This Bestselling Business Book Is Back With New Lessons and Actionable Insights

The bestselling business book Five Business Lessons returns with more easy-to-digest masterclasses from the best business minds in the country. Five Business Lessons 2 gathers 21 founders, entrepreneurs, and pioneers from diverse industries to share, in their own words, what they’ve learned as they built their businesses and blazed new trails.

“Whether they’re in real estate, retail, food, or finance, you can find that many entrepreneurs experience similar challenges,” says author Henry Ong, whose weekly finance columns for Esquire Philippines formed the foundation of this book. “But seeing how these business leaders respond to these challenges makes each success story unique.”

For Five Business Lessons 2, Henry Ong carefully interviewed a new batch of men and women who, in their long journey to build lasting enterprises, found their own unique paths to success. He asked them how they founded their businesses, how they surmounted obstacles, how they beat the competition, how they constantly stay ahead of the pack, and how they’re planning for the future.

And then, he drills down each conversation into five actionable lessons—with a case study in the entrepreneur’s own words.

ALSO READ: Esquire Philippines' ‘Financial Adviser’ Column is Now a Book

Here are some of the business lessons that you can find inside this book:

“When you go to a mall, lahat ng mga katabi namin, same lang binebenta eh. Usually mga cellphone stores lang ‘di ba? They put a standee ng mga  brands, pero sa amin medyo wala kaming kalaban kasi mga brands namin unique eh. Like, we have Marshall speakers, Amazfit watches, Fitbit, kami rin lang. ‘Yung mga ganoon, so feeling ko in every mall siguro dalawa or tatlo lang kami na premium. May sarili kaming market eh. Kasi if you want to buy a Marshall, you only have to go to our store. If you want to buy a, let’s say, Nothing Phone, mayroon kaming Nothing na brand, so you have to buy in our own stores. About 90 percent ng product namin exclusive.”

“During the late ‘90s, I told my brother, kasi taga-SGV siya, let’s look for  a consultant. We got a sales consultant from a big beauty product company, so nag-usap kami. Sabi niya, ‘Boss, ganito ‘yan. Kung ako si Michael Jordan, I cannot win a championship for you. I need a team—sales, ako sa sales,’ sabi niya. ‘Marketing, finance, all departments dapat may team tayo, kasi we have to work together. So it took me three to four years to form the team kasi we needed to find and replace people. Before 2005, nabuo ko na ‘yung team. By 2010, ‘yung sales namin increased five times, then tuloy-tuloy na. Nag-professionalize na ako.”

“By 1980, we incorporated our business, tapos slowly we were able to expand the business and lumaki na ‘yung production area namin, but unfortunately, nagkaroon ng fire. That was in 1987. ‘Yung factory namin, it burned down. That was also where we were also staying—sa taas kami, and then ‘yung factory nasa ibaba. We were not able to save much, but fortunately, ‘yung personal things namin, na-save. Because it was 7 o’clock in the morning when the fire happened, our employees were just coming in. They were able to bring out the machinery: ‘yung mga grinder, slicer, and freezer. And after just two days, ‘yung walls namin, maitim pa and the electrical wires were still hanging like clotheslines. But we were able to start again. My  husband was strong enough to convince us that we would be able to surpass all those challenges—and to restart the business.”

“There’s a difference between freshly caught fish and one that has been iced for 72 hours. Even though it’s iced, fresh fish is not frozen. The difference between freezing and fresh fish is in the weight and texture. That’s the difference. That’s why our sardines are freshly canned. That’s why it matters. When you go farther, like Japan, they have freezing facilities and even canning factory vessels there, but it’s very costly, what with the materials and the large manpower. But Zamboanga is only about seven to eight hours back and forth. That’s where we decided to put up our own canning company. We considered that if we put it in Manila—even with all the convenience, depots, and networking—we would still be in the same footing as the others. So instead of putting the plant here, we set it up in Zamboanga. At eight hours versus 72 hours, the cost difference and freshness are huge.”

Five Business Lessons 2 (Summit Books, 2026) is available in selected bookstores, as well as Shopee and Lazada, for P825.

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