Casayuran, Marvilyn B.

BSBA-2D
Entrepreneurial Management

EDGAR SIA- MANG INASAL.

In 2009, Sia founded Injap Land Corporation (now Double Dragon Corporation), developer
of City Mall Chain of Malls. In 2014, Doube Dragon Properties became a public company. Edgar
Sia II is the chairman of Double Dragon Properties, the real estate developer he and his partner
Tony Tan Cacktiong took public in 2004. The company has been developing commercial and
residential properties and reportedly plants to build 100 malls by 2020.

Early days

A hard worker even at a young age, the Iloilo-born Injap was no stranger to doing the legwork just
to reach your goal. He took up Architecture at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, but
would later drop out at the age of 19 to start a laundry business and open up his own photo-
developing center.

2003 was the year when Injap came up with the grand idea of opening up a chicken barbecue fast-
food restaurant – an idea that was a bit of a novelty at the time. His father, a Filipino-Chinese, gave
him a hard time before eventually giving in.

The name

The name “Mang Inasal” was pretty straightforward: it’s Ilonggo for Mr. Barbecue. His father,
Edgar Sr., had other ideas. He wanted the name to be shorted to “Mng Inasal”, citing feng shui and
companies like Jollibee and Chowking. Both had eight letters in their name, and both were
successful in the fast food business.

Injap nearly gave in to the suggestion until he came across Banco de Oro, which had 10 letters and
was just as successful as Jollibee and Chowking. Edgar Sr. eventually gave in, and Mang Inasal
was born at a mall in Iloilo City.

The deal

From that one branch, Mang Inasal ballooned to over a hundred in 2009. One Manila-based
company took notice and wanted in on the chicken barbecue craze: Jollibee Foods Corporation
and its owner, Tony Tan Caktiong.

Caktiong later acquired 70 percent of Mang Inasal’s stake for a whopping Php 3 billion in 2010.
In April 2016, Jollibee acquired the remaining 30 percent to the tune of Php 2 billion.

Two years after fully acquiring Mang Inasal, a partnership between Sia and Caktiong was born:
Double Dragon Properties, a real estate company that wants to develop 100 community shopping
complexes called City Malls in the smaller cities of Visayas and Mindanao.

Diversify
That first Php 3 billion didn’t go to waste. Ever the eager businessman and learner, Injap invested
the money he got from Jollibee into banking (he was part of Philippine Bank of Communication’s
board for two and a half years), and health maintenance (he still serves as a director for Maxicare,
the country’s largest HMO).

Today, he is the CEO of Injap Investments, Inc., which holds a joint venture in Double
Dragon Properties with Tony Tan Caktiong’s Honeystar Holdings Corporation. He’s also the
owner of People’s Hotel, a 5-storey businessman’s hotel in Iloilo City.

Injap Investments also owns Hotels of Asia, Inc., known for its line of Hotel101 condotels. They
also acquired Deco’s La Paz Batchoy in 2007, the country’s oldest La Paz batchoy restaurant in
the country, and is located mostly in the Visayas region.

SOCORRO RAMOS- National Book Store

Socorro Ramos or ‘’Coring” entered the publishing and retail industry by working as a
salesgirl at a bookstore. At the age of 19, she opened National Book Store in Escolta with her
husband with a capital of P200, selling books and schools supplies to students. At that time, Manila
was under the control of Japanese, who imposed censorship on books and periodicals. To augment
their earnings, she and her husband restored to selling other items like candles and soaps. After
the post- war boom proved profitable for the company, ushering in bigger revenues, the Ramoses
opened a nine- story building along Avenida. At 95, she still believes in the time-honored tradition
of “hands-on approach” in business. She even designed the company’s logo herself.
Socorro Ramos now has more than 2,500 employees in over 160 branches of her once-small stall.
From a humble beginning, Ramos’ National Book Store is the Philippines’ biggest book store
chain and an icon in the country’s retail industry.
In the 1950s, Socorro Ramos thought of producing a line of greeting cards and postcards using
Philippine views and artwork. By creating a distinct design, it promoted Filipino culture to the rest
of the world. The company later acquired the national franchise for Hallmark Cards. It was also at
that time that they began a publishing program with the assistance of international publishers such
as McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, Lippincott, and Addison-Wesley.

After more than a decade, Ramos acquired a nine-story building along Avenida Rizal, and in 1963,
the construction of the Albecer Building (Albecer taken from Ramos’ three children - Alfredo,
Benjamin, and Cecilia) began. Little did the Ramos couple know that the Albecer Building would
be the first of many buildings they would build. Socorro Ramos now has more than 2,500
employees in over 80 branches of her once-small stall. From a humble beginning, Ramos’ National
Book Store is the Philippines’ biggest book store chain and an icon in the country’s retail industry.

Today, she has expanded the National Book Store chain into an empire that spans a variety of
various businesses, including publishing, a music store, a department store, and several other
convenience and gift stores. What has become the Ramos family business has not stopped growing
since, having opened Powerbooks in 1996, a popular specialty book store. The best part – she has
successfully kept the family business intact, employing all three of her children as well as
grandchildren and other relatives.

During the 70s, National Book Store sold reprinted versions of foreign-printed college textbooks
for 75 percent less than their usual cost. Thus, students, especially those coming from poor
families, were able to save huge amounts of money. According to her, she remembers her cash-
strapped childhood, so she’s committed to lifelong learning. She tries to make the books affordable
to customers at all economic levels.

Coring has been recognized for her outstanding success both in the Philippines and the larger
world. She was the 2005 winner of Ernst and Young’s Philippine Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Other notable awards include: Agora Award for Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship
(1991); DTI Outstanding Filipino Retailer Award (2001); The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL)
Award (2006); and Filipino-Chinese Federation of Business and Professional Women of the
Philippines Award for Business (2007).

With all her awards and wealth, Socorro Ramos stays humble and credits her success to values.
She constantly monitors the business landscape. She says there’s always something new to learn;
successful business people must remember this and keep their minds open.

Milagros, Clarita, and Doris Leelin- Goldilocks

“The name Goldilocks was chosen because of two very important words embedded in the
name—gold and luck, which suggest fortune and success.”
With only two cake displays and ten employees, Milagros Leelin Yee, Clarita Leelin Yee,
and Doris Wilson Leelin started Goldilocks at a 70-sq-m building space in Makati. Sister Milagros
and Clarita loved baking and decided to pursue their passion into business. With the help of their
sister-in-law Doris, the Leelins opened their first branch. It had two cake displays and 10
employees. The cakes sold out, with the first-day sales at P574.Their products were made in their
family kitchen. The store offered freshly-made cakes and pastries which were sold out every day.
In 1991, they began accepting franchisees. And when the franchising began to grow in the
Philippines, hundreds of Goldilocks branches opened around Metro Manila serving customers that
also grew in number every day.From their humble beginning in Pasong Tamo, they now have
grown to over 600 stores and employ over 2,000 people.From its humble beginnings, Goldilocks
has grown to 320 stores all over the Philippines, plus three in Bangkok and 23 in the United States!

In 1991, Goldilocks launched its franchising program. As of 2015, the bakeshop chain had
almost 400 stores across the country, with other branches in the USA. Canada, and Southeast Asia.
From a modest capital of P66,000, Goldilocks is now a multi-million food enterprise with more
than 4,000 employee.
Goldilocks is now the largest Filipino-owned bakeshop chain in the world, with close 500
stores- more than 20 of which are in the USA, Canada and Thailand- and approximately 5,000
local employees. Not only of people know this, but Goldilocks was actually the first established
food chain to plant the Philippine flag overseas. Its first foreign outlet Goldilocks Artesia in
Southeast Los Angeles was opened in 1976. At present, there are 15 Goldilocks stores in key cities
in North America- 12 in the US and 3 in Canada.