Bicolano magic in a can - Planters Development Bank

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FRANCHISING FIRMS DOING BRISK BUSINESS 6 SME.COMmunity.PHilippines Not content with making more money this year than last year, the association of local franchisors is working to further continue growing its members’ sales next year by encouraging them to open more stores or branches. Last year, their store revenues already grew by 29 percent to P13.8 billion from P10.7 billion in 2006. This translates to a daily sale of about P37.8 million. In a recent press briefing, the Association of Filipino Franchisers, Inc. (AFFI) said the group would target a revenue growth of another 25 percent to 30 percent for this year. This would be achieved “by encouraging more [AFFI] members to open more stores and more branches,” said Armando O. Bartolome, AFFI member and president of consulting firm GMB Franchise Developers. AFFI’s 80 members also sustained 24,039 jobs last year, in a total of 4,046 branches nationwide. About 1,416 or 35 percent of these branches are company-owned while 2,630 or 65 percent are entirely franchised. “Each AFFI member company has been in the business for an average of 15 years. They have achieved a ‘high’ 98.6 percent rate of success or profitability,” Bartolome also said. AFFI president Rommel Juan of Binalot Fiesta Foods noted the advantage of buying a local franchise, instead of a foreign one. “When you’re a foreign franchisor, you’re watching two things: your business cycle and the currency exchange. With a local franchise, you concentrate on your core business,” Juan said. Richard Sanz, AFFI public relations officer, pointed out that “franchising is one way of cutting short the entrepreneurial process since investors would buy an established business.” He said franchising would also help the government’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) agenda, which would solve unemployment by encouraging over 800,000 MSMEs nationwide to hire two additional workers every year. This program will almost cover the estimated 1.8 million new workers that enter the labor force every year, Sanz said. At the forefront of the financial support for the SMEs is Small Business Corporation, formerly the Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation (SBCorp). It has three SME “target sectors”: pre-bankable firms, or startups who cannot get a loan from banks; near-bankable firms or those who can obtain a bank loan but will have to shell collateral; and bankable firms who are seen as having no problems securing credit. “SBCorp provides direct lending to pre-bankable firms and credit guarantee covers for near-bankable firms. For bankable firms, we provide funding to banks to reduce the rates of mediumto-long-term financing. We have also recently introduced risk-based lending as a product offering,” says SBCorp chairman Virgilio R. Angelo. “As a matter of fact, we have lent a total of P13.7 Billion to some 7,082 SME borrowers since 2004. We aim to help the 743,628 micro, 60,785 small and 2,922 medium entrepreneurs in our country today. They are the backbone of our economy as they employ about 69.9 percent of the country’s labor force,” Angelo adds. In most cases, franchisers agree to give up to a 50 percent corporate guarantee to franchise buyers, he said. SBCorp however requires franchisers to have an operating manual, three years of franchise experiences and three profitable franchises. “As a safeguard, we do not encourage people to do business with new franchises that do not have an established track record yet,” Angelo concluded.
FRANCHISING U.S. “Entrepreneurship” program hosts Filipino SME advocates The US Department of State recently hosted five women entrepreneurs from the Philippines for a three-week visit with North American counterparts under the International Visitor Leadership Program. The exchange program on the theme “Women and Entrepreneurship” brought the delegation to various cities in the United States for meetings with Chambers of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, women’s organizations and entrepreneurship schools. The delegation represented the Philippines’ major island groups and various women and trade organizations. Plantersbank chairman and chief executive officer Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting lauded the Association of Filipino Franchisers, Inc. (AFFI) for taking the lead in professionalizing local franchise practice in his key note at the opening of the three-day 7th Filipino Franchise Show at the World Trade Center in Pasay City held recently . Ambassador Tambunting L-R: Gianida Lumanggal of North Cotabato, Chit Juan of Manila, Rima Hassan of Basilan, Dina Rodriguez from Manila and Rose Nepomuceno of Aklan. Economic contribution of franchising lauded added that Plantersbank is taking new initiatives to boost the performance of the country’s SME sector. Shown giving a thumbs-up to SME driven opportunities at the Franchise Show opening are Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting (fourth from left), with (from left) AFFI board member Estrelita Montanido of Chicharific, AFFI chairman emeritus Teresita L. Ngan Tian of Lots’ A Pizza, entrepreneur Mark Villar, Ms. Earth-Philippines 2008 Cathy Untalan, AFFI president Rommel T. Juan of Binalot Fiesta Foods, Trade and Industry Undersecretary Merly Cruz and AFFI vice president Kamela C. Seen of Plato Wraps. Franchising guru unveils ‘Overview’ According to the local franchise group Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc., franchise business models have a nine-in- 10 chance of success compared to start-up businesses which have an 85 percent failure rate. With more Filipinos looking to entrepreneurship as an alternative to corporate careers or work overseas, the publication of “Overview of Franchising” by Philippine franchising guru Armando ‘Butz’ Bartolome is a welcome contribution to the limited literature available about the homegrown franchising scene. Based on internationally accepted principles of the industry and drawn from Mr. Bartolome’s 30-year track record in this field, this is a book that will interest franchise owners, budding entrepreneurs, investors and business students alike. By veering from one-sided presentations on the topic, the volume allows the reader to develop a better appreciation of the business from the perspective of franchisors and franchisees. “Overview of Franchising”, which comes with a free copy of Franchise Listings DVD, is the newest addition to the author’s advocacy of responsible franchising as a sustainable route to growth and success. “I am hopeful that this book will allow people to derive immeasurable benefits from franchising,” Bartolome said recently. “These advantages are realities worldwide and they are there for the taking.” 7 VOL. NO. 03 / ISSUE NO. 05
Page 1 and 2: A Plantersbank publication sme .COM
Page 3: FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK / STAFF
Page 6 and 7: HOTLINE Plantersbank bags top SME f
Page 10 and 11: COVER STORY 8 SME.COMmunity.PHilipp
Page 12 and 13: Jun and Ana Manrique with their eld
Page 14 and 15: KEMWERKE, INC: Finding the Right Mi
Page 16 and 17: TO BE GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE, YOU MUS
Page 18 and 19: TOOLKIT 16 SME.COMmunity.PHilippine
Page 20 and 21: STRATEGIC PLANNING for BUSINESS SUR
Page 22 and 23: Making Sense of the U.S. Financial
Page 24 and 25: CONNECTIVITY Globe Business Entrepr
Page 26: BOOK REVIEW JOSIAH GO: FUNDAMENTALS

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