Several business leaders share their stories and advice in Modern Tao Ke, a special video series by Globe myBusiness. Hosted by Valerie Tan, the videos aim to provoke learning, inspiration, and connection among Chinese-Filipino tao kes.
Five top executives offer their advice on how to adapt in the new normal:
1. Richmond Ho, Vice President of Falcor Marketing Corporation
Falcor Marketing Corporation is a company based in Bacolod City that’s involved in wholesale and retail distribution of fertilizer, animal feed, chemicals and veterinary products.
Since they expanded their business during the pandemic, the company invested in having a stable phone line and internet connection to stay connected with all their branches and their customers. They use Globe Switch for faster interoffice communication.
In addition, Ho advised, “Hire a marketing consultant, and hire additional people to answer all the queries and orders [on] Facebook.”
Rounding out his business advice, he added, “Try to target different customer profiles.”
2. Reymont Choachuy, Chief Innovation Officer of Car Doctor Incorporated
For Car Doctor Incorporated chief innovation officer, Reymont Choachuy, “digitalization is the way to go.” In a short period of time, Car Doctor, a second-generation service station in Quezon City, was able to maximize the use of QR Codes for the customer database, menu, promo and message redemption, and health protocols. They also established a Viber community that helped market their services, as well as a personalized number that they applied for easy number recall, and contactless payment through GCash.
“Business development is very important because during this pandemic, there seems to be a new normal on how people live and how people interact nowadays,” shared Choachuy. “Mobile phones were the easiest way to communicate with our customers.”
3. Wilson Lee Flores, Owner of Kamuning Bakery Café
Kamuning Bakery Café is the oldest and the first bakery established in Quezon City, and one of the oldest bakeries in Metro Manila. When the pandemic hit, they quickly adapted and maximized the use of technology, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to digitally market their products. They also maximized online banking and online delivery platforms.
Kamuning Bakery Café owner Wilson Lee Flores offered several piece of advice. He suggested to use technology effectively, take care of the reputation of your business, and always innovate.
4. Henrik Yu, President of Bigby’s Quality Food Corporation
Bigby’s Quality Food Corporation runs a series of restaurants in the Visayas and Mindanao area, namely Bigby’s Restaurant, Missy Bon Bon, Boy Zugba, and Raki-Yata Ramen House. Following the negative impact that the pandemic left on restaurants, Bigby’s recently released a food delivery app, FoodTripPH, where people can order from any of Bigby’s restaurants.
For his part, Bigby’s President Henrik Yu recommended, “You have to have a good camera so that when you take photos or videos, it’s going to show up in the Facebook feed nicely, and people would like to buy it.”
His other business advice is to “just do it.” He explained, “You have to start from somewhere. It doesn’t have to be big or anything so you just have to start it.”
5. Ronie Dimaculangan, Operations Manager of Qatarex Corporation
Qatarex Corporation is the franchise owner of the Taza Mia Coffee Shops in Batangas City. Connecting with customers and their team during the pandemic was made possible when they invested and maintained a good internet service provider.
“There are a lot of platforms available for everyone, but what we used during the pandemic and what we are using until now is what is common for everybody,” shared Dimaculangan. “Globe myBusiness offers Amber Solution, which is a platform that can be used to send text messages in bulk. The Amber Solution gave us more leverage to market our place, our store,” he added.
For more advice from modern tao kes, check out the stories of George Siy, David Leechiu, Katrina Ong, and Chris Ong. We also talked to 5 CEOS on how their businesses survived the pandemic here.