Entrepreneurship - Aquabest (Day 6)

Success stories of Filipino Entrepreneurs - Carson Tan.

Day 6, Continuation... Unlike most entrepreneurs, Carson thinks entrepreneurship is not for everybody. He believes having the proper mindset and long-term vision is very important. He advises those looking for get-rich-quick schemes or one-shot deals to forget about doing business.

Nobody should get into business and think in the short term. Consider the concept and all the effort you've poured into the business. Think of the value indicators - if you put service, there's your added value already. There's also quality - that's another added value. Also promotion, etc. It's not the product or service alone; it's the intangibles people look for like prestige, quality, corporate social consciousness, environment friendly, customer relations, and after-sales support, etc.

Carson feels that those who have leadership qualities can become entrepreneurs, whether they are born into business or want to make themselves entrepreneurs. Whether the qualities of an entrepreneur are inherent in an individual, they still have to be developed and improved to be useful in business.

The best way to develop these entrepreneurial skills is to develoop one's character, Carson advises, as having a good character means being disciplined, trustworthy, hardworking, prudent, positive minded, honest, persevering - qualities that make up a person's total integrity. You then add your vision and you are set to becoming a succcessful entrepreneur. There are no shortcuts to success, he adds. Building one's character does not happen overnight.

Still he says business is not only about working hard, but also working smart. He advises those who want to get into business to learn ways of making their money work for them, instead of them working for their money. Instead of being businessmen who run the show, be investors and utilize other people's brains and brawns to make the business run.

It is important, too, to see business from different perspectives, Carson adds.

Perspective is a big word. It's how we see things and events. There was a time that I've completely lost perspective on the water business; I lost faith in it. One day, I bought a copy of Buy and Sell and saw the ads of one of my competitors in the water business. I was curious why it's still around and spending large sums on adds. I asked around and discovered that company had more outlets than ours at that time. Aquabest was in deep slumber; but still had potential. That's when we decided to wake up and rise from our slumber.

Marketing and branding are likewise important aspects of business, which Carson credits for Aquabest's endurance. He knows from experience that you can sway the market to your product or service depending on how you approach it with your marketing strategies and how it perceives your brand.

For Carson, the best thing about being an entrepreneur is having the fulfillment to achieve your vision and reach the financial goals you set for yourself. He suggests that employees save money so that they can eventually become their bosses or run their own businesses and retire as investors when they get old and not as pensioners.

If you are a nice-to-five employee, most employers will not pay you a marginal salary so you won't leave the company. You can easily earn up to P50, 000 a month. In a sense you have sold your soul. Because you are potentially more productive, can undertake work and your time exchanged for money from age twenty to fifty. Without time, you are not free to do the things that will give you the financial freedom you need.

Aside from financial freedom there is also the time freedom "aspect. I mean if you're making P1,000,000 a month, you can hire people to do much of the work already. This time freedom is very, very important. You can tell your kids with confidence that you'll be flying to Europe the next weekend because it's possible for you now.

That's time and financial freedom. But if you're employed, there are so many limitations.

However, success can have its downside, too. For Carson, he believes that it tends to get lonely as you go higher. Because people look up to you and respect you, you are not as free to do whatever you want. You are tasked to be a model, an inspiration for others.

This is why it is important to balance the drive for success with time for family and friends, spiritual needs, health. One can do this by learning to delegate to trusted employees.

When asked about who has greatly influenced his life, Carson immediately says Our Lord Jesus Christ, because His perfect example is a pattern for us to follow. Our Lord Jesus, standing in the position of a man is perfect in all His ways: a great friend, an obedient son, follower, citizen, brother, mediator, counselor, and name it, He is.

Carson believes that just like other people, he is there as God's presentative on earth, to become the expression of wh oGOD is.

It's like electricity inside a lamp. Well, of course we cannot see electricity but because of the lamp, the electricity has a way to express itself. In our life we can say that there is electricity when we receive God's divine transmission into us by His Spirit dwelling in our spirit, living out His attributes of love, light, peace, joy, etc. and becoming our human virtues. Thus, when people see us, they see God in our lives.

(To be continued...)

Face Fear

Bill FitzPatrick - Founder of the "American Success Institute".

Action Principle No.25 >> Face Fear, Knowledge, practice and courage are your weapons against fear.

One person can step out of an airplan door at 2,000 feet without hesitation. Another can stand before an audience of 2,000 and give a speech without breaking into a sweat. Fears can be rational or irrational, but they are always personal, and real. Everyone fears something.

To diminish a fear, you must first face it. The one hundredth skydive or speech won't be as traumatic as the first. The best way to face with the first fears is through a combination of logic and bravery. Logically, most people who jump from planes or give speeches don't die. They succeed through preparation. If your equipment is right and your training is complete, you are ready to jump. If your speech is carefully crafted and practiced, you are ready to speak.

Associate with confident people. You have seen many who have already done what you fear doing. Now, do what they have done. Courage grows with action. Fear is learned and must be unlearned. After facing that fear, you will feel exhilarated. Without fear, there can be no courage. Fear provides the opportunity to be brave.

Kid Entrepreneur

Alexandra McDaniel - Kid Entrepreneur.

Ralph Marston - Reach beyond yourself, The higher you aim, the higher you will go. Push yourself a little bit past what you know you can do, and you'll discover new skills and abilities.

If it seems that you don't ever get much done, maybe it's because you're not giving yourself enough to do. Make your dreams and ambitions big enough to be positively compelling.

Be genuinely thankful for how far you've already come, but don't rest on your previous accomplishments. Honor and appreciate those accomplishments by using them as a starting point for even greater success.

You are intelligent, adaptable, creative, flexible and effective at getting things done. Fulfill your destiny and satisfy your purpose by giving yourself plenty of valuable, worthwhile things to do.

Delight in discovering how much more you can accomplish. Thrill to the challenge of moving successfully through new, uncharted territory.

Continue to reach beyond yourself. Know the joy and confidence that come from growing ever stronger.

Entrepreneurship - Aquabest (Day 5)

Success stories of Filipino Entrepreneurs - Carson Tan.

Day 5, Continuation... One way that budding entrepreneurs can counter this problem is by having the correct mindset. Carson believes that one must be willing to start small, if this is what is needed to launch the concept. He believes that if one has to knock on doors to get the business off the ground, this is what the entrepreneur must do. "Just like salesman: they only need to speak. You don't have capital, but you get a percentage of the businessman's profit, "He says.

Carson says that training and the principles in sales and network marketing can help entrepreneurs gain the skills and mindset needed to succeed. He himself underwent this process and to this day, uses the 4 Ps of network marketing principles, which he later developed to seven Ps in running a franchised business.

The Seven Ps are: product; profile of the company; plan or promotion; price; place; potential; and prayer. According to Carson, you have to consider all seven to know if your business will be successful.

For "product", it is important to consider whether it's a necessity or a want, and if there is a market for it. For "profile," it is necessary to develop the image of the company that will provide the products and the services. "Plan" means knowing your goals and marketing/ promotion strategies. "Price" is studying what the market will be willing to pay for your product. "Place" is the strategic location of your target market. "Potential" is the chances of your concept for making it as a business, and "prayer" is the dash of blessing only the Lord provides.

For Carson, there are infinite opportunities available to those who would like to become entrepreneurs. He cites the ingenuity of the Japanese in taking existing products, and improving on them; making them smaller and better. It is important for entrepreneurs to recognize what needs improvement because constant improvement is an essential part of business.

I read somewhere that the Japanese would buy, say, a copier machine and ask their engineers to tear it apart and make something better and smaller. THey do this with automobiles. Korea does the same, heavily borrowing economic practices from Japan. Here in the Philippines, since there's minimal government support, we tend to buy a lot of surplus junk from abroad instead and just make them work.

In the regions, Filipino creativity abounds in enterprises. Bacolod's jeepneys are more modern than those in Metro Manila that still carry the WWII basic makeup. It's unfortune that we have in our blood this thing called "RTC" or "resistance to change." When we're comfortable with something, it better be left alone. But if we don't change, there won't be growth, there won't be any business.

Another thing Carson laments is our strong regionalism, which hampers the country's unity and development of national pride. Instead he sees regional pride and competition among Filipinos of various regions.

It's sad that when a Filipino succeeds abroad, fellow Filipinos gossip about him or her. When a row of stores sell the same products, instead of forming an association, the sellers badmouth each other to get more sales. They even lower the prices to entice more customers. It's degrading for sellers to beg customers to buy their products.

Integrity is key for entrepreneurs. Carson stresses.

It is hard to expand a business without integrity. Whether it is your suppliers, creditors, employees, and franchisees, people have to be able to trust you. It is different when you are starting and the credit you need is by the thousands of pesos only but once you are growing with a need for higher credit that runs in the millions, you should have earned the trust of your creditors and suppliers already - that is financial integrity. Leadership is also about integrity in a broader aspect because no one follows somebody who doesn't have integrity.

(To be continued...)

Listen to Your Instincts

Bill FitzPatrick - Founder of the "American Success Institute".

Action Principle No.24 >> Listen to Your Instincts, "I don't feel comfortable here. I don't like the sound of this. This doesn't look right to me."

With regard to your body or surroundings, your instincts are your best early warning system. Listen to the inner voice. Listen to that gut feeling. Go to the doctor. Leave the party. Get away from these people. Quit this job. Don't open that door. Duck into that store. The world is an imperfect place. There are dangerous places and people.

Every once in a while, your instincts may be off and you may feel foolish. Err on the side of safety and your instincts may save you from danger. Give yourself time or space to consider your options. It is foolhardy to do otherwise.

Desire what you want to be!

Dr. Michael J. Duckett - Desire what you want to be.

Dr. Michael J. Duckett, began life in an extremely impoverished and dangerous environment. As a young child he was orphaned and left on the streets of Detroit with seven sisters, and through perseverance and hard work became a multimillinaire by age 23. For over thirty years, Dr. Duckett has studied the fundamentals of human behavior that most affect achievement on personal and professional levels. Having learned the secrets of happiness and wealth, and having built several successful businesses, he now concentrates on developing and sharing his discoveries with others. As a result, Michael has established another reputation in addition to "master of success" - that a dynamic educator who has been described as the Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich) on the 21st Century.

Mr. Duckett founded the International Coaching and Seminars in 1996 because he wanted to give back to others by creating and teaching a unique and effective technology of life. He discovered that "success" has a definite pattern, and he formed a number of these patterns into exclusive technologies available only through International Coaching and Seminars. These technologies are unprecedented, and will bring positive, effective changes to your business, organization, or personal life in a short time with measurable results. A successful entrepreneur and avid student, Dr. Duckett holds advanced degrees in eight discipline including Business, Theology and Law. He has lived and studied in many parts of the World, and is an International Author, speaker and trainer in high demand by individuals, groups and corporations. Dr. Duckett's high energy and enthusiasm around his work is contagious and creates an event that will be entertaining, fun, and enlightening.

Make the world sparkle

Bo Sanchez - Spiritual preacher and Motivational speaker.

Ralph Marston - Make the world sparkle, What can you do to give life substance and meaning? How can you express the unique miracle of your existence?

The deepest purpose you feel, drives every other purpose in your life. Allow that ever-abiding, timeless purpose to be fully nourished by your actions.

See the beautiful reality that is hidden by nothing more than the shallow distractions of your mind. Feel the energy of life as it flows through your every experience.

Welcome each moment as it arises. Live the treasure that comes with every day.

Celebrate this day for the one-of-a-kind miracle that it is. Grab the possibilities and make the world sparkle with your special light.

Let go of your inhibitions and allow your purpose to make its beautiful and powerful presence known. Breathe in the sweet air of true fulfillment.

Entrepreneurship - Aquabest (Day 4)

Success stories of Filipino Entrepreneurs - Carson Tan.

Day 4, Continuation... Carson believes that if an entrepreneur has a vision and commits his plan to God, and works hard, God will eventually lead him to success. He also believes in not just jumping into the bandwagon, but being original in some way, tweaking the concept to give the market better, innovative products.

Keep on visualizing the future. It's not the product, it's the idea. It's the concept of what you have to offer. Today, we have a lot of services and products that are truly innovative. Take the barbershop. The old barbershop had basic services before and catered only to males. Now, even females can go to the new "barbershops" that have been transformed to something like spas, thus offering much more. Some establishments even have swimming pools so families can partake of the services.

It's the concept, like I said. Right now after Aquabest, we are trying our best to visualize our future. After pure water, there's alkaline. Next time, it will be oxygenated water. We also want to venture into the "air" business. For now our vision for Aquabest is "An Aquabest store in every barangay!" patterned after Bill Gates' "A computer in every home."

Aside from vision, Carson believes that timing is also very important. Therefore entrepreneurs should be able to time the carrying out of their visions perfectly. Part of this is having the conviction to forge ahead even if those around you do not support your vision.

There are a lot of people who have a vision but are easily discouraged. They have no conviction and patience. Thomas Edison could have stopped at 999, but in his 1,000th experiment, he discovered filament. Now that's real perseverance. A lot of people have excellent idea, but most of them don't spring into action. They don't have the conviction to execute their plan.

Carson believes one big advantage that Filipino entrepreneurs have is their creativity. He is amazed at the constant innovations being done on existing products. He calls the people who are behind these "innovators."

Carson also wishes that small-and medium-scale entrepreneurs can be given more access to capital. As a longtime businessman, he has seen how large businesses are given better access to loans and how they are able to haggle for better interest rates. This, he believes, is the reason good concepts from small entrepreneurs fail - big entrepreneurs eat them up.

Filipinos have a lot of brilliant ideas to produce better products, but there's always the fear of big companies eating up their concepts. Because of this fear, a lot of Filipino entrepreneurs, to protect themselves, are relegated to handling small-scale, service-related businesses that can't be easily duplicated or franchised.

Carson also sees the need for the Filipino entrepreneurs to be more serious about controlling the quality of their products and their way of doing business. He has tried oftentimes to be a supplier or distributor for foreign corporations but is often disqualified due to the bad image the country has when it comes to product standards and how business is done in the country. As a result, the Philippines loses out on many opportunities to bring its business to the global market. He knows it is a problem that cannot be solved overnight but he feels that something must be done now, even if it starts at the local level.

(To be continued...)

Entrepreneurship - Aquabest (Day 3)

Success stories of Filipino Entrepreneurs - Carson Tan.

Continuation... The same story happened here in the office. My sales manager/ contractor was cheating. When there's an inquiry (we're advertised in the yellow pages), he'll just discourage the potential clients, telling them of high franchise fees. Instead, he'll sell to them personally, direct from the supplier, and then just give the office a commission. When we discovered this activity, we let him go. One of our former sales agents who once visited confirmed the unethical transactions. I had to do several batches of cleaning up, and no one was spared - from the general manager down to the technicians. Even my secretary who reported such activities and whom I thought was trustworthy, was operating the same way apparently corrupted by one of the technicians who turned out to be her lover. The operation manager was guilty, too. He always insisted on hiring a particular contractor who quoted exhorbitant prices, because he was promised commissions on the side.

>>

From the time he took over in 2001 until 2004, Carson had to clean the ranks of dishonest employees, while trying to get the company back on its feet. He worked for a non-salary per diem of P600.00 per week, but eventually his efforts and faith paid off, as 2005 was a tremendous year for Aquabest.

Right now Carson has over 250 franchisees in the Aquabest network. Their approach to franchising is slightly different as they do not collect franchise fees or royalty fees, but rather a flat and minimal monthly due which include free marketing and tri-media exposure, uniforms, streamers, and filters. Aquabest is proud to provide its franchisees with top quality machines and consumables for the water-refilling business at a very low markup.

Aquabest, under Carson's leadership, was also able to salvage the strained relationship between mother company and franchisees. There was a time the franchisees did not want to pay fees during the period the company was mismanaged. Today, the relationship of the franchisees and Aquabest is very much improved, although some of the old-time franchisees decided to just continue on their own.

Most franchisees however decided to stick it out with Aquabest because of the services it provides, such as check ups and free membrane cleaning. Franchisees also benefit from the affordable consumables and the very active marketing and advertising position the company has taken in recent years.

The Aquabest brand has indeed made a stronger impression with its marketing drive. From caps and shirts to colored flyers, the company has made it a point to become more recognizable as the name to beat in water refilling.

Franchisees also benefit from the company's comprehensive operations manual, which clearly outlines the do's and don'ts of the business. Everything a franchisee needs to know about how to operate the business is touched on, including proposal letters to companies.

Since Aquabest is growing, Carson now has moved from a small fiftysquare-meter crowded office to a 330-square-meter spacious office located at the primie vicinity of Quezon Avenue. He encourages his thirty four employees to multitask, often overlapping functions so that everyone is well-versed in the business.

At this point in Aquabest's timeline, Carson does not think of whether or not it is a success, but one thing is for sure, he acknowledges how God has blessed the company. This is why Carson continues to entrust the business to God while doing his best in his job.

The Lord is so generous to us. He is so faithful that if we entrust Him everything, His blessings abound, sometimes in disguise. I just do my job. I believe the Lord is guiding me. He gives me a lot of ideas and inspiration.

(To be continued...)

Entrepreneurship - Aquabest (Day 2)

Success stories of Filipino Entrepreneurs - Carson Tan.

Continuation... So while successful in his endeavors, in the end, Carson's profits and savings were gobbled up and his resources were flattened to zero. This experience led him to analyze what was going on in his life. He realized that he was trying to be successful on his own, striving by himself, without the help of God. That was when he vowed to consecrate himself and his business unto God and allow His sovereign arrangement to take charge.

Today, at the helm of Aquabest, he has learned to commit his business to God. It is no suprise that the company is doing very well. But in the beginning, it was a hard uphill climb for Carson and Aquabest. He used to be a silent partner, part of a group of businessmen who in 1997 saw a big market in the water-refilling business.

Initially, Carson and his partners were skeptical because only one water shop store existed at that time. Nobody bought water then, there was plenty of water gushing out of the faucet. But with skillful marketing and educating of the public, the market soon became ready for the health benefits purified and mineral water brought and so the Aquabest Company flourished.

The good times were short-lived, however, when, due to mismanagement, the company soon found itself on the brink of bankruptcy. Carson and his family decided to buy out the shares of the other incorporators in order to save Aquabest and the franchisees that would be left orphaned if the company closed down.

With the help of family and friends, Carson raised P1 million to buy out the other partners and pay for the company's debts. He started anew with nothing in the office except two tables and a skeleton workforce.

Since he used to be a silent partner and the business was so highly technical, he let the current manager operate the business. The initial goal was just to sell water, to pay the debts, and survive. Little did Carson know that inside that store, massive stealing was going on in the form of unrecorded sales until someone blew the whistle on the perpetrators. Only then did Carson learn the full extent of the problem.

They sell the new bottles in exchange for the broken ones so at the end of the day, the inventory's complete. Also, I found out that they tampered with the installed water meter, so it will not register the correct water consumption. Slowly, these were fixed, but it took so many years!

(To be continued...)