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.   

Changing opportunities as covid19 wanes

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

As of now the opportunities for entrepreneurs and businessmen are into health care, govt supplies, vaccines, PPE, logistics, fintech, plantitas.

However such will change and  revenues from such enterprises are likely to decline and fortunes may change.   

The new opportunities will come from  Energy, entrepreneurship (for lost businesses)  physical rehab, further oral vaccine treatment research.   

The business, marketing success secret revealed

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

   

Rizal Philippines
May 17, 2017

What do you get from this story?   Having a lake full of Pesos:

The story is about prioritizing, when you fish:

1.   bait
2.   the fishing rod,
3.  fish processing
4.  lake?

I would like to think that this is marketing parable.  We often say that we are to be market oriented but most of the time we are not.  We are product or sales oriented.  This story says that we prioritize the lake, the market, where we can catch fish.  Thus a market research interview about the needs and wants of customer.



Of course the correct sequence would be:

1.  lake -  the market, where you can catch fish
2.  bait -   the product
3.   Fishing rod  -  your pitch, your promo
4.  processing -  the customer link bond to retain customers to get repeat sales

This is very consistent about my thesis for business success as gurus have all ready stressed:

1.  Peter Drucker -  a business is an entity that creates customer.  No customer no business.   Thus marketing and innovation are important function of a business

2.  Theodore Levitt -   Everything starts and ends with the customer.  The goal of business, all its functions are geared to satisfy the customer.

3.  Our belief - Customer service.  The customer is the king.     The customer is divine.  He pays our wages

This is the full story:

Some execs will remain as second in command and cant be strategists nor business owners

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rizal Philippines
March 26, 2017


Some execs will remain as second in command and cant be strategists nor business owners/entrepreneurs.  Thats what the chairman of a large business told me.  He told me of  former senior officer he just got to run an operation.  From the way it looks, they are engaged in a constant debate or struggle, about the direction the business is to take.

How could that be.?"

Until I talked to the guy. He was sort of mayabang and kept on harping about his achievement. But take note that his former company closed in a big and embarrassing way and even boasted how he sold off some of the assets (for which he got some handsome commission). Despite his brilliance though, he cant see the big picture and aping the words of his chairman, which he could not fathom well.

I also observe my fellow panelists and their questions are shallow and often focus on the form (the scoring the matching of scores of this table with that table) and are not in depth analysis of the strama defense which must be searching, focusing on the critical thinking of the MBA candidate.

At the end of the day, and this is the defect of the course, the students come out with generic strategy that are more of the same, less of the same, that merely perpetuates administer the existing business, and in the strictest sense of the word, not really brilliant, strategic or game changing.

Some are country managers of multinationals. But their thinking is really that of subordinate who must report to a superior abroad.  

PREPREHO.

Adversities in the Life of an Entrepreneur - Power and Credit Grab

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rizal Philippines
December 30, 2016

Today we commemorate the nth death anniversary of who is considered the national hero - Dr. Jose Rizal. His death by firing squad is the greatest adversity a person can meet in his life.

This makes me recall the adversities in the life of a business leader/entrepreneur.  They are the major ones but there are more.

1.  A business partner tells of the sons and daughter of his siblings (whose parents his brods and sis have died) Since they are taking over the shares of his siblings, the different breed have tried to oust him out of the picture.  As of now he represents the corporation in the joint project agreement.   I said that is most unwelcome, since we formed this joint project;  the children had nothing to do with the project.  All they have now are rights of the heirs and their actions are destructive to the unity of their group.

2.  A friend who has a successful party needs business (he has a venue, chairs and tables rental, party packages) put up  burger business. He gave this to his children.   He is making suggestions on how to improve the business.  And he being senior is being set aside.

3. In the companies which I set up so that my brods and sis will not be poor just like the rest of our clan, I was ousted under  Sec. 28 of the CC,  after implementing a bequeath of the estate (equal sharing) the younger ones voted together to remove me from the company which I established. I have not gotten a single cent yet from those companies including a crematorium where I invested wholly my savings.

Thus the seminars and courses of this school on managing conflicts and family business are flourishing.   In a major food company which sells billions, the family feud is intense as I facilitated the presentations of departmental strategies.

There is a group that facilitates formation of family council at a fantastic rate of only $2,000 per day.  That is a great rate if we consider the problem and the friction that it tries to remove from the operations of the family business

The Family feud, Dallas, Falcon Crest are all about this intrigues, power grabs, conflicts in family business

Forget that college degree, start a business now

From Entrepreneur

June 8, 2016

Forget that degree, start your business now.   The article says that many students are indebted to Sallie Mae after getting a degree that does not add value to the present job of the graduate.  What are the signs that the system is broken:  on line courses, boot camps, seminars, etc.

If you start now, you get a number of experiences that compounds -  networks, connection and experience that builds up to make you a better person and businessman.

Start now, Start being in business. Start while single without a family and other obligations