Entrepreneurship Archives — Financial Adviser

Customers Kept Asking for Tacos—So She Created a FilMex Concept That Became La Salsa

FinancialAdviser.ph — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:30:09 +0000

When the pandemic hit the Philippines, many restaurants struggled to survive. Lockdowns kept customers at home, dining rooms were empty, and uncertainty forced businesses to rethink their strategies. For Atlee Chan, founder of La Salsa FilMex Cantina, the crisis became an unexpected turning point. What started as a response to customer requests during one of [...]

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What First-Time Franchise Buyers Should Ask Before Investing, According To A Top Franchise Consultant

FinancialAdviser.ph — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 03:34:16 +0000

Many Filipinos dream of buying a franchise because it feels safer than starting a business from scratch. The brand is already there. The product has been tested. The system has been prepared. In theory, the buyer does not need to begin with a blank sheet of paper. But Armando Bartolome, founder of GMB Franchise Developers, [...]

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What This Young Founder Learned From Cleaning Hundreds of Sneakers

FinancialAdviser.ph — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 03:02:04 +0000

When Laurence Angelo Ungson launched his sneaker cleaning business SoleProtect, he wasn’t a shoe care expert. He didn’t come from a family of entrepreneurs. He didn’t even have formal training in the craft. But what he lacked in credentials, he made up for in something more powerful: curiosity, discipline, and drive. “I’ve made my fair [...]

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How a Seaweed Trader Moved Up the Value Chain Into the Carrageenan Business

FinancialAdviser.ph — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 03:22:26 +0000

Entrepreneurs often spend years searching for the next big opportunity, but sometimes it is hiding in plain sight. For Wee Lee Hiong, founder of W Hydrocolloids, Inc., the breakthrough came not from a laboratory, a consultant, or a business plan, but from observing his own customers. By taking the time to understand how overseas buyers [...]

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“I Put All My Savings on the Line”: How Ever Bilena Started With One Product and an All-In Bet

FinancialAdviser.ph — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 03:08:57 +0000

After years of watching a family business collapse and experiencing the instability of trading different products, Dioceldo Sy reached a moment of clarity. Hustling had kept him alive, but it had not given him direction. What he wanted next was not just income—it was control. “Then after two years, I said, why should I sell [...]

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From Menus to Media: How One Entrepreneur Reinvented His Business

FinancialAdviser.ph — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:46:03 +0000

For many entrepreneurs, closing down businesses can feel like the end of the road. For Erwan Heussaff, it was the turning point. After years of running restaurants in Makati and BGC—some successful for a time but eventually unsustainable—he discovered a new frontier: digital media. What started as a hobby became the foundation of his next [...]

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“We Had a Store—but No Kitchen”: How This Entrepreneur Built a Bakery With Borrowed Space and High-Interest Loans

FinancialAdviser.ph — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:37:15 +0000

When Kamela Seen and her husband accepted their first mall opportunity in Dagupan, it looked like a breakthrough. After years of surviving through catering and informal work, they were finally being offered a proper retail space. The catch was that the opportunity came with limitations they would only fully understand once operations began. “At that [...]

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How Cafe Mediterranean Founder Marla Moran Left Corporate Life at 28 to Start a Restaurant

Henry Ong — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:15:55 +0000

Many entrepreneurs do not begin their journey with a long-term master plan. Sometimes, a major career shift happens because of timing, opportunity, and a willingness to take a risk when circumstances suddenly change. For Marla Moran, the decision to leave corporate life and enter the restaurant business came during a period of transition that unexpectedly [...]

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“When Hotels Didn’t Buy Enough, We Opened Our Own Shop”: Why Santi’s Moved Directly to Customers

FinancialAdviser.ph — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:38:22 +0000

When Werner Berger started his sausage business, he did not envision opening a retail store. His original plan was straightforward: produce quality sausages locally and sell them to hotels that needed them. On paper, the demand seemed obvious. At the time, Berger was deeply embedded in the professional kitchen ecosystem. “I was also the president [...]

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How a Filipino Watch Brand Is Competing With Swiss and Japanese Giants

FinancialAdviser.ph — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:04:13 +0000

In the world of watchmaking, heritage is everything. Swiss brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe have histories that stretch back more than a century. Japanese companies like Seiko and Citizen built reputations for precision engineering and global scale. For decades, these countries dominated the industry so completely that few people imagined a watch brand [...]

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