There is a special place in my heart for successful entrepreneurs who mentor other entrepreneurs. It takes a generous soul to share their hard-earned knowledge so that others might also have a chance to succeed. Last week, I had a chance to pay tribute to one such man at the 50th anniversary of the company he founded, R. Lapid’s Chicharon & Barbecue.

Rey C. Lapid was one of our most active mentors at Go Negosyo. He volunteered to mentor at even our specialized programs like Kapatid Mentor ME (the “MBA for MSMEs”), the Kapatid Agri Mentor ME (for agripreneurs), and even took the time to mentor online when his schedule was too tight. He joined us at our entrepreneurship tours for 3M on Wheels (then called Mentor ME on Wheels) to the provinces around the Philippines. He was a man of few words, but when he did speak, he was brimming with ideas.

He was already a successful businessman when he joined our roster of Go Negosyo mentors. The growth of his company is an example of a micro-enterprise becoming a small company, then growing to a medium enterprise, and now a large, multi-franchise operation. Along with that success came a treasure trove of lessons that he generously shared whenever he mentored small entrepreneurs.

But he didn’t stop at being a backyard business. He aimed higher to become an internationally accredited food manufacturing company, starting by professionalizing the manufacturing process and implementing strict quality standards. He was so confident in his product that he even dared to challenge the famous Cebu chicharon makers when he chose Cebu as the location for his first outlet outside Luzon.

Rey died in 2021, but he would be so proud of how his wife Violy and his children are keeping his legacy alive by further growing the business. This innovation continues as the new generation of Lapids has updated the company’s branding with a nod to the past and a look to the future.

I suppose mentoring came naturally to Rey. He started franchising his business in 2005, opening its first franchised store at the Petron NLEX station in Balagtas, Bulacan. Franchising is a crash course in entrepreneurship, but with steady and experienced hands guiding you all the way, you will not be stumbling blindly into the business.

You can tell how successful his network of franchises was by looking around at the people gathered during their anniversary party. I am sure that network of people helped by R Lapid’s – the franchisees, dealers, the distributors, suppliers – are grateful that Rey grew and shared his business model as he did.

I suppose the lesson from Rey’s life and legacy is this: Prosperity must be shared. The country’s dream of becoming an upper middle-class society cannot happen unless we have an inclusive economy. For far too long, the Philippines had a wide base of poor Filipinos. It was a cycle of poverty perpetuated by inadequate access to resources and opportunities. I think, that through entrepreneurship, we can help those people at the bottom of the pyramid move up. It’s time to make that pyramid into a Circle of Success, where everyone benefits from the success of each one.

I never fail to emphasize how big business is here to help MSMEs move up. It just makes better sense this way; for big business, for MSMEs, and for everybody. We build a big, solid base from a nation of vibrant businesses, each progressing up the ladder. From these small businesses will come the Jollibees, the SMs, the future R. Lapid’s, who will in turn help smaller businesses prosper to become bigger businesses, generating more jobs and opportunities for Filipinos.

For close to two decades now, Go Negosyo has had the pleasure of meeting great businessmen who willingly mentor others, and it is they who motivate us to pursue our advocacy to help Filipinos become entrepreneurs. On the other end of the spectrum, there are the small entrepreneurs who have moved up the ladder because someone helped them. I am only glad that we have had leaders – from PGMA to PRRD and now PBBM – who recognize what we are trying to do here at Go Negosyo.

Giving people access to capital (money), markets, and mentoring (the three M’s as we at Go Negosyo call it) can have such an impact on the entrepreneurial landscape. Public-private sector collaboration builds the environment in which entrepreneurship can thrive. By building these connections and sharing knowledge, we can transform our economy into one that supports all Filipinos, ensuring we as a country can rise and succeed together.

Originally Published in Philippine Star