Filipino Entrepreneurs in the Philippines and their contribution to Economic

Development

In Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirements for the Degree

Submitted to:
Mr. Melvin Sarsosa

Submitted by:
Arissa V. Adina
GBA-1G

September 3, 2019
 Roxanne Ang-Farillas

Nature of Business:
Women’s apparel

Company/Business name:
Plains and Prints

History/Business start-up:
The Plains and Prints shop opened in Shoppesville, Greenhills in 1994
founded by an 18-year-old Roxanne Ang. As a young college student, Roxanne started
selling clothes in school. “I would bring a duffel bag and inside would be clothes and I
would sell them to my classmates.” She had always considered herself a creative
person, and she was always interested in fashion. In fact, she shares that what she sold
in college were actually made by her and her mananahi. She would buy fabrics from
Makati during her free time, as it was near La Salle, where she studied, and go from
there. Roxanne was a finance student, but her true love was fashion. It's a well-
documented fact that Roxanne, then a finance student, was 20 years old when she was
offered a place to sell her wares. This was in 1994, long before social media could
easily launch a business and gain thousands of followers. Roxanne Ang eventually
married Erickson Farillas, the man who gave her clothing business. They were set in
making it on their own and their partnership proved to be fruitful. It took about P150,000
for her to start what’s today known as one of the biggest fashion brands in the country.
That included rent already, security deposit, and of course, the stocks. From that 11-
square meter area, Plains & Prints managed to get store space in Robinson’s
Department Store.Then we got Greenbelt Shopping Plaza. Then we opened another
Greenhills store. And as the brand celebrates its 25th year, the rest, as they say, is
history.

Entrepreneurial Traits:
Creative, Risk Taker and Innovator

Creativity of the business:

• Creation of timeless pieces that never went out of style.
• Selecting of office friendly pieces.
• Common staple in a stylish working Pinay wardrobe.
•. Plains & Prints is among the few brands that are truly made in the
Philippines.
Innovativeness:
• From a duffel bag of clothes, Roxanne Ang-Farillas built an empire.
• From 11 square meter lot they now manage more than 60 branches nationwide with
more than 20 boutiques in Metro Manila.
• On their 20thyear, Plains and Prints tool their brand into the international scene, first
with virtual store in Singapore, and later on boutique.

Marketing Strategy:

• With their strong personality, it comes as no surprise that brand has been long
endorse by Anne Curtis, one of the top celebrities in the country, and a known supporter
of local designers.
• The brand stay relevant is by collaborating with top designers as well as known
personalities.
• Plains and Prints products are 95 percent Filipino made.

Competitive advantage of the business:

• After more than two decades in the fashion industry, Plains & Prints still has kept their
name on top. Even with the presence of numerous international clothing brands in the
Philippines, they still remain relevant to their target customers who are mostly working
women. For them the only key to this success is focusing on the strengths of the brand
and avoiding direct competition.
• They don’t go down or decrease our price so as to compete with them.
• They make sure that they keep what there are known for. We stick to our market. We
stick to what we know,” she added.
• Roxanne collaborated with many talented artist, top local designers and
photographers.

Contribution in the economic development:

• Roxanne Ang-Farillas takes a lot of pride in Plains and Prints being a true Filipino-
made retail brand. She insists that the manufacturing of her fashion line stay local,
making sure that its Philippines that benefits from the success of her business.
• As their company rises thee ratail industry creates jobs for Filipinos.

Issues and business problems:

• They experience lack of capital to continue to run the business.
• With the entry of international brands, the Philippines retailing industry has to rise up to
the challenge of beating foreign competition.
Solution applied:
• They encourage the Filipinos to patronize the products of their own brand.
‘Filipinos should support Filipino retails’ -Roxanne Ang Farillas

Opinion/Suggestion[s] on how to be more effective in this field:

• To be more effective in this field you need to be more patience in every work that you
did because success is not so easy to achieve you need to suffer or to learn to learn
first from the actions that you’ve done . Every single thing happens to your life has
purpose. It is okay to fail sometime at least you learn from it.

Natasha Bautista

Nature of Business:

Company/Business name:
Grab Taxi

History/Business start-up:

Model, Natasha Bautista, went from intern to acting general manager of GrabTaxi
Philippines in under a year. This seriously fast-paced progression was down to her
understanding of how to market the brand, as well as her hands on approach.One
division of GrabTaxi,GrabCar, is a luxury car service set to rival Uber. Natasha Bautista
is doing everything within her power to make sure it happens. As an incredibly driven
leader, she frequently takes on staff orientations and training herself.

Entrepreneurial Traits:
• Fully believes in her business and herself
• Bravely making herself heard
• Being hands-on in business is vital for business development.
• Having a balanced understanding of all areas of the business will allow a better
command on how to improve.
Creativity of the business:
.

Innovativeness:

Marketing Strategy:
•In Metro Manila GrabTaxi cars painted as cartoon characters.The character cars came
about as a result of Bautista and team wanting to do something viral. Previously all the
marketing efforts of GrabTaxi Philippines were targeted at the same demographic since
they were using the same marketing channels.

Competitive advantage of the business:

Use your differences to your advantage.

Contribution in the economic development:

The GrabTaxi business helps the economy to grow more because while that
company bigger and bigger the Philippines also continue to grow.

Issues and business problems:

, Taxi operators didn’t believe in the app itself and Natasha Bautista

Solution applied:
It taught her that she should figure out who are the target audience and dress properly,
dress in this sense, talk a certain way, and be able to capture their attention.

Opinion/Suggestion[s] on how to be more effective in this field:

Focus on your strengths and don’t compare yourself to others. There are always
struggles in the beginning just be yourself because you do need to impress people but
rather impress your self of what you’ve done because it can mold you to grow and to be
genuine. Believe on yourself that you can do it even others do not. People around you
might judge you, take that judgements your strength in every single decision you do,
make that as the foundation of yours as you to do not give up.
 Rajo Laurel
Nature of Business:
Boutique Fashion House
Company/Business name:
House of Laurel
History/Business start-up:
Rajo Laurel is a Manila-based fashion designer. As the first-born son of a prominent
political family, Rajo was under enormous pressure to enter politics. Instead he pursued
his dream of becoming a couturier. Laurel started his fashion line in 1993 with one
seamstress. By 1995 Laurel’s couture business was making $11,000 annually in
sales.Since then it has expanded from couture to include retail and employee uniforms
for casinos, resorts and hotels. The Rajo Laurel Group of Companies brought in $1.7
million in revenue in 2014. His clients include the country’s presidents, celebrities and
movie stars.Seven years ago Laurel partnered with Rags2Riches, which employs
artisans in poor communities throughout the Philippines. Women weave bags,
accessories and clothing made of discarded fabric for Laurel’s collections. Laurel’s
collaboration with Rags2Riches made $22,000 in its first year; sales are estimated to be
$350,000 in 2015.

Entrepreneurial Traits:
Creative , empowering people
Rajo has artistic side and his love for fashion made his works distinct and sensible.
Progressive and very keen businessman

Creativity of the business:

Rajo Laurel's works are influenced by his Asian roots but he never fails to maintain a
Global standpoint in fashion.
House of Laurel is specialty boutique because they offer limited pieces per style

Innovativeness:
From repertory theater to empire
Since then Laurel's business has expanded from couture to include staff uniforms for
casinos, resorts and hotels. The Rajo Laurel Group of Companies brought in US$1.7
million in revenue in 2014.

Marketing Strategy:
The boutique offers both couture as well as ready-to-wear apparel. "Made-to-order
couture" is what Laurel prefers to call his couture line.
Each piece is referred to as a "mission" dress that is designed to create a lasting
impression, although is worn probably once or twice in a lifetime. "Designer Ready-to-
Wear" is how he describes his off-the-rack line.
Besides Laurel's own fashions, House of Laurel showcases the work of other designers,
and has featured the work of Puey Quiñones, Charina Sarte, Eric de los Santos, Bea
Valdes, and Rhett Eala.
Galas, exhibitions, and collections

Competitive advantage of the business:

He is a well known fashion designer. Rajo Laurel serves as a permanent judge on four
seasons of Project Runway Philippines. His accomplishments have propelled him to the
next step: a foray into the international market.

Contribution in the economic development:

In 2004 and 2005, Laurel was chosen to represent the Philippines in the KL Fashion
Week held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Following that, he was commissioned to design
for companies and brands that include Coke Light, The Net One Group, the
Professional Models Association of the Philippines, and Bali Fashion Week.
Issues and business problems:
When he was 25 he can't handle the business properly. He was marketing ,purchasing.
accountant, designer, recruiter and quality control manager.
Solution applied:
He asked his sister to join him to have a partner in solving the problem of his
company.

Opinion/Suggestion[s] on how to be more effective in this field:

It is not always right to do by yourself. You may ask help to anyone like your
family, friends etc.