Manny Pacquiao's

Unbelievable Success Story

Will Inspire You
It's 1990 in the province of General Santos
in the Philippines. Manny Pacquiao is 12
years old.

Pacquiao often speaks of his debt to his

maternal uncle, Sardo Mejia, who
introduced him to boxing after he dropped
out of school. It was this moment that
would spark an unforeseen passion and
drive in Pacquiao to be one of the best
boxers in the entire world. According to his
autobiography, he describes watching Mike
Tyson's shocking defeat to James "Buster"
Douglas in 1990 on television with his uncle
as an experience that "changed [his] life
forever."

In his hometown, he set up an open-for-all boxing match and beat every opponent who came. He was well on
the road of transforming himself from a lanky school dropout to a junior boxing champion.

12 year old Manny Pacquiao after beating a 16 year old amateur boxer in General Santos City. Despite his
success, his family was still living in extreme poverty and hunger. They became so desperate to the point that
his father had to kill his pet dog for dinner. Pacquiao couldn't forgive his father for what he did so he left
home, slept on cardboard boxes, and sold bread on the streets just to make a meager living. At that point, he
also used boxing and won matches for $2 each, as a means of escaping poverty.

He soon moved to Manila and continued winning several boxing matches, but given the increased standards of
living, he wasn't making enough to survive. He soon got a job at a local gym doing gardening, cleaning and
construction while boxing on the side. He trained crazily all day and all night when possible, waking up the
earliest and leaving the gym at the latest possible time. Early on, his perseverance and determination to be a
part of the boxing world swayed him to cheat and add on some weights to meet the featherweight class
requirements.

Pacquiao as a teenager at a boxing gym in. As the fights got more serious, Pacquiao started getting more
famous as well. He would beat fighters from South Korea, Japan and Thailand and at the very young age of 19,
he won his first World Champion title by beating Chatchai Sasakul, the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC)
World Flyweight Champion at that time.

The turning point for Pacquiao came when he won against world-class featherweight boxer Marco Antonio
Barrera at the Alamodome in Texas with a TKO. After that fight, he was recognized internationally as a force to
be reckoned with.

Today, at 37, he is one of the most respected boxers. Despite his loss during the Mayweather match, he still
has won the hearts of many boxing fans both in the Philippines and worldwide. His one-of-a-kind story will
continue to inspire and it will always portray the journey of what millions of Filipinos continue to aspire for.
 Socorro Ramos:
The Woman
Behind National
Bookstore
National Bookstore is probably
one of the most visited shops in
the Philippines. From its
humble beginnings as a school
supplies and textbook store in
Escolta, to its over 150
branches nationwide today –
National Bookstore is clearly a
part of every Filipino household. All thanks to the hardwork and perseverance of Socorro Ramos,
also known as Nanay Coring.

Nanay Coring has always been in the retail industry. As a young girl, she helped her grandmother sell
fruits at the local market in their home province. Life was hard and her mother decided to move to
Manila to find better opportunities. She attended a public school and took on many jobs during
summer vacation – from wrapping bubble gum to sewing buttons on shirts. After finishing high
school, her family did not have enough money to send her to college. She then worked as a salesgirl
at a bookstore. It was there where she met her would be husband, Jose.
They opened a stall shop in Escolta. They named it National Bookstore, after their cash register. But
things did not go uphill from there. In the 1940s, a strict censorship on books was implemented.
Nanay Coring had to put the books away and resort to selling soap, candies, and slippers. After the
war, the whole of Escolta was burned down. This did not dampen Nanay Coring and Jose’s souls.
They opened another small store. This time, they sold the books they had previously put away and
whisky.
Gathering their earnings, the couple bought more school supplies and books. They slowly rebuilt
National Bookstore. They ventured into postcards and greeting cards. They also partnered with
international publishing houses and reprinted books at lower prices. Aside from selling products of
well-known brands, National Bookstore also now manufactures its own school supplies – Best Buy.
Keeping up with the times, they have teamed up with Kobo, a Canadian based e-book seller.
National Bookstore is also visible on social media and customers can even shop online via their
website. Students, office workers, and everyone else will find what they are looking for at National
Bookstore.
In the words of Nanay Coring, “Work hard, very hard. There is no express elevator to success – you
have to climb the stairs.”
 Lessons from Injap Sia,
the master strategist
The first time I met Edgar Sia II, better
known as Injap, was in 2009 when his
entry to the Mansmith Young Market
Masters Awards (YMMA) won and made
him part of the batch.

He was just 32 years old then.

I learned that during that time, he was

preparing Mang Inasal for its initial
public offering (IPO), so it was
understandable that he wanted Mang Inasal to be more high profile.

He also won an Agora Award with his Mansmith YMMA, getting repeated validation and admiration
from third parties about his unique concept of recombining classic elements like BBQ chicken and
fast food into what has become a new fast-food category.

Previous BBQ chicken concepts were based on a traditional casual dining restaurant format.

The year after, intending to take Mang Inasal public, he also got multiple letters of intent from
various parties wanting to buy a part or all of the company. Jollibee was one of the companies that
approached him as Mang Inasal was deemed a good addition to its restaurant portfolio. Mang Inasal
is the only BBQ chicken restaurant among the top five fast-food chains and has become a thought
leader in the industry, especially after it launched the ‘unli-rice’ offer, a lesson Injap picked up from
the telecommunications industry’s unlimited call and text offers. While implementing the offer, Injap
had the presence of mind to increase prices by P2 to make up for the potential losses from giving
away extra rice, which also made a compelling proposition to both consumers and franchisees.

Mang Inasal’s offerings were about 20 percent cheaper versus Jollibee’s in 2003.

But as market shares and brand health scores improved, Injap was able to narrow the price gap,
then he reinvested extra funds into marketing, rushing to create economies of scale via franchising.

Mang Inasal was eventually bought in 2016 at a total valuation of P5 billion, including an initial P3
billion for 70 percent of the company in 2010.

Injap did not end with Mang Inasal, however. He found a new market space to conquer via
DoubleDragon Properties, cochaired by Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong.

The insight that led to the new venture came from his weekly travels to the provinces during his
Mang Inasal days.
 Tony Tan Caktiong:
Success Story of
Jollibee
Tony Tan Caktiong was a Filipino Chinese
entrepreneur who set up a two-outlet ice
cream parlor business in the city of Manila. It
was 1975 when he began his business. His
father used to operate a kitchen in
Fujian,China, which was where Tony’s
association with the food services business
began.

Eventhough his ice cream parlor business was doing well, Tony wanted to expand in the foods
business – in the form of a fast-food outlet chain. He was inspired by the global popularity of
companies like McDonald’s which was planning to enter the Philippines during that time, but
Wendy’s and Burger King already had a presence in the Philippines.

Tony established his own chain of seven hamburger outlets in 1978 under the name Jollibee. He did
not get a franchise like Wendy’s or McDonald’s. Tony and his brother went to the US in 1979 to
study the fast-food business. They spent a couple of weeks looking at the kind of equipment used,
the retail outlets, the food served and various other things. Tony decided to copy almost each and
every aspect of US fast-food majors, particularly McDonald’s and benefited from tested business
practices. In so doing he avoided ‘reinventing the wheel.’
Tony was aware that Jollibee could not compete with McDonald’s which had financial muscle and
decades of expertise in the business. But by establishing Jollibee in 1978, Tony pre-empted
McDonald’s entry into the country.
Jollibee’s strong focus on issues such as product development, operational excellence, customer
service, marketing and promotion, and social responsibility, and the leadership helped it become the
market leader in the Filipino fast-food industry, beating all the multinational companies. The
company has globalization strategies and future prospects in the light of the new challenges it is
facing in foreign markets.
As years go by, the Jollibee group of companies grew bigger. Tony Tan Caktiong acquired and
established a couple other food chains including Chowking, Red Ribbon, Greenwich, Delifrance and
Mang Inasal. Aside from bringing Jollibee, Chowking, and Red Ribbon to other countries, they’ve also
established new food chains in China and Taiwan which suit the tastes of the people there.
As of 2016, Tony Tan Caktiong ranked 6th in Forbes’ Philippines’ 50 Richest. He was also awarded
the Entrepreneur of the Year and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004.