A lot of times, we barely pay attention to the people that work for us. We hardly know what their lives are like, what their dreams and aspirations are. To many, as long as we pay their salaries and they do the job that is required of them, that is more than enough to know.

But little do we know that these people , even the ones that occupy the lowest rung in the business actually are very significant to the chances of success or failure in the business. More often than not, customer’s perceptions of the business are not just shaped by our marketing and advertising efforts but thru personal interaction with our employees. If the latter show indifference, apathy or even simply bad attitude, the customer usually unconsciously assumes that it is the brand or the company that is this way. The customer then subconsciously tells himself to avoid the service, product or store.

A good friend, Germin, told me something that I will never forget. He said, “Hire for attitude, train for skills.” How many of us starting entrepreneurs really prioritize attitude in hiring over skill? Attitude over appearance? Attitude over achievements? I want to share a story about “Albert”.

We had an opening in the store and we dutifully placed an ad in the local paper. A couple of days later, I glanced over the applications and I saw one resume with a picture that looked like a mug shot. A mug shot is like a photo of a suspect taken by a policeman. The picture of “Albert” literally screamed “criminal”. Not only was it a bad picture, his attempt at a smile ended up like an evil smirk. I automatically set his application aside and told my staff that he was unacceptable.

A few days later, his application showed up in my desk again. I asked my staff if I did tell them that it was rejected, they replied in the affirmative. “So what is this again?” I asked. Apparently , “Albert” had resubmitted. I said “no, never”. And again added his application in the rejection pile.

A few days later, I saw it again, in the list of people to be interviewed. I frustratingly asked, “Why again?” “Sir, he came over to personally hand in the application and he is still here, maybe you would like to interview him.” In exasperation, I said yes.

So , I met “Albert” and interviewed him. He actually did not look like his picture. I asked him why the bad photo. He replied that he did not have the money to take a better one and I also found out that “Albert” was shy. Too shy to smile, so it ends up like a smirk. I also discovered that to make ends meet , he makes hammocks out of rope as well as other odd jobs. He proceeded to “sales talk” me into buying a hammock. The end of the story is that I did not buy a hammock although a lot of my staff did, but I did hire him. He turned out to be one of my most hard working employees as well as someone who always displays a can do attitude. He is never late and never says no. Customers like dealing with him as he is always ready with a cheerful answer and a smile. He turned out to be extremely resourceful and I count him as a blessing to the company.

So It was a lesson for me. I needed to go beyond the superficial. I needed to find out the attitude of a person and how he can apply it to his life and at work. And lastly , I learned never to be afraid to enter a situation that I end up surprised. People with the right positive attitude matter, in business its even more true. Thank you Albert for teaching me that lesson again.

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.com

I remember a conversation that I had with a couple of directors of one of MEPZA’s largest cooperative some time last year. We talked about the future of cooperatives and what they can do to serve and help their members. We discussed a variety of topics related to investments that they were interested in and what it meant for their members. It was a big eye opening discussion that struck with me, and made me appreciate the unique role that coops can play for many of our hard working “working class” employees.

Fast forward a couple of months later, Marketworks Asia, Inc. , a consulting firm that I am connected with, was asked to help develop and conceptualize a new commercial complex on a existing furniture factory. We had several meetings and the topic of what kind of innovation could we do that would benefit the public especially in hard times of today. I remembered that conversation and brought up the possibilities of asking cooperatives if they were interested in putting up a unique supermarket that would fit their objectives. It was a dream that we did not know would soon come true.

Jonathan Ramos, Chief Organizer of Kumprahan was just the right guy to put this together. He spent a large part of his younger years in the Carbon Market assisting his parents in their store, selling all sorts of produce like rice , eggs , etc. From that humble beginning , he was able ,thru hard work, become a financial planner with his own consulting agency ; helping clients plan and implement a financial plan for their future.

Jon took up the challenge and was able to organize the different producers, wholesalers and other stakeholders of his childhood and convince them that it was time to innovate. He was also able to get the support of Coopcentrum , a association of 14 cooperatives led by VICTO National Federation and the Philippine Cooperative Central Fund Federation. Other members include Timex Credit Cooperative, Timex Consumers Cooperative, Cebu CFI Community Cooperative, Lear Employees Multi Purpose Cooperative, Lexmark Employees Cooperative, Celestica Employees Multi Cooperative, SCEGA Cooperative, Guadalupe Multi Purpose Cooperative, Kings Employees Multi Purpose Cooperative, Mandaue Market Vendors Multi Purpose Cooperative, as well as several other provincial cooperatives.

Coopcentrum has partnered with Jon and invested into the project. Imagine a supermarket with an instant consumer base of almost 800,000 members as well as 224 member cooperatives. The beauty of it is that not only would the members of the different coops get to enjoy the best pricing as well as the freshest produce, they will also benefit from the business being all co owners.

Zeny Novabos, the Chair of the Philippines Cooperative Central Fund Federation and a Board of Director of Coopcentrum shared ,“The Coopcentrum Kumprahan is an answer to the dream of the cooperatives managing their own store. It is a store cooperatives can claim as their own. Best prices can be offered to the member cooperators, directly through the Coopcentrum or indirectly through the cooperative stores.”

Congratulations to Kumprahan Supermerkado which will be soft opening this October 29,2009 with a flower festival, offering flowers at “Carbon” prices with grand opening on November 15,2009. Congratulations Jon and Gladys!

Bridges Town Square will also soft open with the opening of Kumprahan and the opening of Oyster Bay soon to follow by December.

On another note, I want to invite people to watch a very special family movie, “A Journey Home” which will be a special screening at the SM cinema 7 and 8 this Saturday and Sunday. Show times are only at 4pm and 7pm on both days.

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

One of the projects that I am currently involved in is an interesting story of family, factory, progress, and then innovation. Family because it speaks of one family’s journey in building and growing their fledging export business. Factory, because this family had the faith and confidence in the city of Mandaue to build a factory in what was essentially farmland. Progress is evident in being able to witness the growth and rise of Mandaue from an industrial hub to full pledged highly urbanized city. Innovation comes to mind when you see the transformation of a factory to a “mall” or “Town Square”.

When Eduardo Alegrado set up a furniture factory almost three decades ago in a remote two hectare lot, he would not have been able to imagine that his factory will soon become a place where everyone will come to meet , get together, shop and dine. Back then, I am sure, he was just looking for a place that was convenient enough and at the same time, economically viable to put up a furniture factory catering for the export market. He recounted, “My family’s business has been operating in Mandaue City for more than 3 decades now. We had 2 furniture factories on a 2-hectare property there that was fronting a little street then.”

This new project really started with the onset of the recession. Eduardo recounts, “ when the orders started slowing down, we had to find ways of making all our assets useful. We did not want to just wait for business to be better but we wanted to innovate.” The family took notice that the area where their huge factory was located in was now a bustling thoroughfare and commercial area. They also noticed the expanding tourism market as well as new needs of a growing city.

Mandaue has really come on to its own. It now has a convention center, several large malls and commercial centers as well the largest medical university outside of Manila. It is also an important access from Cebu City to the island of Mactan and the airport as well as the connection from north to south.

The project is anchored on a very unique concept called “Kumprahan” which is a wholesale traders market housed in a supermarket setting. It will be run by producers, wholesalers as well as different cooperatives; thereby almost guaranteeing freshness as well as affordability.

There will be a unique fresh and live seafood restaurant called Oyster Bay which will have a beach setting, a lagoon as well as a salt water pond with live seafood. A lot of people will be surprised to know or will suddenly remember that the owners of Oyster Bay were also owners of Cebu’s first seafood restaurant almost several decades ago also.

There will also be an entrepreneur’s incubation area where many small entrepreneurs can affordably open a first “mall store” and experience a mall setting. There will be a tourist zone as well as a lifestyle strip.

This project really became aptly called, “Bridges”. Not only is it in between two bridges, it is also one of the main access to the north. But it is also the story of bridging the past and the present as well as looking forward to the future. In Bridges, everything really does come together.

On another note, I would like to congratulate Bam Aquino for winning the Catholic Mass Media Awards for the best business feature show. His show about starting small pinoy entrepreneurs called “Start Up” is a valuable resource for many aspiring, starting as well as encouraging entrepreneurs. Bam would also like to invite young people to attend the YoNoy! Event at 11 am today at the Southwestern University. There will also be an open forum with Noynoy Aquino.

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

There are a lot of hand wringing and blame being thrown around in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy. The flooding actually exposed that our government agencies lack the resources, equipment and training needed to not only deal with crisis situations like this but even in anticipation of it. I wanted to share an interesting article written by Bill Reichert of Garage Technology Ventures, which I though had a lot of insights in dealing and preparing for crisis situations. In it , he recounts being invited to visit the United States Aircraft Carrier USS Nimitz and shares lessons on how the officers and crew train to deal with any crisis anywhere in the world. He writes about lessons which can not only be applied in entrepreneurship but also in training for disaster and crisis management. His insights are actually very interesting.

1. Inspiration – Bill writes , “Having a big, meaningful goal is a tremendous force for inspiration, motivation, and cohesion. The Navy’s mission is not some vague, abstract, feel-good paragraph in a business plan; it is very concrete, and very easy to understand and internalize. “ Bill Adds, “everyone had a distinct and powerful pride in what they had accomplished and in the people around them.”

2. Perspiration – The members of the team are committed to do their mission. Bill says, “If everyone buys into the goal, you can get an amazing amount of work done, including regular sixteen hour days with very low pay.”

3. Teamwork – The myth about aircraft carriers is that it is all about the pilots, but without the support crews, the pilot will not be able to get off the ground. “Every single person counts on other members of the team to enable them to get their part of the job done, and no one person can take credit for success, or benefit from another’s failure.”

4. Recruiting and Training – The other myth is that the people recruited into the US Navy or specifically for duty on an aircraft carrier are misfits or failures of society. The opposite is true, not only do they make it a point to recruit and attract very talented individuals, they constantly train to reach a high degree of professionalism and commitment to excellence.

5. Accountability and continuous improvement – “There is no contradiction between an intense ethic of teamwork and the need for individual accountability. In the Navy, everything is monitored and measured. Every system has to perform at 100 percent, and for every system there is a person responsible for making sure that happens”

6. Respect – Bill says the Navy emphasizes mutual respect regardless of race or origin. “Respect isn’t just an altruistic ethic, it’s a necessity.” Bill shared his amazement when he said, “when I looked around the bridge and saw the incredibly diverse team of men and women who were calmly, confidently, and competently running this multi-billion dollar acme of American technological accomplishment.”

7. Overcoming Fear – Almost everybody in the Carrier has had a brush with a life threatening experience. Pilots often share in private the fear of trying to land at night, but they have to do it. Bill says, “you do it, because it’s your responsibility and that’s the only way the mission gets accomplished.”

8. Work Life Balance – Bill discovered that the Navy actually allows and encourages recreation and relaxation as a means of compensating for the loneliness at sea. “When you are on the line, there is no slack, and there is no room for anything less than 100 percent. But when there is a break in the action, you can relax and be human.”

9. One Hundred Percent Performance – “From moment to moment, the operations on board a nuclear aircraft carrier expose the crew to an extraordinary degree of danger. A simple mistake can result in death, and much of what is being done on the ship and in the air is not at all simple. But they make it look simple. We watched scores of planes take off and land on a moving platform without a hitch. The key is training, training, training, and total focus and dedication when you are on the line.”

I really liked what Bill shared because of the relevance not only to entrepreneurship but also in crisis management. It shows the importance of leaders to constantly inspire his followers, work on preparation and teamwork, recruit the best people and demand the best also from them, demand mutual respect, overcome fear , maintain a balance in life, keep things in perspective and always give a hundred percent.

Bill concludes, “Not every entrepreneur wants to model his or her organization and culture on the Navy. For many entrepreneurs, indeed, that is a very unappealing concept, but that’s because they don’t really understand what makes the Navy one of the most effective organizations on the planet. Like any other successful organization, it’s about the people, not about the technology. The key is harnessing the incredible potential of every individual through inspiration, training, and teamwork.”

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.com

The worst of times bring out the best in people. People from all walks of life, from all regions, all ages are uniting to help. I wanted to cite a friend, a young and attractive Cebuana who moved to Manila. She has literally been transformed, in my eyes, as a symbol of how everybody is reaching deep down and trying to find ways to help. Cacay has created for herself the position of Typhoon Ondoy FB newscaster. In between her time posting, coordinating , and relaying updates, messages, instructions, she still volunteers at different crisis centers. I want to share the contents of these posts so everyone can see how the help is coming from everywhere, Here is a sampling of her FB page:

Cacay Moras Sydney: Donations for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy can be brought to Homebush from 7am-5:30pm on Saturday, October 3. We'll be home, collecting and repacking the whole day. Address: 303/5 Stromboli Strait, The Waterfront, Homebush Bay, 2127 If... possible, please give donations in unsealed boxes. Thank you! Contact: allorangefilms@yahoo.com to check if you can deliver at another time or date.

Cacay Moras Ed Alunan 09189347489, chairman of the Subdisvision & Housing Developers Assoc would like to know what areas require construction eqpt to clear mud/debris. Pls quickly send all inquiries to him. Pls repost.

Cacay Moras People in Hong Kong,you may help by going to Cathay Pacific City, 8 Scenic Rd. Lantau Island. A collection box on the second floor is being organized by the Staff of Cathay Pacific. Please continue to send as much as you can. Cash donations are also accepted.

Cacay Moras THE CHEFS ARE STILL ROCKIN' FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE FLOOD. PLEASE KEEP THE DONATIONS ROLLIN'! Send pork, chicken, onions, potatoes, garlic, etc., or cash to Global Academy, Timog Commercial Center, Timog corner Panay Ave, QC (tel 3326751).

Cacay Moras Donations needed - UP mountaineers has 3 trucks tom @ 8am (Power Up Tandang Sora) but we haven't gotten goods depot to commit quantities to us. Please let us know via mobile (09178344425, 09185653992) of supply lines we can tap. TNX TO APRYLLE DUMAS FOR THIS ! [and thanks Sandy]

Cacay Moras CEBU: To those who sent their donations to ORANGE BRUTUS, Thank you! Sent the 1st batch to the container today. Please continue to share the love and donate. We will be accepting donations until Thrs, Oct. 1. which will all be sent to RED CROSS IN MANILA.

Cacay Moras URGENT! BAUTISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in Marikina DESPERATELY needs medicine! CANDIVEC CREAM, ANTIFUNGAL CREAM, HYDRATE TABLETS, AMOXICILLIN CAPSULES, HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, MEDIPORE PLASTERS. Any of this n any amount. Infection is kicking in. Drop off poin.........ts: The Dusit Hotel addressed to TANYA KROPP or to me: TWINKY LAGDAMEO@LPL Bldg, Eisenhower St, Greenhills, San Juan. Can text me at 0920 920 2998. Pls pass

Cacay Moras Reposting: Ateneo de Manila University : "We need a WAREHOUSE OR REPACKING AREA (short-term use) somewhere near Katipunan/C5/Libis. This is for a group forming a separate relief effort to reach Ondoy victims outside of Metro Manila. If you have......... any lead...s, place offered on volunteer-basis, please contact me ASAP. My number is 0917.525.5487" - Reposted from EDSEL RAMIREZ.

Cacay Moras BANGONPILIPINAS! A musical relief to Ondoy Victims at MANDALYONG GYM,Mandaluyong City. Oct.1 6pm. Featuring: Sugarfree, Itchyworms, Imago, Silent Santuary, Paraluman, Aurora, Delara, Typecast, Spongecola, Mayonnaise, Kenyo, Concrete Sam, and many mor......e! Pls bring relief goods (food, clothes, water, shoes, etc.) to enter! Thank you!

Cacay Moras Cebu: ►ONDOY LIVE AID tonight at The Outpost ◄ ► ONDOY LIVE AID at VUDU tomorrow night. ◄ FORMO Restaurant & Lounge is a drop off center for relief goods/donations. Share. Donate. Help. It will make you feel better.

Cacay Moras Ancie Pamintuan: WE DID IT!!! ENDERUN HAS SENT OUT 6,000 MEALS AS OF 5:08PM!! WE DID IT!! WE ARE GOING TO KEEP GOING UNTIL EVERY LAST MORSEL OF FOOD IS GONE!! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING THIS A POSSIBILITY... EVERYTHING FROM NOW ON IS A BONUS!! ENDERUN HAS SENT OUT A TOTAL OF 14,000 MEALS TO DATE!

Cacay Moras CEBU: Nina Kokseng-Misa to those who sent their donations to Orange Brutus, Thank you! Sent the 1st batch to the container today. Please continue to share the love and donate. We will be accepting donations until Thrs, Oct. 1.

Cacay Moras Gina Ugarte: PAL shipping donations from Australia FOC! Sydney Delivery point for donations in kind: Revesby Press 3/50 George Street Granville. Ph:9760 0933. Urgently seeking donations of clothes, blankets, canned goods, medical supplies. ...Please segregate clothing according to: infants, girls, boys, women, men, shoes! Please call 0414-736-231.

This is not about Cacay but everybody who has taken the effort to go out of their way to help. You can see how people in these messages are coming, from all sectors, banding together to help. The worst of times are indeed bringing out the best in people. Thank you.

But it’s not yet over, a lot more is needed. Please help.

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