Financial Adviser: 5 Business Lessons Everyone Can Learn from Ana Maria Tanchanco, Founder and CEO of Taters

Building a successful food business does not always require inventing a new product. Sometimes, the opportunity lies in taking something familiar and finding a better way to sell it. For Ana Maria Tanchanco, that opportunity came from an unlikely place: the snacks people enjoyed while watching movies.

As the founder of Taters, Tanchanco helped transform ordinary cinema snacks into a recognizable Filipino food brand. Her entrepreneurial journey, however, began with earlier business ventures that eventually encountered difficulties. Rather than abandon entrepreneurship, she continued looking for another opportunity.

The idea for Taters came partly from her family's love of watching movies. At the time, cinema concessionaires offered limited snack choices, mostly popcorn, candies and packaged food. Tanchanco believed moviegoers would welcome freshly prepared snacks with distinctive flavors and better presentation.

In August 1994, she opened the first Taters outlet at the Greenbelt cinemas in Makati. Operating from a space of just 8.5 square meters, the store initially offered popcorn, French fries and peanuts. The concept quickly attracted customers, laying the foundation for the company's expansion into other cinemas and shopping malls.

Over the years, Taters grew beyond its original movie theater locations, introducing new products and expanding into different retail formats. The company also had to adapt to changing consumer habits, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when cinema closures forced it to find new ways to reach customers.

More than three decades after opening its first outlet in Greenbelt, Taters has grown into the country’s leading entertainment-snack chain, with more than 100 outlets nationwide. From a small cinema concessionaire, the homegrown brand has expanded into shopping malls and other entertainment venues, with Tanchanco's son, Joseph Brian, taking on a larger leadership role as the company's chief operating officer.

How did Annie Tanchanco turn a simple observation about moviegoers' snacking habits into a business that has lasted more than three decades? And what lessons from her entrepreneurial journey can help business owners recognize opportunities, overcome setbacks and sustain growth in a competitive market?

Here are five business lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Ana Maria ‘Annie’ Tanchanco, founder and CEO of Taters:

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A business that is profitable today may become less competitive tomorrow as new competitors enter the market or production costs change. What once made a business successful may no longer be enough to sustain its profitability.

Entrepreneurs must therefore distinguish between temporary setbacks and fundamental changes in their competitive environment. While temporary problems may be addressed through better management or cost controls, structural changes may require a different business strategy. Continuing to invest in a declining business without addressing the underlying problem can lead to greater losses and missed opportunities.

Tanchanco faced this challenge when cheaper Chinese imports undermined her bag business and changing consumer preferences affected demand for custom-made clothing. These were not problems that could necessarily be resolved by working harder or increasing sales. They reflected changes in the economics of her businesses and the markets they served.

Tanchanco’s willingness to explore another industry showed that past investments should not determine future business decisions. Entrepreneurs must evaluate opportunities based on their potential returns rather than the time and money they have already committed.

When Tanchanco was offered the opportunity to operate a cinema concession, she recognized an advantage in entering a market where demand already existed. Moviegoers were accustomed to purchasing snacks, which meant she did not have to create a new consumer habit. Instead, she could concentrate on attracting customers away from existing concessionaires.

Entering an established market can reduce demand uncertainty, but it also creates competitive challenges. Customers already have alternatives, so a new business must offer a compelling reason for them to switch. Tanchanco addressed this by identifying weaknesses in existing snack offerings and developing products that provided a different experience.

Her strategy also showed a different approach to competition. In her bag business, manufacturers with lower production costs could offer similar products at cheaper prices. With Taters, she focused on product differentiation by developing flavors that were not readily available from competing concessionaires.

This reduced the need to compete primarily on price. When customers perceive meaningful differences between products, their purchasing decisions can depend more on taste and than on cost alone. However, differentiation creates value only when customers appreciate those differences and are willing to pay for them.

“I am a graduate of Ateneo de Manila. Economics,” Tanchanco says. “My first job was in investment banking before getting married. And then I became a fashion designer because I like art. Maarte ako sa mga ganyan you know? I started making beaded evening wear.

“This was way back in ‘86, when people didn’t wear shorts and jeans and crocs outside. I mean, when you go out, you're dressed. When you go to a party, you're dressed. When you're having dinner, you're dressed. And a lot of times it's haute couture that people would have made for them. Papagawa ng damit no.

“So I would make the evening wear, beaded wear. I got a beader to train other beaders. And then I got a dressmaker who does for export. Sabi ko I just need samples kasi paisa-isa eh. And I launched a sort of fashion exhibit of beaded wear. You know it was exciting. I had maybe a 30-mannequin exhibit.

“And there were people who wanted to buy it, so from then on, I opened a little shop and started making party dresses. That was the first business. I specialized in beadwork. And then I also launched a line na nylon cases for cassettes, CDs. At that time, uso pa ang cassettes. Kakalabas pa lang ng CD, and then I started making Betamax bags, VHS bags. They were bags. And I would distribute to Landmark, Shoemart, Odyssey Records and tapes.

“The problem with that is a few years later, China got into the picture. They opened their doors and they could produce at half my price. And, of course I could not produce anymore so, I closed shop.

“I was thinking of something that could be sustained, because I had three children. I wanted a bread-and-butter line, because my dress shop was still there, but you know RTW was getting into the game. Now people are more casual when they dress. Even formal dresses you can buy, RTW. Even wedding gowns, RTW na. Eh, ang mga kliyente ko mga debutantes, mga ikakasal.

“My father used to be an executive of Ayala. And at that time, Ayala used to give popcorn concession or spaces to their retirees. Not for free, but when they retire it's offered to them.

“So parang ok you're retired, do you want a space? And I told my dad, sabi ko, ‘Can you get the space in Greenbelt?’ This is the old Greenbelt Mall, na giba na ngayon.

“At the time, walang fast food sa mga sinehan dati. The cinemas were big, balcony enlarged, but there were hardly anything in the lobby of the cinemas. Unlike now, it's very commercial. You have restaurants, you have fast food, you have everything.

“And there was this guy who was currently occupying the space I wanted. He was selling popcorn. The usual, the old-style popcorn concession. So, Ayala said if this is his space, that his space. There's this corner, a small corner 8.5 square meters. This is the door already of the cinema. Ayala said, get that corner.

“At the time, wala namang flavor ang popcorn diba? He was selling soft drinks, tapos they have this eskaparates selling all sorts of mga Chippy, candies, mga ganon. The old-style concessionaire. There was no cooking of sandwiches or whatever.

“So I said, how do I make my popcorn better? I started with three products: popcorn, peanuts, and French fries in August 1994. At the same time, I introduced different flavors. My first two flavors were cheese with bacon and sour cream with chives. I used real bacon bits talaga, na naka-sprinkles sa popcorn. At that time, there was no sour cream in Manila.

“No one had two flavors at the time. Same flavors were used also for fries. Same year, although nauna lang sa akin ng konti, beginning of the year yung Potato Corner. And fries at the time was a fad because they introduced it.

“So I had a small popcorn machine and a small fryer at home, and I would invite friends over to try my products. Punta kayo. I would serve them my popcorn with my flavor. What do you think? I would cook fries, o what do you think? So I came up with products and then peanuts.

“I would mix the flavors myself. I was experimenting before I opened the store, trying to figure out how to prepare the products, what flavors to use, and how they should taste.

“I have a best friend in the US who would send me the base flavors. Then I would get different spices and seasonings from the supermarket and add a little of this and a little of that to make the flavors our own.

“One thing about our flavors is that they're not something we buy outside. They're distinctive flavors that we mix ourselves. So the taste was different from what you could buy in the market. At most, my competitor had butter.

“Cheese is a common flavor. But how do I make cheese more exciting?  You know, I went to the supermarket. I looked at the McCormick spices in the bottles. And then I researched. Sabi ko, ano bang lasa nitong mga ‘to? I bought several bottles. And then to tweak it, I was just tweaking basic cheese powder. Kasi the basic cheese powder was coming from the US. Pero ayoko nung kung ano yung binili mo, yun yung lasa nung pagkain mo, so I would tweak it. I'm not an R&D, I'm an economics graduate, but I know how to cook.

“So konting ganyan, konting ganun, tapos sabi ko, okay, the others are flavoring. How do I make mine different? I bought the bacon bits. And I would sprinkle bacon bits. That's how I did the cheese. And then sour cream at that time was only available as Pringles. Lahat ng ibang commercial fast food or any other pack chips, walang sour cream.

“I like that sour cream. My relatives, my friends were saying, bakit sour cream? At that time, si Potato Corner may barbeque. Sabi ko, believe me, it's gonna be a bestseller. So ganon din, I had a basic powder. I would mix several things there.

“And then I bought from McCormick chives. That's why I called it sour cream and chives. Yung chives naman yung hinahalo ko aside from mixing. Different things there to make it creamier, make it whatever.

“I know they were doing flavored French fries. I know what they have, cheese and barbeque because my kids used to buy. But for me, that's it. I mean, I know what they have. I'm not going to introduce barbeque. I wanted to include a flavor that no one had.

“Even the cheese was different, diba? So cheese for me is commercial, but sour cream was new. And even my staff were saying, Ma’am, anong sour cream? Because nobody knows sour cream, no? At the time naman, nobody knew sour cream. And it became a bestseller. Yung kalaban ko wala namang flavor eh.”

A successful business cannot depend entirely on the ability of its owner to supervise every activity. As a business grows, entrepreneurs must develop systems that allow employees to perform their responsibilities consistently, even without constant supervision.

Building these systems begins with establishing clear operating standards. Every important activity, from preparing products and managing inventory to handling cash and maintaining equipment, should follow procedures that employees can understand and repeat. Without these standards, product quality and operating efficiency may vary depending on who is managing the business.

Standardization is particularly important for businesses planning to expand into multiple locations. Customers expect the same quality and experience regardless of which branch they visit. By establishing measurable standards for ingredients, entrepreneurs can reduce inconsistencies and make it easier to train new employees.

One of the biggest challenges in growing a business is maintaining the same level of quality and efficiency as operations expand. Tanchanco treated her first store as an opportunity to understand and standardize every aspect of the operation. Rather than relying on employees' judgment or experience, she established measurable procedures that could be taught, monitored and repeated.

Another important aspect of her approach was her resourcefulness to develop practical solutions to operational problems. Instead of waiting until the business could afford specialized equipment, she experimented with available technology and gradually improved it. This allowed her to address product-quality concerns without making large investments at the beginning.

Her experience proves that innovation is not limited to developing new products. Tanchanco also did not allow the limitations of a small operation to become an excuse for weak controls. As the business grew, these systems made it easier for her to train new employees and replicate succesful operations across mulitple locations.  

“I started with five people who didn't know anything about food,” she says. “One was my tennis trainer, because I used to play tennis. Another was the sister of my kasambahay. The third was the tagagawa ng kape ng tatay ko sa opisina, you know. Then another was the son of a driver. There were five of them, plus myself.

“When we opened, dinumog ako ng tao. My store was less than one-third the size of my competitor's space, but I had people lining up. I was counting P50,000 a day in barya. You know na parang, wow, in my whole life, hindi pa ako nakabilang ng ganito. At that time in 1994, magbilang ka ng P50,000 barya pa yan ha? You know how it was.

“I would man the cashier. I taught my staff how to cook and trained them to control inventory. I monitored everything, and we would weigh all our ingredients.

“My father suggested that the way to keep snacks crunchy is to use hot air, so I used dish dryers, the first warmers of Taters popcorn. Dish dryers. Yung mga popcorn machine na ganyan that’s US. Pero how do you keep it warm? The machines available before were just cases with the bulb. You know the bulb keeps it hot, but that will not keep it crunchy.

“You know what my father did? He bought dish dryers, he removed the fitting for the dishes. We bought a stainless basket or had it made no. And he said lagay mo yung popcorn mo diyan. And we had a cycle of 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off. He experimented with that. And from that warmer, we developed our first warmers, so we had it fabricated by a stainless steel.

“Yung una syempre it was only for one store. I cannot have fabrication of machine. We just had the fabrication of the glass. Ang warmer ko ngayon na naging nasa ibabaw turbo. You know what turbo roasters are? They have hot air also, di ba? Yun ang ginamit namin, kasi from that dish dryer.

“Syempre the dish dryer will not last. I had a guy cleaning the inside of that. Binubuksan yon gabi-gabi because the powders would go inside eh. So that was the development of our machines. It started from a dish dryer to using a turbo. Now we fabricate our own with hot air talaga. Our warmers that you see in the stores are really made for a certain temperature.

“I also figured out, if I sell something in a pack, it's easy to monitor inventory kasi it's counted. But if you're making loose popcorn, you have kernels and oil, and when the kernels pop, there's a difference in weight and volume.

“My flavors accounted for 20 percent of the weight of the popcorn, but for French fries, it was 10 percent of the weight of the fries. I wanted everything to be scientific. How would you duplicate the taste or train your people kung wala kang standards? So ako talaga yung nandun from the very beginning because I was observing everything.

“Pag pinasok ko itong sako sa tindahan, that's 22.68 kilograms. I end up with, let's say, two kilograms after selling a certain amount. So how do I know kung hindi ako kinainan at ninakawan?

“When you fry it, you're frying loss. So iba na rin, iba na naman yung yield non no. So I had a little stock room which used to be inside the theater. Nanghiram ako ng kwarto noon. And I was training a guy to be my stock clerk and he would write everything down. I called it now my daily requisition and usage form with the beginning inventory.

“You know, that's why tumatawa ako sa mga inventory management systems now, because they all started from something like that. No matter what you do, you have to account for what happened to your inventory.

“I still remember that my competitor and his staff would laugh at us na ang tagal tagal namin magbukas and ang tagal tagal din namin magsara, kasi kami talagang we have to inventory every day, beginning, ending no.

We have to clean everything because you have to take care of your equipment. And my father was an engineer aside from being an actuary, so I man my store from start to finish. I was handling the cash.”

Building a successful brand requires more than offering a good product. Entrepreneurs must create an identity that customers can recognize and associate with a particular level of quality and experience.

Branding should begin with a clear understanding of the target market and how the business wants to be perceived. Everything from the company name, logo and store design to employee uniforms, packaging and customer service contributes to that perception.

However, attractive branding alone cannot justify premium pricing. Entrepreneurs must ensure that the experience they deliver matches the expectations created by their branding. Instead of reducing prices to attract customers, entrepreneurs can create additional value through better ingredients, consistent quality and superior customer experience.

Tanchanco’s decision to adopt an American-inspired concept showed her understanding of consumer perceptions at the time. She did not treat the store simply as a place to sell snacks. She developed a brand image that customers could associate with the growing popularity of American food chains.

By investing in branding from the beginning, Tanchanco gave customers a reason to perceive her business differently before they had experienced the products themselves. In effect, branding helped her reduce the disadvantage of being a new and relatively unknown operator.

Tanchanco strengthened her branding strategy by ensuring that the quality of her products matched the image she wanted to create. She did not use cheaper ingredients to compete on price. Instead, she established strict standards for raw materials and preparation methods.

She also focused on creating enough value to justify charging higher prices than her competitors. Her combination of strong branding and consistent product quality helped differentiate Taters from other snack concessionaires.

“The name Taters was a product of a family meeting nung tatayo ko na yung Taters. I had a family dinner, sabi ko I need contributions for names. Wala pa kong pangalan. Ito yung concept, ito yung gagawin natin. So we had several names there, my father was the one who said Taters. Taters is slang for potatoes. If you say Taters in America, they would think you're talking potatoes.

“Of course, now we're not doing it because it's potato. But one of our products, remember we started with French fries. Now, I wanted a short name that can look like a team name. Sabi ko Taters parang Lakers, you know mga ganon ba? You know it’s, in other words, nagkataon lang that it's slang for potatoes.

“But we wanted a short two syllable name, madaling tandaan. And yung pagkasulat parang team emblem, team logo. So sabi ko, why not? Di ba the sound is nice. The sound is very American. And then when the Taters was already open, maybe a year after, an American guy who used to play baseball became a client. Sabi niya do you know that in baseball we coin food terms to our game?

“For example, the baseball field is called the kitchen, ok. And Taters is one of those used, as again a term coined for one of the baseball whatnot. So, nag-relate na naman yung baseball and all that. Again, that wasn’t planned.

“When I opened my store, I wanted it to look American. I played with an American concept. A lot of people thought it was an American franchise. I wanted something American because given na yong colonial mentality, especially at that time. Filipinos were all about the imported PX goods, etc, and bagong pasok yung mga franchises, bago ang McDonald's. They were all new in the Philippines.

“And not only that, I had an image. You know, I called it a glamorized sari-sari store. Yung kalaban ko dati, what did they have? They had an eskaparate, that's it. Walang dating. Walang uniform mga tao.

“I started with baseball uniforms already from the very beginning. Again, American. What do people eat in the baseball stadium? Diba American concept nga eh. So you know, I wanted an American concept, that’s why baseball came into the picture. And then my products are very baseball. Syempre pati yung logo, dati walang computer na gagawa ng logo. Kinamay ko yan. Tapos kumuha ako ng artist, kasi ibri-bristle board nung artist. But of course it was refined by an artist, because kailangan ko i-submit for trademark na at that time. That's Taters.

“Yung cup ko ganyan na. I had tumblers that was different from the rest of the tumblers. And the second innovation of that logo is actually Taters tapos may bola sa gitna. Snack League. So baseball pa rin.

“I had no one at the time, it was just me. No one. I had no staff, I had nothing. I researched about the color theme, sabi ko pag food it's red, orange, yellow. Kasi daw those are the colors for food. You can research naman eh. And you can observe, I'm a very observant person when it comes to what is in the market, you know. So kita ko, red was something that was more appealing. It’s a bright red.

“So it was always red, white, black from the very beginning. Syempre iba yung design ng stores noon. Compared to now, kasi syempre ibang technology nun ng paggawa ng signage. I use panaflex, panaflex sosyal na non. Diba? Pero ngayon wala ng gumagamit ng panaflex, diba? Pero non ako lang naka-panaflex non, diba?  I would get in touch with suppliers, find out ano ba yang sa mga signage? Ano ba yang ano?

“I remember when we first opened, yung competitor ko tinitignan niya yung presyo ko, sabi ko ‘don't worry, sir. I'm more expensive than you. Mas mahal ako sa kanya ng konti. Pero I had branding, I developed a brand from day one.

“When we were deciding on the products to offer, we chose French fries that is thicker. There is a 3/8 skin-on fries, which for me is healthier. Yung iba 1/4 shoestring. Then, we were using healthier oil. So my promotion was always healthier. I'm not saying I'm a health snack. At the time I was using canola oil, pero pag nasusunog na yung oil, it starts getting rancid. So the different kinds of oil have different smoke points. I also researched on that, kasi syempre I had a very small space. Wala naman akong exhaust system. Meron ako range hood, range hood lang.

“From canola oil, we shifted to corn. Kasi nagkaron ng bad publicity ang canola oil that it is modified oil. So and at the same time it became very expensive.

“And then I always wanted a healthier snack. Healthier than what I can buy in the market. So I used canola oil and it was promoted as healthier. So aside from original flavors, I used quality premium raw materials.

“The kernel that I'm using from the very beginning till now is an American kernel wherein we only approve 2 brands. How do we approve? We measure popping ratio, we measure what we call adjustments, meaning yung hindi nag pop? Kasi diba sa popcorn? Pag kumain ka ng popcorn minsan meron yung kernel na hindi nag pop. Minsan nakakagat mo pa, so we measure how many of that? In terms of percentage kaya nga ako puro weigh eh. Tinatanggal namin yan, and I choose a better yield na hindi masyadong maraming ganon.

“And then my oil, if you notice it's yellowish because it has beta carotene, so it again makes it healthier. Its not oily, because it’s hot air. It dries the product and keeps it crunchy. So hindi siya oily. Ngayon even my French fries is not oily. Because number one, I'm frying it properly, kasi may science ang frying eh. You have to fry at a certain temperature. You have to fry at a certain time. You have to fry using the correct oil. Then after we fry, we dry it, para walang oil. So yun pinag-aralan ko lahat nung proseso. And I documented everything.

“We still maintain the same quality of French fries, kernel because I've always believed, no matter what you say, the product may taste good, but if the quality of your raw material is bad, hindi siya magtatagal. So from the very beginning, quality.

“Kaya nga I could not drop my prices, meaning if I'm a little bit more expensive, assuming by my competitor, it's because I'm using more premium. I’ve been given samples of Argentinian kernels. Mas mura nga pero ang liliit, ang dami yung matitigas. I've been given samples of French fries iba-ibang brands. Halo-halo sa loob, hindi masyadong mapatatas. You know so it may taste good, but if the product will not be acceptable…quality is important.”

Entrepreneurs must recognize when their existing business model needs to evolve to support further growth. Business reinvention does not always require abandoning the original concept. It can involve expanding product offerings, entering different markets or finding additional ways to serve existing customers.

One important consideration is identifying what actually prevents a business from growing. Understanding these constraints allows entrepreneurs to develop strategies that address the underlying problem instead of simply increasing marketing efforts or opening more locations.

However, diversification must be carefully managed. Expanding into related products or markets can create additional sources of revenue, but losing a clear brand identity may weaken the company's competitive position.

Tanchanco recognized that the business concept that made Taters successful was also limiting its expansion. Its strong association with popcorn made it a direct competitor of mall operators selling similar products, which restricted her access to additional locations. The challenge was not weak customer demand but a business model that needed to evolve to support further growth.

By developing Taters into a broader snack concept, Tanchanco effectively changed the company's competitive position. The business was no longer defined exclusively by popcorn but by a wider selection of food products associated with entertainment and leisure. This gave the company greater flexibility to operate in locations where a popcorn-focused concessionaire might have faced resistance.

By offering both specialized kiosks and full-service snack outlets, Taters could adapt to the requirements of different locations. This flexibility gave Tanchanco the opportunities to serve customers beyond the cinema market.

“When my competitor gave up and closed down after a little over a year, I was finally given the space and we expanded,” she says. “Some people were already approaching me after a few months for a franchise. Nakita nila eh, but I wasn't ready.

“And then sabi ko later maybe I should expand. I sat down for a few days, this time to plan. Ano ba talaga yung Taters? I sort of stayed away from people and I said, okay what do I want this to be?

“Kasi my second store was in Robinson's Galleria, because they have their own popcorn. Ayaw akong bigyan ng store on the cinema floor. Eh nakilala kasi ako sa cinema eh. This was my dilemma. I became the competitor of malls who serve their own popcorn. So parang, if you say Taters, no na kaagad yan pag nag-apply ka. Kasi nakilala ako sa cinema. It would be hard for me to get, or at least to sell the same product in the cinema, so they did not allow me.

“And that's when I developed Tater Snack League. It became a league of snacks. The next product I introduced was nachos. Sa Robinson’s ko ni-launch yung nachos ko. It became a nachos store. And then I started introducing ballpark hot dogs.  We have sandwiches and others like onion rings, so naging a whole menu for full stores. So, nagkaron ako ng full stores.

“That's why I had different versions of Taters. I called it my all-star store that served all the products. To make me different, I envisioned Taters na parang fast food, which had an array of products, but focusing on American baseball, yung ganon. So at the start, even my designs, my menu board would look like a baseball scoreboard no. I opened one full store across Greenbelt Mall, remember United Supermarket? Bago naging Greenbelt, there was United Supermarket. Tapos Greenbelt Park, meron pang Aviary diyan. So I had the full store outside United Supermarket, which was supporting this store. This small store that I had here. Well, that's why I have Taters All Star, which is the food store. Kasi I realized I can't be popcorn only, because nga of the limitations.

“Ngayon kasi I'm already the exclusive concessionaire of all the bowling, ice skating and game parks of SM. Full stores lahat yon with sandwiches, lahat. Of course, I have the popcorn kiosks only. But I have full stores, the full store serves sandwiches.”

Many entrepreneurs focus on increasing sales and expanding operations but neglect the importance of preserving cash and building financial reserves. Even a successful business can become financially vulnerable if its earnings are regularly spent without considering future needs.

Financial discipline begins with recognizing that business profits should be reinvested to support expansion, while another portion should be retained to provide liquidity during periods of uncertainty. Entrepreneurs must establish clear financial priorities and resist the temptation to increase personal spending whenever the business becomes more profitable.

Retaining earnings also reduces dependence on external financing. By accumulating sufficient capital, businesses can fund expansion and pursue investments without necessarily taking on additional debt.

Tanchanco's approach to financial management was to separate the financial needs of the business from her personal spending. By limiting her compensation and withholding dividends during Taters' early years, she ensured that a larger portion of earnings remained available for reinvestment and savings. This allowed the company to accumulate capital without depending heavily on external financing.

Many entrepreneurs increase their lifestyles as their businesses become more profitable, but Tanchanco avoided this by keeping personal spending within predetermined limits, which allowed the business to retain more of the wealth it generated.

Tanchanco’s strategy to invest without borrowing showed her preference for financial independence. Although debt can accelerate expansion, it also creates fixed obligations that must be met regardless of business performance.

By financing the acquisition through accumulated earnings, she avoided additional interest expenses and repayment pressures, which gave her flexibility during periods of uncertainty.

“Disiplina ng may-ari ay importante sa Negosyo,” Tanchanco says. “A lot of the business concepts I've seen around are very successful. Ganda ng concept, masarap produkto. Ganda tindahan, ang kaso ang may may-ari konting kita, spend. Toys for the big boys. Konting kita mo pa lang, bili ka ng bagong telepono. Bili kang bagong kotse. Kaya ang daming nalugi nung pandemic. Ang daming nagsara kasi walang savings. You have to be able to save, not just for crises like that. You need to have a goal.

“When I was growing Taters, I set it up as a family corporation. I decided na hindi ako magbibigay ng dibidendo for 10 years. I kept all the earnings because I used the earnings to expand. Second, I used the earnings to save. I was telling my finance guy, sabi ko magkano kailangan ko should something happen to me or my family? Magkano kailangan ko so I can live na hindi kami mapipilay. So I had a goal, for 10 years, hindi ako makabiyahe, hindi ako makabili ng mamahaling whatever because hindi rin ako namimigay ng dividend. I was also earning a pitiful salary, meron lang akong allowance. I was giving myself an allowance.

“I would decide, okay ito budget ko, say 30 percent, then 70 percent I will save. Why? On the 20th year, I wanted to have a building. And this is the building. Sabi ko I want to put up a building so the property is ours, the building is ours. So wala akong utang, I sleep well at night.

“On my 20th year, I was able to buy a property, erect a small building without incurring debts. So you know, nung nag pandemic we had the money to sustain the business.

“When my son proved himself that he can run the company, I became semi-retired. Nung una nag-aaway kami palagi niyan. Kasi he was heading my marketing and marketing is an expense department eh. Puro gastos yan eh. So pinag-aawayan namin always is pera. Kasi he doesn't look at the implication of how much investment to be put in. So yun yung ina-advice ko sa kanya. You know if we put in this much money, we have to be able to justify it. Hindi pwedeng gastos lang tayo ng gastos.

“And then, of course, we should be able to always listen to the market. Kasi dun rin ako natuto. Hindi pwede yung gusto ko. Dapat gusto ng market. That is another success factor of a business. You have to be able to give you what your market needs. But first, define your market. Kasi kung hindi naman defined yung market mo, you cannot please everybody. Not everybody would like to have sweet popcorn, so sino ba tinatarget natin? Do they like it? What will make our product different? Taters became an icon because it was different.”

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