Franchise Times: No entrepreneur is an island, Part 1

Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/jan/07/
yehey/business/20060107bus5.html

Saturday, January 07, 2006

FRANCHISE TIMES
By Rommel T. Juan
No entrepreneur is an island, Part 1

WHENEVER I am asked to speak about Binalot, I do so with much gusto. I am more than proud to tell people about our story. I attribute the success of Binalot to many people other than myself. It takes a team to build a business—and it takes a smart team to build a successful one. So, one tip that I always impart to the audience is that “You should surround yourself with people smarter than you.” Here’s how:

1. Find a mentor

I was very fortunate to have grown up in an entrepreneurial family. It was always a norm for us to talk about business on the dinner table. Unwittingly, I was being exposed to many mentors starting with my Lolo Maximino, the M.D. Juan, whom my Dad would always quote as saying, “Find a need and fill it” and “It’s important to have a business, we should always think of business.”

Then there’s my Dad, Sonny Juan, who whipped us into shape at an early age and instilled us with the proper business values that molded my siblings and me. He would always tell us to “Establish good credit as early as possible” and “Never compromise your credibility because the business community is very small.”

And then there is my Tita Chit Juan of Figaro who was always an inspiring presence. She can fish out great ideas from you in a matter of minutes and you end up feeling as if you’re the smartest guy in the world. She would tell me “You should always have focus when you build a brand. Figure out if what you are doing is going to add to or subtract from the value of the brand.”

Outside my family I have also found a mentor. Ms. Tess Ngan Tian, our president in the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. and of Lots ‘A Pizza, has also inspired and guided me as an entrepreneur. She was once told me that “Even if our enterprise is small we are just as good as any of the big boys!”

Mentors are all around. They may be a close relative, a more experienced friend, a professor in college, etc.

Look for someone who is respectable and most importantly, someone whose values you share. It may be direct or indirect mentoring. Direct as in you set an appointment with them for mentoring or just get tips whenever you get the chance.

I also get tips from people I admire even if I’ve never met them. I try to watch The Apprentice to get tips from Donald Trump. I read autobiographies of successful people to glean insights into their way of thinking and doing business.

But of course the easiest and most effective way to get mentoring is finding someone who doesn’t mind spending time with you to share their experience and offer tips, somebody always accessible and dependable.

Mentors are essential to my entrepreneurial career. They help make the journey easier as their advice shortens the learning curve.

I can always count on their knowledge and experience when faced with a tough decision.

Mentors don’t usually tell you what to do, they often times just tell you, you can do it!

I have found that successful people are always willing to share their experience and knowledge to anyone interested enough. So find a mentor and listen to what he or she has to say.
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The Franchise Times is a public service project of the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. (AFFI) and The Manila Times. This week’s contributor, Mr. Rommel Juan, is AFFI PRO and president of Binalot Fiesta Foods Inc. For feedback, please e-mail editor@filfranchisers.com. For more info on AFFI, log on to www.filfranchisers.com, call the AFFI Secretariat at 873-8144, or text AFFI to Smart 326.