A couple of days ago , we had our first annual business review of Crocs. Concept store partners and distributors from all over Visayas and Mindanao, as well as principals from Manila, came to Cebu for the meeting which was held at the new Alpa City Suites in Subangdaku, which incidentally is a must try.

Later that night, we had dinner at the recently opened Out Of Africa Restaurant in Nivel Hills. A few columns back, I wrote about the need to master Engage, Delight , and Convert. When I was asked where should we eat, I suggested something new and exciting, and we were not disappointed.

What makes Out Of Africa stand out is the attitude and personality of the general manager, South African Mike Halgreen. He is a fascinating person to know, stumbling upon Cebu a couple of months ago, then planting roots and opening not only this restaurant, but launching a ambitious plan to open 40 more franchised outlets.

He is a man’s man, Crocodile Dundee in the flesh. He greeted us with excitement, welcoming us with drinks and stories. He built up excitement to try the many exotic dishes that were the specialties of the house.

We tried out South African bread which is a must try. We also ordered the pumpkin soup, Mozambique Trinchado, and Cream Dory Fillets. I can’t recall the rest but they were all very good. Mike gave us the full treatment, describing the menu and the food as it arrived. On one dish, a combination of four kinds of kebab skewered on a metal rod, it was set on fire in front of us. When one of my companions observed the need for music to complete the spectacle, Mike suddenly erupted in an African tribal chant, complete with wild swinging arm motions.

After dinner, he again presided over all of us, regaling us with his personality and stories. He taught us what Jagermeister is for and how it should be taken. He then whipped up a round for all of us, making sure that we follow tradition and blow off the dust from our elbows before drinking. Then again, Mike might have been pulling our leg with the elbow thing, who knows.

What Mike has mastered is the principles of Engage, Delight, and Convert. In surviving and prospering in this financial uncertainty, we need to go back to the fundamentals. Mike is showing that it doesn’t take a lot of money, or brilliant architecture, or expensive consultants to achieve EDC. All it takes is an honest and sincere effort to satisfy the consumer.

Engage – Capture the attention.


Delight – Evoke joy and a sense of discovery.

Convert – Harvest reward thru purchase.

The only disappointment for the men and to the joy of the ladies was the unavailability of Crocodile steak. It is a specialty of the house, according to Mike, as he explained the right way to store and cook the Croc. Which led us to propose that we open our first restaurant retail door. We offered to put up a retail stand for Crocs in the restaurant so that Mike can add a bit of spice to his Croc story, “we serve them and you can also walk on them.” Or something like that, huh Mike?

Cheers Mate, Thanks for making our night.

Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

 For comments, suggestions or stories that you want to share, email me at stirspecialist@gmail.com ,  or

visit  www.stirspecialist.blogspot.com

I recently attended the 5^th Mindanao Business Management and Youth Council (MBMYC) held last February 6,2009 at the Marco Hotel in Cagayan. It was an uplifting experience to be surrounded with many of the youth of Mindanao, who were very gung-ho about becoming entrepreneurs. I was very impressed with the youthful zeal, idealism, and enthusiasm displayed  by these young people. I want to thank them for a wonderful experience.

One of the great benefits was that I had time to chat with Bam Aquino and the cause of Social Entrepreneurship. Bam, James Fantone and myself were speakers for the portion called “ignite”. Bam gave an inspired speech on the cause of social entrepreneurship, which made everyone sit up and listen.

Social entrepreneurship is defined in simple terms as trying to achieve two goals with one stone, earning profit while trying to help society. In this trying times, more entrepreneurs and would be entrepreneurs need to study and initiate something along these lines.

The example set by Bam is Hapinoy. A program they started that partners with micro-financing institutions to lend money to deserving individuals to start a “Sari-sari” store under the Hapinoy brand. Bam and his company will provide training in managing not only the store but also the inventory. They centralize all their purchases and make “corporate” negotiations with many of the large suppliers. In doing so, they can avail of better pricing for the Hapinoy stores allowing the latter to be not only competitive but also profitable.

Hapinoy is also looking to help local SME’s by allowing local producers to sell their products to the Hapinoy chain. So small manufacturers and producers can now have a viable distribution chain for their products and services.

It is a wonderful program that achieves to my mind two major goals, one, to uplift the lives of the less fortunate, and two, establish a viable business distribution business.

Bam and his partners are literally helping hundreds if not thousands with their business. I was blown away by his passion and determination for the cause. It brought back memories for me. When I was younger, I always wanted to have a chance to speak with  Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino. I wanted to feel his passion and love for our people and our country. I get the same sense from Bam, who being Ninoy’s nephew, is almost a spitting image of him.

Our country needs more social entrepreneurs. It actually makes sense to go into it especially in these trying economic times. When you think about it, if we lose ground on our traditional markets, we need to look for new ones to supplant or supplement our business. Social entrepreneurship opens up a huge untapped potential market.

How much will our country benefit when more social entrepreneurs set up business.  We just need to keep in mind that social is not “sosyal” but providing real benefits to society.

Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

For comments, suggestions or stories that you want to share, email me at stirspecialist@gmail.com ,  or visit  www.stirspecialist.blogspot.com

“Don’t stop believing, hold on to that feeling….” Growing up in the eighties, this song and its catchy refrain was played  in the background of many bars and clubs. It became a cult classic and is one of the many hits the band Journey churned out. Recently this song became played continuously again all over the world celebrating the triumph of a small town boy from the Philippines becoming the lead singer of the legendary band Journey. This was the song Arnel Pineda sang in front of thousands of fans in Superbowl 2009.

How does a middle aged Filipino male, who a couple of years ago was belting out copies of different singers to small audiences in Manila , go from that to enthralling thousands in the biggest party of America’s favorite sport? It boggles the mind.

But there is more to the story than what you read in showbiz news, we all have heard versions of how Arnel was discovered by Neal Schon , Co-founder and lead guitarist of Journey, in You Tube. A avid fan had uploaded videos of Arnel and his band Zoo playing gigs in many clubs in Manila, Neal chanced upon it trolling the internet looking for inspiration to the quandary of who their new lead singer should be. He was amazed at the eerie way that Arnel was able to mimic not only the sound but even down to the mannerisms Steve Perry, the most famous lead singer of the band. He watched stupefied as he watched more videos of Arnel doing Toto, and other rock stars almost seamlessly.  When he told his band mates that he had found their new lead singer in Manila, They replied in disbelief, “great, you found us a singer that cant speak English…”

“Just a small town “boy” living in a lonely world, he took the midnight train going anywhere…” The starting words of the song literally describes Arnel’s journey. His mother died when he was thirteen and his father left him with relatives. He decided to live on his own, collecting scrap to get by and sleeping in Luneta. He had a friend who played the guitar and together they practiced. He auditioned for a small band and was told he wasn’t good enough, but one of the band members offered to put him up and pay his salary from his own pocket.

He soon made a name for himself singing covers and popular hits. But this also drove him to boredom. He started to take drugs and party hard, then one day he discovered that he could no longer hit his usual notes. A doctor told him to retire , that his voice was shot, tired from the long nights, abuse, and vices. He was only 27 years old.

He did not lose hope, He went straight, relearned how to sing, and formed a new band called Zoo. That’s where he was discovered and his “journey” began.

This true story is an inspiration to many of today’s youth on possibilities in life. How we should not limit ourselves to self-made or society manufactured glass ceilings.  I would like to pose the question, what is more probable or possible, a middle aged former street child in a third world country becoming the lead singer of one of the world’s legendary bands or becoming a successful entrepreneur? Or one of the best, how about  a man with a Kenyan father and an Asian childhood becoming President of the United States or becoming a successful entrepreneur?

Makes you wonder or ask yourself hard questions. Dreams are free. Hoping is easy. Faith is necessary. Believing is the first step.

All things are possible, no matter how improbable. Always have hope, acquire Faith, and Believe. Arnel said, “My life is a fairy tale but I’m awake and I’m dreaming it.”  Don’t stop believing…. Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

For comments, suggestions or stories that you want to share, email me at stirspecialist@gmail.com ,  or visit  www.stirspecialist.blogspot.com