A business that’s ripe with opportunity

Over the years, I have (and continue to wear) several hats. I am a professional master of ceremonies, a motivational speaker, a podcaster, a sometime actor, an Honorary Consul, an editor of an online business publication, and as serial entrepreneur. Among those, entrepreneurship has been one of the most rewarding but also the most challenging.

My late dad — who was also a green-blooded entrepreneur — is my biggest personal hero. I learned from and was inspired by both his successes and his failures from his multiple business ventures. He was an eternal optimist when it came to doing business. One of the biggest legacies he passed on to me was developing an “entrepreneurial mindset.”

As a host and speaker, I often have a chance to speak at many business conferences and interact with prominent business owners and professionals whose insights have shaped my own journey as an entrepreneur. These entrepreneurs are my heroes as well. So just as my dad passed on his “entrepreneurial mindset” to me, I thought it was important that I pass on the stories of these heroes to the next generation of aspiring entrepreneurs. And that is why I started this column.

For my inaugural column for BusinessWorld, I wanted to put the spotlight on a Filipino entrepreneur we can all learn so much from: Cebuano businessman Justin Uy, founder of Profood International, Inc., better known as the “Mango King,” the founder of the largest dried fruits processing and exporting company in the Philippines, and owner of Jpark Island Resort and Waterpark in Mactan, Cebu.

Justin Uy may not be a household name yet, but it’s one that entrepreneurs and businessmen should know. As the man behind the Philippine — and Cebu — brand of dried mangoes, he has been on an entrepreneurial journey that is full of incredibly valuable business lessons. From humble beginnings, Mr. Uy took his Profood mango empire to the world. It all began with a situation that many Filipinos will find all too familiar, but he rose above various challenges and setbacks to build a truly remarkable company.

In my RJ Ledesma podcast, I sat down with Mr. Uy where he shared his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he learned along the way.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, START ANOTHER BUSINESSLike many of our country’s small and micro entrepreneurs, Justin Uy went into business to help the family. He explains, “The financial [need] of the family forced me to be an entrepreneur. So actually, entrepreneurship really comes from many different sources, right? [Sometimes] it starts off and you’re in need because you have to support the family.”

The fourth of 11 siblings, he was introduced to entrepreneurship by helping in his father’s cigarette distribution business. Then he got into a craft business with his brother, Brad, selling chokers and bangles. The business lasted for six months.

Next, he went into poultry. He says, “I became an entrepreneur by selling the eggs to the market and also selling everything: chicken, dung, everything.” The business did not prosper.

Afterwards, he went into selling mushrooms. This business fared better, and he proudly shares that one of his brothers was able to study to become a doctor through the earnings from the mushroom business. Mr. Uy was 17 at the time.

It was with his fourth business that Justin Uy found success. When he was 19 years old, he began a business with his brother and his father making dried mangoes using his aunt’s recipe. Three years later, even this business — one that would become Profood and lead Mr. Uy to success in markets all over the world — failed.

He recalls, “It was a complete failure because [we were] jumping into a business without any knowledge of it. So, we’re just depending on the formula of an auntie doing it in the kitchen. And we did not know that when you go mass production, it’s completely different. So, the first three years, we failed at everything. In fact, we lost everything we had invested.”

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, PERSEVERE, LEARNTaking a cold, hard look at his business, Justin Uy set out to make it work. Seeing the opportunities, he was determined to succeed.

The first thing he did was to learn about food processing by taking a food preservation course in UP Los Baños. With his knowledge, he redid his product. “That’s how it really started,” he said. From there, the business continued innovating until they were able to export. And today, Profood International, Inc. processes 16 different tropical fruits and makes over 150 SKUs which are sold in America, Europe, and Asia.

Having learned from this early experience, Mr. Uy advises entrepreneurs to “Never go into something that you don’t know.”

At the same time, he acknowledges that he got into business with little knowledge, which was a big risk. But learning to adapt and learning from failure is part of business.

He shares, “Sometimes, kailangan, lakas na ng puso lang (Sometimes, you just need strength of heart), then you enter the business… Almost zero knowledge, just get into it and learn from there. In fact, I encourage almost all young people to go into business even if you’re zero.”

SOLVING PROBLEMSJustin Uy believes that being an entrepreneur is about solving problems — a lesson I believe every entrepreneur should take to heart.

In his early days with Profood, he explained how he was able to solve the problems of farmers and turn it into an opportunity. “The farmers have a lot of mango during the mango season,” he said. “And I will tell them, oh, can you give me your mango? I will pay you in three months’ time with interest.

“So that’s how I really was able to be successful [with the business]. Because with abundant raw material, you can create something and sell it to everybody.”

Even the name of his dried mango brand was a solution to a problem. Initially, he used it to communicate quality.

“It used to be called Philippine mango, Philippine brand dried mango,” Mr. Uy said. “In the world, there’s a lot of mangoes. There are about a thousand species. But notice, Philippine mango is one of the best in the world.”

Later on, Mr. Uy would create the Cebu brand of dried mangoes because for other Asians, “Cebu is an entertainment area, for rest and recreation. We have nice beaches, everything nice for vacationing.”

CREATE SOMETHING NEWToday, Justin Uy has also diversified into other businesses, which includes Jpark Island Resort, a resort and waterpark in Mactan, Cebu. What initially began as an investment, led him to ownership of a Korean hotel and another avenue of successful entrepreneurship.

“We are at the point that I know tourism will be big in the Philippines and we need to expand,” Mr. Uy said. “And we need to expand to other islands. So in fact, we’re building two hotels now in Bohol.”

He encourages Filipino entrepreneurs to “create something new.” Constantly moving forward with Profood and now Jpark, his message to entrepreneurs is to bravely begin their own business ventures.

“There are still a lot of things you can do, you create,” he continued. “In this world right now we’re living in, nothing, there’s no limit at all.

“The young people have their own energy to create new products. So if you’re in culinary, create your culinary product. If you love the ocean, you create your ocean product. There are lots of things you can do out of it. There’s endless opportunity.”

(Are there other entrepreneurs you want me to interview? Please let me know, send me an e-mail at ledesma.rj@gmail.com.)

RJ Ledesma (www.rjledesma.com) is a Hall of Fame Awardee for Best Male Host at the Aliw Awards, a multi-awarded serial entrepreneur, motivational speaker and business mentor, podcaster, an Honorary Consul and editor-in-chief of The Business Manual.  Connect with Mr. Ledesma on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.