roundtable :
when crisis leads to opportunity
by wi lson lee flores
Inspiring stories of businesses that saw
opportunity in a crisis
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In the Chinese language, the
phrase for “crisis” is wei-ji in
Mandarin—made up of two
characters—wei for “danger”
and ji for “opportunity”. For
Chinese culture and much of
East Asia, it is the belief that in
every crisis there is danger as
well as opportunity.
Throughout the history of
business in the Philippines and
the world, there have been so
many entrepreneurs and companies,
which have overcome
crisis in order to flourish afterwards
and not a few even used
the crisis as opportunity for reinvention
and renewal. Here
are a few examples of real-life
business cases of enduring
crisis and coming out as survivor,
and sometimes even more
victorious than before.
Rey Calooy is the owner of
RN C Marketing Philippines,
a family-owned trading firm
based in Cebu. In his 16 years of
business, Calooy has had more
than a few brushes with crises.
“We knew that the crisis
would happen so we already
prepared for it,” shares Calooy.
“We were very careful in our
expenditures and developed
products best adapted to the
market during a crisis.”
In supplying coffee shops,
for example, Calooy’s firm
packaged sugar in lower priced
sachets. The measures the company
implemented did not only
make their business survive
the very trying year in 2009, it
resulted in 6% growth over the
2008 figures.
Calooy shares his time-tested
entrepreneurial lessons.
* When faced with crisis, do
not give up or panic, but be
creative, pro-active and resourceful.
* Adjust or tailor-fit your strategy
based on the situation.
Be flexible in order to come
up with a win-win solution to
problems.
* Take advantage of technology,
for example in communications—
use email and online
banking instead of sending a
messenger so you can lower
operation costs.
* Find ways to increase your
productivity. If you can adjust
work hours for your employees
to meet your goals, then
do so.
Another entrepreneur who
a few years ago was hit hard
by a business crisis is Victor
Tan. Like Cebu’s Calooy, Tan
is a self-made man and founder
of Crolific, the company wellknown
for the Bobson jeans
brand. At the peak of Crolific’s
expansion, Bobson’s celebrity
endorsers included leading
actor Aga Muhlach. Bobson
jeans also enjoyed an extensive
nationwide network of stores
and retail outlets.
Victor Tan said the crisis at
Bobson jeans was the result of a
combination of factors: too rapid
expansion of retail outlets and
stores, over-aggressive sales
and marketing, plus over-reliance
in high-interest short-term
loans from private lenders, including
so-called loan sharks.
He belatedly realized that his
practice of using short-term
loans to finance long-term fund
requirements would eventually
overtake him, especially when
economic slowdown affects
robust sales.
Eventually, Tan’s company
could no longer service the
high debts due to slack in sales
during the economic uncertainties
some few years ago. The
problem not only severely affected
sales and the confidence
of his suppliers, the financial
and other pressures caused
the once cheerful Victor Tan
to suffer personal depression
that even threatened the future
of his family. During the worst
crisis period, there were even
rumors that he had already fled
the country to avoid his financial
obligations.
One of the unforeseen consequences
of his business and
personal crises was Tan’s search
for personal peace. Eventually,
he found solace and strength
in faith and prayer, with the
support and acceptance of his
church community. Crisis led
him to re-examine his life priorities
and has given him a completely
new outlook in life.
Tan refused to run away
from his creditors. He worked
to regain trust and patiently
negotiated compromises and
win-win solutions. Bobson
survived, though the brand is
less flashy now in its marketing
blitzes. Tans also reformed
and streamlined his operations,
transforming the company
into a leaner, cost-efficient and
better financed organization.
Looking beyond mere survival,
Victor and family members
opened Maki House, a restaurant
in Banawe Street, Quezon
City which specializes in homecooked
style Hokkien or south
Fujian dishes like maki, oyster
cake and other Chinese comfort
foods.
In Tan’s experience, a closed
road has led him along a more
fulfilling path. His counsel:
* N ever give up, never run
away from problems or your
creditors during crisis. Patiently
renegotiate and ask
for help.
* Drastically scale down and
change the business when
necessary. Be prudent and
resourceful in managing
finances, especially loans.
* S ee every crisis as opportunity
to develop better business
or for priceless lessons,
pray without ceasing and
have faith in God.
Wilson Lee Flores is a college professor, realty
businessman, Philippine Star columnist, S magazine
editor-in-chief, winner of three Palanca literary awards
and 9 Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) for Best
Columnist including the CMMA Hall of Fame Award, and
Chairman of the Anvil Business Club
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