Financial Adviser: 5 Business Lessons Everyone Can Learn from Cecilio Pedro, Founder and Chairman of Hapee Toothpaste

For decades, the Philippine oral care market had long been dominated by multinational consumer companies. That landscape began to change when Cecilio Pedro founded Hapee Toothpaste and built it into one of the most successful Filipino-owned brands in the category.

Pedro entered a market where local players faced significant barriers to scale, yet he established a brand that endured intense competition and achieved broad national distribution. His journey shows how a business born out of necessity grew into a mainstream consumer brand through sustained execution rather than rapid expansion.

Before Hapee Toothpaste, Pedro was already operating within the oral care industry, but not as a brand owner. His company manufactured toothpaste tubes and supplied major global corporations, including Colgate and Unilever. This role gave him firsthand exposure to large-scale production and the realities of working within multinational supply chains.

The turning point came when these companies shifted from aluminum tubes to plastic packaging, which effectively disrupted his core business and forced him to move up the value chain. Using his manufacturing capability, he began producing his own toothpaste and positioned it as a low-cost alternative to established brands. Hapee entered the market at roughly half the price of leading competitors.

Today, Hapee Toothpaste is one of the largest and most established Filipino-owned oral care brands in the Philippines, with nationwide distribution across multiple consumer segments. Beyond the flagship Hapee line, Pedro expanded his product portfolio to include other oral care brands such as Kutitap and Gumtect, as well as personal and household care products including Dazz dishwashing aids and Licealiz lice treatment solutions. These additions showed Pedro’s strategy of diversifying his consumer brands portfolio by building complementary brands rather than rely on a single product.

How did Pedro build and grow Hapee Toothpaste in a market dominated by multinational competitors? What strategic decisions enabled the brand to gain traction despite limited resources? How did he sustain the business amid competition from global consumer brands?

Here are the five business lessons every entrepreneur should learn from Cecilio Pedro, founder and Chairman of Hapee Toothpaste:

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In business, those who invest early in skills or assets place themselves in a position to act immediately, while others lose time trying to catch up. Capability creates flexibility. It allows a business to respond, choose, and adapt rather than react under pressure.

While building capability before demand exists carries risk, it often reduces uncertainty when opportunity finally appears. Risks become clearer and more manageable because the business already understands its operations.

In many cases, opportunity emerges through unmet market needs. Businesses that are already prepared can step in immediately, while others miss the moment.

Pedro built capability before opportunity became clear by committing to production and learning long before demand materialized. He began his career in retail hardware but quickly recognized the structural limits of trading businesses—thin margins, long credit terms, and constant price pressure. Instead of staying in a system that offered little control, he shifted toward manufacturing, even without certainty that customers would come.

His decision to enter the collapsible tube industry was influenced not by market size but by the quality of potential clients. By targeting multinational companies such as Colgate and Unilever, he focused on reliability and scale rather than immediate volume.

Pedro invested in capability before securing any orders. He borrowed capital, purchased old but functional equipment from Japan, and started producing tubes without a feasibility study or confirmed purchase contracts.

Rather than presenting an idea to potential customers, he presented proof that he could manufacture. He then immersed himself in the market, spending his days at Colgate and Unilever, submitting samples, receiving rejections, and returning with improvements. Each rejection became a source of operational learning, gradually raising his product quality to meet multinational standards.

Progress was slow, and Pedro accepted this as part of building real capability. Early machines were outdated, quality issues were frequent, and improvements required time and reinvestment. Instead of scaling prematurely, he focused on refining processes and upgrading equipment. Only after the business consistently met quality requirements did larger purchase orders arrive, followed by gradual expansion and equipment upgrades.

Pedro’s approach shows that he has an entrepreneurial mindset that is grounded in patience, execution, and asset ownership. He understood that opportunity often emerges only after capability is in place. By building production capacity first and allowing demand to follow, he positioned his business to respond when opportunity finally appeared rather than scramble to catch up.

“I was in the retail business,” Pedro says. “I entered the hardware business in 1975, right after I graduated from Ateneo. After one week of bakasyon, we immediately started a small business in Alonzo, selling hardware products. Then, in 1978, three years later, kasi very competitive ang retail business, a friend of mine, whose father was a very good friend of my dad, suggested that we look for a factory so we would not have to stay in this rat race, in the import business where everybody had mahaba ang credit and everybody was gumagawa ng kalokohan just to survive.

“There were a few industries we looked into, and one of them was collapsible tubes. This friend of mine said, dito na lang tayo. I said, oh sige, because our target customers were Colgate and Unilever. At least malaki sila, and there was no credit problem, unlike in the hardware business where mahaba ang credit terms, 120 days, 150 days. So that was the start of the business. I borrowed from my Dad, at that time P50,000. Wala nang project study yon. I was already in business eh, I was in hardware business, so I was borrowing money to do the tube business.

“We went to Japan and looked for old equipment from Sanwa, which was a toothpaste company. At that time, they were disposing of their tube equipment kasi palit na sila, they wanted to shift to plastics. So tinapon na nila yung mga equipment. We bought very old equipment, I think it was from 1953, kaedad ko eh. We bought everything mano-mano, and then we started making tubes. That was in 1977.

“There were only a few machines. We had the tube-making machines like extrusion, lathe, torno, and some manual printing, mano-mano. We were supposed to supply Colgate, so we were just testing. I was tasked to do the marketing, so parang office ko ang Unilever at saka Colgate. Every day, I was there, just testing, subukan mo yung product namin oh, testing, testing. I had no idea how many times because I kept going back and forth, everyday nandun ako. Reject, balik, where can we improve on? Walang katapusan yan, tuloy-tuloy. After maybe six or seven months, finally, we got our first P.O. I remember it was around 1,000 pieces. Tuwang-tuwa na kami, 1,000.

“Then Colgate started buying from us. Sabi ko it’s more than a year na. You have to improve the quality. Luma yung makina namin, baguhan pa, maraming problema sa coating, pintura, printing. Nasa negosyo ka eh, alam mo naman yung mga problema di naman nawawala yan. That’s part of doing business. So slowly, we improved our quality until we were supplying millions of tubes to Colgate and Unilever. At that time, they were buying from other sources. There already had two suppliers, and we became the third. Then later, we expanded and imported German machines, German printing machines, which were already semi-automatic.

“It was risky. Katuwaan lang yan eh. May negosyo naman kami dati, yung hardware, pero ginastusan din naman namin. We spent money, invested money, and looked for a place. At that time, all of us were still unmarried. I was just 24 years old. We were very young and happy to go into business.”

Market disruptions often make existing demand disappear, but they rarely destroy the underlying infrastructure or experience behind a business. By redirecting these capabilities toward new opportunities, a company avoids starting from zero and preserves hard-earned advantages.

Disruption also brings clarity. It exposes which capabilities still create value and which no longer do. Businesses that pivot effectively emerge leaner, more disciplined, and better aligned with real market needs rather than past assumptions.

In volatile markets, survival belongs not to the largest or the fastest, but to those who can reinterpret disruption as a signal to evolve rather than retreat.

When Colgate and Unilever shifted from aluminum tubes to laminated plastic packaging in 1986, Pedro suddenly lost the customers that accounted for almost all of his factory’s output. Faced with idle machines and a closed-down factory, Pedro chose not to abandon what he had built.

Instead of writing off the equipment or exiting manufacturing altogether, he focused on what remained within his control, the production capability, the workforce, and the experience he had accumulated over years of supplying multinational firms.

Rather than continuing as a supplier, Pedro made the deliberate decision to move up the value chain. Producing toothpaste himself allowed him to retain control over pricing, customers, and long-term direction. This shift required taking on significantly more risk, but it also freed the business from dependence on a small group of powerful buyers.

Pedro also explored licensing and distribution arrangements with foreign brands, but he quickly recognized the structural weakness of such options. Rather than borrowing a brand at a cost, he chose to build his own, even without complete technology or market certainty.

To bridge the capability gap, Pedro partnered with a small Japanese toothpaste manufacturer, using the tie-up to accelerate learning and build early credibility. The association reassured the market while his team absorbed the technical know-how.

After he gained this knowledge, he reformulated the product to match Filipino preferences and emphasized sweetness and foam. He treated technology as adaptable rather than fixed, which allowed him to shape the product around market demand instead of copying a foreign model.

“Slowly, over the last 10 years, siyempre pag may order na, pwede ka na mag-import better machines to improve your quality,” Pedro says. “Yung lumalaki na yung business, I started spending more time in the factory than in the hardware business, so I sold my hardware business.

“But in 1986, Colgate and Unilever decided to switch from aluminum to laminates, yung plastic laminated tubes. They launched Pepsodent yung tube, so I went to the Lord. Angal ako sa Panginoon. Sabi ko ‘Why am I closing my factory? I’ve been very faithful naman, helping You in church.’

“Then I read in Jeremiah 29:11, ‘I know my plans for you, don’t worry—plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ Sabi ni Lord, ‘Don’t worry, I know my plans for you.’

“So I remembered the story of William Colgate. They came from a very poor family in London, and the mother was a very good Christian. Every Sunday, nagbibigay sila sa simbahan kahit mahirap sila and they were so poor that they decided to immigrate.

“They went to the US, and William started working for a soap company. Eventually, he got to own the soap company. He started making toothpaste, and his toothpaste became Colgate. Kasi yung pangalan nga niya is William Colgate. So ayun, that started the Colgate business in the States, and that became my dream. I wanted to be the Colgate here in the Philippines, following William.

“That story of Colgate, alam ko na yan bata pa ako. But I thought, ‘God, this is what You want me to do.’ E di, sige. I was inspired at the same time, I know there was no other choice. Anong gagawin ko sa makina? Alangan naman itapon ko yon?

“So instead of throwing away all my equipment, I decided to come up with something to make use of the closed-down factory. The market accounted for 95 percent of our production. Wala naman kaming ibang choice other than to produce my own toothpaste so that I could make use of the equipment and the tubes.

“I went to China to get Maxam, pero pagbalik ko rito, they wrote us and sabi nila, we already have a distributor. I also went to America. I wanted to get an American brand. I went to their office. Sabi nila, yeah, you can distribute, but you pay us a royalty, 10 percent. I said, ‘Are you crazy? 10 percent and I have to compete with Colgate? We have no chance to survive in the market. So I said forget it. We just shook hands and bye-bye.

“When I came back, I decided to go on my own. But I didn’t have the technology, so I looked for a friend from Japan to provide toothpaste technology. Kala ko mahirap eh, but it was more about the brand—that the toothpaste was made in Japan. Kilala na yung made in Japan eh, it was the technology supposedly.

“So we tied up with a small toothpaste manufacturer that made toothpaste for hotels and motels. Meron silang standard eh, toothbrush and toothpaste. Ayun, they trained our technicians for almost a month on how to make toothpaste. Sabi ng engineer ko wala namang technology yun. Ang dali-dali ang toothpaste, hindi na kailangan. Sabi ko hindi kailangan, pero kailangan natin yung brand nila eh—yung made in a technical tie-up with a Japanese company in Osaka, Japan. Made in Japan ito. That was my thinking.

“Pero after coming back, we changed the entire formulation. It’s just the process of making toothpaste; madali lang naman. Kasi yung Japanese formulation is different, hindi mabula. Saka gusto nila maalat-alat, tayo manamis-namis. We wanted it to be sweet and mabula. Kailangan mabula. Pag hindi mabula, hindi malinis, parang labada yan. We had to adapt to what is demanded in the market. We made it totally different. We just learned how to make toothpaste.”

In crowded industries, consumers already have established habits and preferred brands. Focusing on small wins allows a business to grow within its limits. Rather than overextending resources to compete at scale, the company strengthens its position through manageable, repeatable steps.

These small wins build credibility both internally and externally. For customers, consistency signals reliability. For distributors and partners, steady performance demonstrates the ability to sustain demand. Over time, this credibility generates momentum that marketing spend alone cannot buy.

In highly competitive markets, patience becomes a strategic advantage. Brands that chase rapid breakthroughs often burn out when results fall short. Those that commit to incremental progress stay resilient, adapt more effectively, and remain visible long enough to matter.

Pedro built Hapee not by matching multinational companies in scale or spending, but by exploiting gaps they overlooked and moving faster where they were slow. From the beginning, he understood that competing head-on with global brands using the same playbook would fail. Instead, he focused on incremental advantages that accumulated over time.

The first signal of this mindset appeared in how the brand itself was created. When the original name “Smile” became unavailable due to defensive trademark registration by a competitor, Pedro did not abandon the idea but reworked it. He reframed the concept emotionally rather than literally, turning “smile” into “happy,” then modifying the spelling into “Hapee” to make it distinct and registrable.

The brand did not try to sound premium or foreign; it aimed to be familiar, simple, and memorable. Even the visual identity borrowed cues from established brands, not to copy them directly but to reduce consumer friction by making it recognizable at first glance.

Pedro then leveraged relationships and access that multinationals could not replicate quickly. His family’s background in retail distribution gave him early entry into supermarkets, but he recognized that shelf space alone meant nothing without demand.

With almost no marketing budget, he looked for opportunities where attention could be acquired cheaply. The 1988 Seoul Olympics became that opening. While larger brands ignored the underfunded Philippine Olympic team, Pedro stepped in with a modest contribution and secured the right to associate Hapee with the Olympic rings. The strategy worked because it hijacked credibility at the right moment.

Pedro never mistook visibility for immediate success. He accepted that brand building would not convert automatically into sales. Instead of chasing instant scale, he focused on repeated exposure and trial. House-to-house selling became another guerrilla tactic.

By deploying more than a hundred small teams and pricing the product at half the cost of competitors, Hapee entered households directly. This approach was inefficient by corporate standards, but effective for breaking entrenched habits. Each sale was small, but each trial created familiarity. Over time, one sale became two, then ten, then twenty, not dramatic growth, but steady accumulation.

Pedro also understood endurance as a competitive weapon. For nearly a decade, multinational companies ignored Hapee because it appeared too small to matter. During that period, he continued building distribution, refining pricing, and increasing brand visibility. By the time global competitors responded aggressively, Hapee already had a base that could not be easily erased.

“When we were thinking of the brand name, initially, it was Smile. We used the word Smile kasi when you’re brushing your teeth, you’re smiling, pero it was registered already by a competitor. Wala silang produkto, but they registered the brand to keep others from using it.

“So we went back. Sabi ko, when you’re smiling, you’re happy, di ba? So gamitin na lang natin happy. Sabi nila corny, H-A-P-P-Y, hindi bagay sa brand. Pinalitan ko yung spelling H-A-P-E-E. The rest is history.

“I remember there was a famous imported brand. It was number one at that time in the US eh. Sabi ko gayahin natin yung color. Slightly different, variation lang, so that’s how we came up with the brand.

“Then, my father’s business was in retail distribution, kaya kilala namin yung mga supermarket. At that time, they allowed us to put it up. Pero kung walang advertising, hindi puede. Ganun talaga eh. So we had to advertise.

“In 1988, I remember there was the Olympics in Seoul, tapos the Philippine Olympic team walang pera. We had nothing, zero. So I approached the Olympic Committee. Sabi ko, pwede akong tumulong, P50,000 bigay ko sa’yo. Sabi nila, ‘Sige, kahit anong tulong, okay lang.

“Sabi ko, pwede yung kapalit, gamitin ko yung Olympic rings? Yung limang Olympic rings, they agreed, so we had the authority to use it. I went to an agency to help us. We announced Hapee, the official toothpaste of the Philippine Olympic team. Yung Hapee, malaki, and then the official toothpaste of the Philippine Olympic team, maliit sa ilalim. Dun lang sa gitna, Olympic rings.

“So people thought I sponsored the Olympics. Lumakas ang benta ko. Pang-Olympic ito eh. At the same time, I thought, baka pwede. Kumuha ako ng mura lang na commercial. I think I spent less than P100,000 for everything. It was a TV commercial. Mura lang. Commercial ko 15 seconds. It advertised Hapee, the official toothpaste of the Philippine Olympic team. Yun lang. Fifteen seconds lang yun.

“Then, after getting that, I thought, ‘Hey, why don’t I come out with a commercial using this? So we got Ruffa Gutierrez to do kumukuti-kutitap commercial. Naabutan mo ba yun? Well, at that time, the supermarkets were very accommodating. They didn’t charge me anything for mass display.

“Siyempre, yung umpisa mahina. You’re starting from nothing eh. So if you start from zero, you sell one tube, eh, malakas na yan. One over zero, di ba? Ano bang malaki dyan? Maliit pa rin. It’s one naging two—oh, doble na yan—but it’s only two. So dahan-dahan yan through the years.

“We had to go house to house, marketing house to house. May team kami. We had close to 100 teams going house to house selling. Mura eh. We were half the price kasi we’re making our own tubes. Subukan nyo, mura eh, 50 percent discount. So nasubukan din kahit papano. Sa Manila. More than 100 teams.

“Eventually, dahan-dahan, hindi naman overnight. You start with five, naging 10, naging 20, bumebenta eh. So until you reach over 100 teams. It’s so expensive to handle house-to-house kasi they won’t pick it up. They buy what is nakasanayan na for them pero nakikilala naman yung brand. When we promote, it’s not converted automatically to consumption, to sales. Dahan-dahan. Walang katapusan yan.

“You ask the multinationals how many market shares before they started hitting us—10 years eh. Ten years after. It took them 10 years to start hitting us directly. Alam naman nila. Siguro dati hindi nila pinapansin kasi maliit lang yan, don’t worry about that. But after 10 years, hindi na maliit ito. Talagang bubugbugin na natin habang kaya pa.

“Sa advertising, binabanatan ako. Dati may That’s Entertainment sa GMA. Binibili nila the whole That’s Entertainment para hindi ako makapasok. So yung birthday ni Kuya Germs, we sponsored the entire birthday celebration. Yan ang labanan dati. God is good. I wanted to show them that we, a local company, can survive. That’s what I wanted to prove. They came back to buy me out, all of them, but you cannot afford my price. I'm not for sale.”

Large companies often rely on standardized products designed for multiple markets, which can create gaps in pricing or features. Smaller businesses that keep their products competitive can serve these gaps more effectively and defend their position despite limited resources.

Product competitiveness also protects market access. Retailers, distributors, and consumers constantly compare value across brands. When a product falls behind in quality, packaging, or pricing, it loses shelf space and attention regardless of brand history. Staying competitive therefore prevents stronger players from gradually crowding out smaller brands.

In markets dominated by global companies, product adaptation becomes a survival tool rather than a growth option. Companies that continuously adjust their products develop sharper market awareness. These capabilities outlast any single competitive cycle and position the business to respond faster as market conditions change.

Pedro adapted his product strategy by treating competition with multinationals as a signal to adjust, not retreat. In the early years, Hapee relied on aluminum tubes, which worked while the brand was still small. However, once Hapee began competing directly with Colgate and Unilever, Pedro recognized that packaging had become a competitive signal.

Consumers associated plastic laminate tubes with modernity and quality, and remaining in aluminum risked positioning Hapee as inferior. Rather than defend tradition, he shifted to laminate packaging to align with market expectations, even though the product itself had not changed.

Pedro also understood that product competitiveness extended beyond packaging into formulation and functionality. Instead of treating toothpaste as a commodity, he invested in research and development by bringing in experienced talent from multinational companies.

This allowed him to refine formulations and introduce differentiated products such as GumTech, which targeted gum health rather than general oral care. By adding functional ingredients that addressed specific consumer problems, he moved Hapee away from direct, head-on competition with mass brands and into more defensible niches. When global players later released similar products, it confirmed that Hapee had identified a meaningful segment early.

As competition intensified, Pedro further adapted by segmenting the market instead of competing with a single “one-for-everyone” product. He introduced variants for children, multiple flavors, and specialized formats, which ensured that Hapee could occupy spaces that larger brands often addressed more slowly.

Pricing and packaging innovation played a critical role in Pedro’s adaptation strategy. He recognized that affordability remained a major barrier in the Philippine market, so he aggressively used sachets to lower entry costs for consumers.

When competitors introduced low-priced sachets, he responded with twin sachets and larger “sulit” formats that delivered more volume at the same price point. This forced multinationals to react on pricing while Hapee retained value leadership. By constantly adjusting size, price, and format, Pedro ensured that Hapee remained competitive on everyday purchase decisions, especially in sari-sari stores.

“So initially, when we launched, we were using aluminum tubes,” Pedro says. “We used that for 10 years until 1999, when we had grown substantially. By then, we were competing directly with Colgate and Unilever. We decided to come out with plastic as well to be competitive, dahil sila lahat nasa plastic. Kami lang ang nasa aluminum, so akala ng tao our product is inferior, so we decided to switch to laminates. By that time, medyo substantial na market share namin.

“Sa toothpaste kasi hindi naman rocket science yan, but we have R&D. We got a R&D head who retired from multinational company, kasi tumutulong kami sa mga hearing impaired. We hired the deaf-mutes in the factory. Sabi niya, maganda yung program nyo for the hearing impaired. Tulungan ka namin. So he came in and changed our formulation.

“That’s how GumTech was developed for the gums. It’s a cosmeceutical, which is cosmetic with pharmaceutical effect. We added ingredients that are very good for the gums to heal bleeding. Di ba when you floss sometimes you have bleeding? Makakatulong yung GumTech.

“After that, naglabas na rin yung ibang brand ng gum paste. Binabantayan nila kami. Iba na ngayon. Then, lumabas din kami ng product for kids. Ngayon meron na rin sila for kids.

“Kasi to manage the competition, we divided the market. We made it segmentized. Para hindi kami tirahin, kasi popular brand is one for everybody. Sabi ko, hindi pwede yan, hindi pwede. We should divide. We were number one sa flavors. Meron kaming limang flavors eh, tutti frutti, melon, orange, strawberry, bubble gum, tapos half the price kami.

“I knew at that time that a lot of people could not afford to brush their teeth because toothpaste was expensive. Then lumabas sila ng sachet, seven pesos? So lumabas din kami ng sachet, five pesos. Malakas sila sa sari-sari store. So lumabas kami ng dalawang sachet for five pesos. Ah, nginig sila. Nakapasok na ako, because our price was so ridiculously cheap. Halos naging number one kami sa sachet until they also came out with twin sachets, and they dropped it also to five pesos.

“Now we have sachets na malaki. Sulit sachet ang tawag namin, 50 ml. Wala silang sachet na malaki hanggang 25 ml lang sila. Sa amin, we sell it at 10 pesos, pero 50 ml, double the size of their seven pesos.”

Building a business without losing your values is important because values provide consistency when conditions change. When a business operates without clear values, choices tend to become reactive and driven purely by survival rather than direction.

Values also shape trust. Employees, partners, and customers observe how a company behaves under pressure. When actions align with stated principles, credibility strengthens. This trust improves retention and long-term relationships, which are difficult to replace with incentives or contracts alone. In contrast, businesses that compromise values for quick gains often face internal breakdowns and reputational risk.

Building a business is emotionally and financially demanding. Values provide meaning beyond profit, which helps leaders remain committed during setbacks. This internal clarity allows a business to grow with purpose and continuity across generations rather than collapse under compromise.

Pedro built his business with values by allowing discipline and faith to shape how he made decisions under pressure rather than treating them as separate from business realities. From the beginning, he framed entrepreneurship as a long-term commitment where quitting was not an option simply because conditions became difficult. This mindset anchored the business in perseverance, but not in recklessness.

Faith played a central role in how Pedro managed uncertainty. Instead of using religion as a justification for blind risk-taking, he used it as a source of emotional stability and clarity. Prayer and reflection helped him endure periods of doubt while maintaining restraint. He acknowledged that risk was unavoidable in business, but he chose to manage it conservatively. This meant avoiding ventures that conflicted with his principles and staying focused on what the business could sustain.

Pedro’s emphasis on focus also reflected a moral dimension. He believed that trying to do too many things diluted responsibility and increased the likelihood of failure. By staying within his core competence, he treated stewardship seriously of capital, people, and reputation.

The company’s identity further reinforced this values-based foundation. Naming the business after his grandmother, Lamoiyan, was not a branding tactic but a deliberate act of honoring legacy and faith. His grandmother’s role in introducing Christianity to the family gave the name personal and moral meaning, which embedded a sense of responsibility and continuity into the business itself. The name served as a constant reminder that the company represented more than profit because it carried family history and belief.

“Sa negosyo, giving up is not an option,” Pedro says. “Bakit ka magne-negosyo kung sandali lang give up ka na kaagad? You have to go on and on in spite of failures. Otherwise don't be in business.

“When I was starting, I didn’t count whether we were losing or not. Basta tira nang tira eh. Hindi ko pinapansin kung lugi o hindi. Wala eh. Basta tuloy-tuloy lang. Sabi ng Daddy ko, pag hindi mo kaya, isara mo na lang. You come back to the family business. Kung hindi kaya, hindi kakayanin. We’ll do our best. Giving up was not an option.

“I spent time with the Lord. I asked the Lord to help you out. If the Lord is with you, who can be against you? But risk is part of business. Manage your risk by playing conservative. Ayun lang, that’s one way, siguro. By not giving up. Daming reason eh, daming katuwiran. Pero mahirap—madaling sabihin eh, mahirap gawin eh.” Pedro says

“What is conservative? By not being aggressive. If it’s not for you, don’t attempt to overdo yourself. Stay focused on your basic competence. If you’re not focused, it will kill you.

“Lamoiyan is the name of my grandmother. She got her name in Hong Kong, naging Lam Oi yan, so I put it together naging Lamoiyan. My grandmother brought Christianity to my grandfather and to my great-grandfather. I’m the fourth generation. My son is the fifth. And the grandson, my grandkids, will be the sixth generation.

Naging Christian kami because of Lamoiyan. So when I was putting up my company, I asked my dad and my uncle kung pwede ba gamitin ko yung Lamoiyan. Sabi niya pwede kasi I wanted to honor her as the first Christian and the one who introduced Christianity to the family, to the clan.

“I was active in the church. I was in the choir for 60 years at Hope Christian United Evangelical. Choir member ako for 60 years. I was their elder. Deacon of the church. Kulang na lang pastor. I cannot preach inside the church kasi the church has a requirement that to be able to speak in the pulpit, you have to be trained in a seminary, but I can if I want to, because I’m the president of Asian Theological Seminary.”

Henry Ong, RFP, is an entrepreneur, financial planning advocate and business advisor. Email Henry for business advice [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @henryong888