Henry Sy Success Story

Today, Im now going to feature the life story of the richest man in the Philippines. He is no other than Henry Sy, the retail magnate who owns all established 33 SM Malls and also a banking magnate who owns Banco e !ro"#P$I Bank and ma%ority share in $hina Bank. This is another inspiring story as we witness his rags to riches story on how he built all S& &alls and became one of the biggest bankers enabling him to become the richest man in our country surpassing both 'ucio Tan and the (yalas. 'ets learn and be inspired from another successful entrepreneur story as his daughter Teresita Sy"$oson narrates the story of his fathers success)

!ur company, S&, as many of you may already know, came from the hard work of my dad, Henry Sy, Sr. It is a rags to riches story that e*en myself did not reali+e until I went to trace his roots in $hina. His %ourney from the thatched hut I saw there to the shopping centers he has today is something that ama+es e*en myself. His determination, his discipline and his thriftiness ha*e produced an astute and street smart businessman who has influenced a lot of people. Including us, his children.

&y fathers perse*erance during the different crises our country has gone through has made our acti*e business pursuits possible for a half century. True, he was disappointed with the economy many times, but he ne*er saw the reason to ,uit and instead pursued his goals relentlessly. He had many obstacles - both e.ternal and internal - in his business, and there were times he could not understand why things had to be so complicated for him to pursue his business ob%ecti*es. It has been written - and I can attest that it is true - that Henry Sy started from the bottom. He came to the Philippines at the young age of /0, and worked in his fathers small sari"sari store more than /0 hours e*eryday to help him. It was located on #chague St., which is now $arlos Palanca Sr. St. in 1uiapo, &anila. There, he de*ised ways to increase his income by de*eloping small portions of products - much like the sachets we see today in the supermarkets. He was able to make multiple sales in order to make e.tra income, spending so much time in the store that he had no time to go out and play with friends in the neighborhood. It did not take a long time for him to reali+e, howe*er, that he can only do so much in a sari"sari store en*ironment. 22II came and the sari"sari store was looted and burned. He did a lot of buying and selling of odd things during the war to enable the family to sur*i*e. This must ha*e pro*ided him the hands"on training for his stamina in business. (t one time, he was hit by shrapnel while selling, and ,uite fortunately was brought to the hospital by his good friend in a kariton. 2ithout that friend, he could ha*e bled to death. He treasured that friendship and later e.pressed his gratitude after the war by making that friend his partner in a shoe store. The partnership lasted for more than 34 years until the shoe store had to gi*e away to the building reno*ations of the lessor.

(fter the war ended in /536, he *entured into selling (merican shoes imported by enterprising 7is. He later saw the opportunities of opening a shoe store, and not long after he was managing three shoe store in partnership with friends. 2ith the pleasure of a growing family while at the same time pursuing studies at 8#9 in the early 64s, he sought more ways to augment his income. He studied the market and decided to be different. 2hile other young men went to the 9S to pursue a higher education, he went on a long business trip to the #ast $oast, and came home with a lot of merchandising ideas. 8or a time, he was selling a lot of shoes, accessories, and leather goods, hoping to change the way shoe manufacturers look at the industry. Sensing a lot of opportunities, he decided to open SH!# &(:T - ;S&< - the first air"conditioned shoe store that merchandised shoes in a *ery in*iting and classy format. 2ith the success of that store, he went on to open more shoe stores, but he could not get enough suppliers. &any shoe manufacturers at that time could not understand why they had to listen to this shoe retailer who had *ery definite ideas on what he wanted to sell. They did not cooperate by pro*iding him with the *olume he needed, and because of that limitation, he gradually shifted to apparel - and thereafter other merchandise - with the help of my mother. He was continuously learning from his customers, suppliers, and employees. This on"the"%ob research ga*e him enough confidence to e.pand to a department store chain. &any things in life grow out of needs, and to meet the needs, you become determined. 2ith determination you will take e.tra challenges and do things differently - which will most likely bring success. 2e opened our first department store in /5=0, two months after &artial 'aw was declared. The business had a slow start, but progressed steadily. uring the &artial 'aw years, he continued to open more department stores, reaching a point wherein he could not get space he needed in the e.isting

shopping centers during that time. He then decided think long term, and in*est in properties for malls, which were patterned after suburban shopping centers, which he had been studying for some time. 2hen we started the construction of our first mall in /5>?, the Philippines was in the midst of a debt moratorium and e.perienced hyper inflation. The economy decline was further aggra*ated by the assassination of @inoy (,uino. &any bankers predicted our demise because my dad came from nowhere - he may had a few department stores and shoe stores at that time, but he was not one of the financial hea*y"weights at that time. 9naffected by criticism, and armed with sheer determination and optimism, he persisted and opened in /5>6 with our department store and supermarket and a few tenants. &any potential lessees were saying no to lease offers. (t about the same time, gi*en the social unrest of the times, our own Shoemart &akati was faced with ugly strikes. He almost ga*e up, but through the encouragement of his employees and customers, he continued. (t that time, he decided emotionally draining disturbances should not o*erpower him or detract him from his goals. Since that time, he has not faltered in his confidence, and became e*en more determined to continue the business. He also con*inced e*eryone of us in the organi+ation to follow his optimism. 'ater, we e.panded, slowly building malls at that time to get our formula right. The e.pansion was not without difficulties. 2hen constructing Sta. &esa and &egamall, we were faced with delays in construction due to cement shortages and the /5>5 coups. 2hen the /55= (sian crisis came, we were planning our mall e.pansion, including the &all of (sia, which was then en*isioned to be the biggest mall in the region. Because my dad felt the tsunami"like effects of the region wide crisis, which was unlike any other he had e.perienced, we had to change plans. 2e deferred opening the &all of (sia, and went on with the opening of other malls.

2e grew in numbers instead of si+e, ser*ing different smaller markets. 2e ha*e also e.panded our retail business beyond department stores to include supermarkets, hardware stores, appliance superstores, and other retail formats. (t about the same time, we looked into the banking business - both at our bank and at the industry. (t the time, our main bank, Banco de !ro was a medium si+ed bank. Because we were ,uite conser*ati*e in lending, the deluge of bad loans that characteri+ed the times did not affect us. 7i*en that, we thought it was an opportune time to grow amidst some instabilities. 2e reorgani+ed and strengthened our organi+ations for about three years and de*eloped growth strategies that started in the year 0444. #ncouraged by the consolidation program of $entral Bank of the Philippines ABSPB in making Philippine banks more competiti*e relati*e to the region, Banco e !ro made few ac,uisitions because of the moratorium on banking. It ac,uired the ao Heng Philippines branch, the 8irst eBank, the Banco Santander Philippines branch, the 9nited !*erseas Bank branches, and most recently - #,uitable P$I Bank. !pportunity is where you find it, not where it finds you. $risis and weakness indicate one can look for opportunities. Transforming problems into opportunities can bring good returns. Prosperity and growth come only to a business that systematically e.ploits its potentials and systematically optimi+es its performances. !ur business - especially that of shopping centers is a long term business. It takes at least eight years to pay back. 2e feel that the country will always be around, and with 8ilipinos lo*e for shopping, there will always be customers we can sell to. 2e also ha*e to continuously inno*ate. !ur other retail formats like supermarkets, hardware stores, appliance stores, home stores, toy superstores, baby stores, and 2atsons are continuously e*ol*ing with the shopping habits of our customers. Because they fre,uently *isit the store, we make sure we ha*e new products all the time so that their shopping e.perience will not be boring.

!ur groups policy is to look for opportunities at all times, and to be ready to act when it comes. 2hile crises may ha*e brought opportunities, we continue our plans in good or bad times with some changes to suit our demands of the time. &ay Henry Sys success rubs off to us as well. (s a final note, I would like to lea*e this ,uote from Henry Sy) ;;There is no such thing as o*ernight success or easy money. If you fail, do not be discouragedC try again. 2hen you do well, do not change your ways. Success is not %ust good luck) it is a combination of hard work, good credit standing, opportunity, readiness and timing. Success will not last if you do not take care of it.<