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AFFI. Day 4,The first franchise opened one year after the company launched the franchise program. Initially they offered the option only to family and friends while they worked out the kinds of the system. But with or without links, franchising was a big boost to Binalot revenues.
"When we launched the franchise, that's when the real growth of Binalot started. From 2004 to 2005 we doubled our outlets - from six, it became twelve."
Franchising and the growing confidence Rommel was acquiring as an entrepreneur were the potent combination that would bring Binalot to greater heights. While running the company, Rommel enrolled in the Master of Entrepreneurship course at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) where for the first time he formally learned about business. The lessons he learned helped him make better use of the company's resources and strengths, and overcome weaknesses and threats.
"More than anything it gave me confidence because I understood the operations, identifying my own weakness, and getting the right people to help me maximize the operation of Binalot. I was able to fully use people and their expertise. My confidence level grew. That's when I really allowed Binalot to grow.
So you reach a point and ask, what's next? I wanted to learn to put our company in the right direction and realized that I had limitations."
Another turning point for Rommel was when he and longtime girlfriend Christine got married in 2000. In his new role as husband and head of the family, his drive to succeed became even stronger. He viewed the business more seriously now, stepping several notches up from just plain "having fun." Suddenly he saw Binalot as a source of livelihood, not only of his family, but that of his employees and franchisees.
In the next years, Rommel's aspiration for success, supported by wife Christine's constant encouragement, fueled and accelerated Binalot's growth. Rommel weathered hard times and seemingly insurmountable obstacles with Christine's support as partner and friend.
Yet Rommel has naysayers to thank as well. Instead of being pulled down by those who told him to give up then troubled Binalot, Rommel took this as a challenge and motivated himself to prove his detractors wrong.
Today, Binalot is a professionally run organization with departments assigned to handle specific duties. From a family company where functions tend to overlap, it has become a streamlined organization where each employee has a required and measurable specific output according to his or her competency. Now, employee evaluation is based on performance.
"The AIM course, as well as experience through the years, has made Rommel more aware of the goals he wants for the company. No longer is the company run on a day-to-day basis, rather there is an annual plan, which establishes the Binalot vision that will guide the company and its employees for the year.
It has to be clear for the employees as well where the company was heading - that the company had direction.
Who wants to work for a company with simple daily operations or something that had a hidden agenda? With Binalot, I make it clear to everybody that I want to be the largest truly-Filipino fast-food in the country which promotes Filipino culture, values and even humor. I think the message of brand-building and expansion of the company is clear to them."
"When we launched the franchise, that's when the real growth of Binalot started. From 2004 to 2005 we doubled our outlets - from six, it became twelve."
Franchising and the growing confidence Rommel was acquiring as an entrepreneur were the potent combination that would bring Binalot to greater heights. While running the company, Rommel enrolled in the Master of Entrepreneurship course at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) where for the first time he formally learned about business. The lessons he learned helped him make better use of the company's resources and strengths, and overcome weaknesses and threats.
"More than anything it gave me confidence because I understood the operations, identifying my own weakness, and getting the right people to help me maximize the operation of Binalot. I was able to fully use people and their expertise. My confidence level grew. That's when I really allowed Binalot to grow.
So you reach a point and ask, what's next? I wanted to learn to put our company in the right direction and realized that I had limitations."
Another turning point for Rommel was when he and longtime girlfriend Christine got married in 2000. In his new role as husband and head of the family, his drive to succeed became even stronger. He viewed the business more seriously now, stepping several notches up from just plain "having fun." Suddenly he saw Binalot as a source of livelihood, not only of his family, but that of his employees and franchisees.
In the next years, Rommel's aspiration for success, supported by wife Christine's constant encouragement, fueled and accelerated Binalot's growth. Rommel weathered hard times and seemingly insurmountable obstacles with Christine's support as partner and friend.
Yet Rommel has naysayers to thank as well. Instead of being pulled down by those who told him to give up then troubled Binalot, Rommel took this as a challenge and motivated himself to prove his detractors wrong.
Today, Binalot is a professionally run organization with departments assigned to handle specific duties. From a family company where functions tend to overlap, it has become a streamlined organization where each employee has a required and measurable specific output according to his or her competency. Now, employee evaluation is based on performance.
"The AIM course, as well as experience through the years, has made Rommel more aware of the goals he wants for the company. No longer is the company run on a day-to-day basis, rather there is an annual plan, which establishes the Binalot vision that will guide the company and its employees for the year.
It has to be clear for the employees as well where the company was heading - that the company had direction.
Who wants to work for a company with simple daily operations or something that had a hidden agenda? With Binalot, I make it clear to everybody that I want to be the largest truly-Filipino fast-food in the country which promotes Filipino culture, values and even humor. I think the message of brand-building and expansion of the company is clear to them."
To be continued...
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