Financial Adviser: 5 Business Lessons Everyone Can Learn from Dr. Vicki Belo, Founder and CEO of Belo Medical Group

Vicki Belo is a name that resonates in the world of beauty and aesthetics. She is known as the woman who revolutionized the industry and transformed it into a thriving business in the Philippines.

However, few know the remarkable story of her journey to success, from being an adopted child to becoming one of the most influential personalities in the country.

Belo was born to a mother who gave her up for adoption because she already had four children. Her mother made a promise to the family of Atty. Enrique Belo that she would give her baby to them once she was born.

Belo grew up in the Belo household as an only child, and although she was loved and cared for, she faced challenges growing up. She was often bullied at school for being overweight and having lots of pimples.

She would spend hours lining up at skin care clinics to treat her acne, hoping to find a solution to her insecurities. It was at one of these clinics that she realized her passion for dermatology and making people beautiful. She made it her mission and vision in life to pursue this dream.

Belo pursued a degree in Psychology at the University of the Philippines as her pre-med before pursuing her medical degree proper at the University of Santo Tomas. After completing her studies, she went to the United States to continue her training and further her knowledge in dermatology.

Upon returning to the Philippines, she opened her first clinic, a 40 square meter space in Makati. Her breakthrough in the industry came when singer Regine Velasquez became her first paying celebrity customer. Velasquez would often thank Vicki Belo on TV, which attracted other celebrities and customers to visit her clinic.

Today, 33 years later, Belo Medical Group is the largest and leading medical aesthetic clinic in the country with 14 outlets. Belo has made a name for herself in the industry and has become an influential figure in the beauty world.

How did Vicki Belo transform Belo Medical Group into the largest and leading medical aesthetic clinic in the country? How has Belo Medical Group evolved and stayed ahead of the competition for three decades?

Here are the five business lessons every entrepreneur can learn from Dra Vicki Belo, founder and CEO of Belo Medical Group:

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1| Know how to develop a clear vision and plan for the future

When we know what we want to achieve and why we want to achieve it, we can prioritize our time and efforts towards those goals. This helps us stay focused and motivated, and prevents us from wasting time on activities that do not contribute to our long-term objectives.

Belo had a clear idea of what she wanted to accomplish. Her goal and mission early in life provided her direction and helped her make better decisions by aligning her values and aspirations with her goals.

“I was born a Cancio and then I got adopted by the Belos,” she says. “My mothers are sisters and the Belos had no children, but the Cancios had a lot. I was number five. Parang my mom was pregnant every year and so she had three girls and a boy, then she got pregnant again.

“I was born in Cebu. I was in the incubator for like 10 days and my Belo mom flew from Manila to Cebu to pick me up and she brought me here to Manila. In that time, somewhere along the way, the Cancios transferred from Cebu to Manila and all the girls went to the same school, which is Assumption.

“But I was only kindergarten yata, but everybody knew I was adopted kasi it was an open secret because my sister studied in the same school and they kept calling me their sister, so everybody said, how can she be your sister? You're Cancio, she’s a Belo and then they said I'm adopted.

“Anyway, one day along the way, parang na-bully ako ng mga classmates ko. They were making fun of me kasi raw I am ‘ampon lang, pinamigay ako,’ whatever, whatever. And then one of the kids said, ‘Ay pinamigay ka, kasi ang pangit mo.’ And then another kid said, ‘No, it's not that, it's because she's mataba.’ So you know, next week I was crying and crying super, but I felt it really entered my heart, my mind, my psyche.

“I learned that day that if you're fat and you're ugly, nobody loves you, so it became my life's mission to make everybody beautiful and sexy para people will love you. That's how it started.

“But of course, at five, you don't know how to do it, right? But that was already my plan. When I was 11 or 12, I got a lot of pimples and I had really ugly skin, so I started going to the derma and then when I go to the derma, it was always a long, long line of people and parang they were not naman making me well.

“Every week they cleaned me, then I get pimples again, the next week I go back, years, so I would say there's obviously a shortage of derma because I would stay for two hours waiting lang. I was 11 or 12  years old and I really used to love to pick my pimples, go to the mirror and pick and I said, ‘Oh, how nice naman this life if I end up spending my life picking pimples, that would be a really good job, but I didn't know you needed to be a doctor. I just knew that I can pick pimples and then so I'd sit there and make notes because I would get mad, like, why do I have to wait so long?

“I had nothing to read because all their magazines were old and punit punit, dirty, and the flowers were ugly. It was mabaho and it smelled like a hospital.

“I had this little notebook. I'd write all my observations; one day when I have a clinic, I'll have fresh flowers. I'll make it beautiful.

“So after I graduated from high school, I realize you have to become pala a doctor. You cannot just pick pimples. I had to become a derma daw so that's how I took up psychology first in UP and then I went to UST for medicine. That was always my goal: talagang to make people pretty. I just took this way, parang it could have been many ways, I guess, but anyway, I enjoyed that part.”

2| Know how to innovate to gain competitive advantage

Being the first mover means introducing a new product or service ahead of competitors, which can give a company a significant edge in the market.

By constantly innovating and improving, businesses can stay ahead of the competition and capture a larger share of the market. Researching helps businesses identify opportunities and stay up-to-date with emerging trends and technologies that can be leveraged for innovation.

Belo was able to establish brand recognition and customer loyalty early on by introducing an innovative liposuction technology, allowing her to gain a first mover's advantage.

“So after I finished dermatology, I kind of like freaked out because it was much more complicated pala than what I thought,” she says. “When I got into dermatology, I found out that ang daming diseases dito and saka wala masyadong cure like atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, lupus. Sabi ko walang cure mga yun and even the pimples kept coming back.

“So the last year I studied in Thailand, they introduced lasers. First time ever, I think lasers for dermatology came out in 1989. That's when I was studying there. So I said I like this kasi nagtatanggal sya ng moles, warts and mga blood vessel tumors, ganun. So I went to Harvard. I studied lasers there so I could become a laser surgeon, but I didn't have to do all the other stuff of derma that had no cure.

“And from there I decided to learn liposuction and then do all that stuff. That was in 1987 to 1990. When I got back August 1990, I opened up my clinic. I was the first. I had two lasers, parang it was a brand new idea here. Nobody had seen a laser. Many people had never even heard of it.

“There was already liposuction in the market, but it was in the hospital. Very painful. Very bloody. But the new kind of lipo that I learned was outpatient and then it wasn't painful and there was no blood, so parang it was a brand new way of doing liposuction, which was invented by a dermatologist anesthesiologist.

“Actually I thought I would be the laser queen, pero ang naging uso nun liposuction, and then ngayon lang, siguro mga year 2000, lasers na. It’s hard pala when you are the first and the only one people really don’t understand and they’re afraid.

“But when more and more people started doing lasers, parang it became more accepted, so it’s hard to be alone. Also kasi you need to make it acceptable but it’s also nice to be alone because you are always ahead. In Belo, we are always trying to be innovating, always researching.”

3| Know how to avoid taking unnecessary risks

By being cautious with spending, a business can avoid overspending and accumulating unnecessary expenses. This can help the business maintain a healthy cash flow, which is essential for its long-term sustainability and growth.

Belo's prudent business approach helped her protect her business's capital, maintain financial stability, and reduce the risk of losses from economic volatility, resulting in a solid foundation for her business.

“I'm an only child, so I remember talking to my father,” she says. “They called me when I was in Thailand and then they said ‘Iha, there's a new building coming up, a new pre-selling. It's a medical building. Do you want us to buy it for you? I said, ‘Really? Thank you!’ Then they said it’s 100 square meters. I got scared. I said, ‘It's so big.’ Then I said how much are the cuts? They told me 20 square. I said, oh, you buy me na lang 20, they said it’s too small.

“And I said yeah, but you know, if I have a small clinic and I have one patient, it will look full na, but if I have a 100 square meter clinic and I don't have patients, only one, it will look so empty, so give me the 20. Anyway, we settled for 40.

“I had no idea if I was going to make it, so God is so good that I made it. But eventually I got the whole floor because I would rent the space beside me to the left, to the right, the next.

“Yeah, I really want my clinic punong-puno na that it's going to explode before I’ll open another one, so it's slow.

“Since I had a small clinic, I called my dad, ‘Can you buy me lasers, Daddy? I always realized I had to be different. I needed to have different technology, different things. I didn't want to be the same as everyone, so he bought me my first two lasers and then after that luckily naman I was doing well, I self-financed so that's the only help I ever got and then after that I already expanded by myself.

“They're very supportive because my dad really wanted me to be a doctor. They’re also very supportive talaga. They're very wonderful loving people, so anything I ask, actually, they'll give, but I don't ask. After I asked the first time, no more na.

“So I put up this clinic and the moment I opened, within two weeks, ang dami ko ng pasyente. It was so brand new and it was so revolutionary, people were so excited and then also because I have a very a maboka personality, so I come out on TV, I would do interviews parang it just spread by word of mouth.

“I had patients coming from Quezon City, from Alabang. At that time it was so far wala pang Skyway noon so I said wow, sayang gasoline that’s how I decided to branch out. It’s not because, oh I should open (more). It's more like better for me to go there to save gasoline.”

4| Know how to create a meaningful branding

A strong and memorable brand can set a business apart from its competitors and make it easier for customers to recognize and remember it.

When a business has a strong and meaningful brand identity, it can create a sense of belonging and purpose among those who are associated with it. This can lead to higher levels of employee engagement, customer loyalty, and stakeholder satisfaction.

Belo named her company after her family name as a tribute to her father. She carefully crafted the brand to effectively communicate the business's values, mission, and personality, which resulted in an emotional connection with her customers that extended beyond the products or services she offered.

“I remember when I was eleven, my dad came home from work one day he's a lawyer, Enrique Belo,” Belo says. “Then he came to me and he said, can you do me a big favor? I said ‘What, Daddy?’ He said can you make our name famous? I said why? And he goes, ‘Because everybody spells our name wrong. Di ba they all put the double L, so sana naman that people know that we're one L lang. I said, ‘That's okay.’ So after that I put everything Belo, Belo, Belo.

“That’s why it’s all Belo in the clinic and so they called me branding expert daw, but actually, I don’t know, I just wanted my dad to be happy. So I kept putting Belo everywhere and then it became an easy name to remember.

“I remember he passed away in 2004, but I started my practice in 1990. I became, I think, top of my dermatology practice mga 1998. It took me eight years to get there and then I told him, ‘Daddy I made your name famous. Some people know our name na.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, I'm so happy. They spell it correctly now. He was so happy, so I'm glad he saw it because he died six years later, so at least before he left, he saw na Belo people made it a verb. ‘Magpa-Belo ka’ or ‘Have a Belo beautiful day,’ an adjective.

“So he said, ‘Wow and then people would ask him, kasi he’s a famous lawyer, so every time, my whole life, ‘Are you the daughter of Attorney Enrique Bello?’ Then later on, they would ask him ‘Are you the father of Vicki Belo and he goes, he's so happy, ‘Well, yeah’ and then they see me in the newspaper or in the TV. He’s so proud, you know, I really think that meant a lot to me.”

5| Know how to handle personal finances and find happiness

Having a good handle on personal finances can help you achieve your financial goals, such as saving for a house, retirement, or travel. Achieving these goals can bring a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, leading to greater happiness and satisfaction.

Knowing how to manage your personal finances allows you to build long-term financial security and independence, providing a sense of stability. This can be particularly important during difficult times, such as economic downturns or unexpected expenses, where having a strong financial foundation can provide a safety net.

Belo prefers buying property over stocks for investment, even though she finds the stock market exciting. While she acknowledges that she could have saved more, she is happy with her financial choices.

“I always tell people that if I could redo my life, I would buy property, not stocks, but because I like stocks kasi mabilis, parang it's exciting. Every day I look up, down, up, down. I mean, I make money but not much.

“If I had bought property, I would be so rich so I tell people just buy property na lang. Don't look for excitement like me. My rule was spend half, save half, but not so good because I shop and I shop, but I'm happy,” she laughs.

“I'm not really the type na I don't really want to save for the future for my kids. I do have, but I want them to also work and create  their own value. Of course, they have enough to live, but I don't want them to feel, you know, ‘I have money, baby. I don't need to work.’

“But I think spending half is a bit too big. Maybe if I could rewrite it, I would have saved three-fourths and then I like to just keep it in the bank and I like to look at my money. Oh, I have money haha. I don't think I could have handled it so much better, but I'm happier the way I did it.”

Henry Ong, RFP, is an entrepreneur, financial planning advocate and business advisor. Email Henry for business advice hong@financialadviser.ph or follow him on Twitter @henryong888

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