Kung Hei Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year to all our Chinese-Filipino fellowmen who will celebrate the Spring Festival today. I am sure that all Chinoys and even most Pinoys will welcome the year of the wooden sheep with some kind of celebration. Chinese people have been part of our culture, history and race, that is why we received many influences and values from them including hard work, determination and of course, good food!

Aside from that, they have also shared the practice of Feng Shui. I, who come from a pure Filipino family, do not really practice Feng Shui always. As I believe that it is not merely luck that can help one achieve success.

The leading aircon and refrigerator company Concepcion Industrial Corporation, a family corporation that we are a part of, was made public thru an IPO last November 2013. It took some time before I was able to convince our family to go public, and now it seems that it was the best move as we were able to unlock the real value of the company.

The stocks did extremely well from an IPO price of P26 per share and after a 30 percent stock dividend in September last year, the share price even climbed to current levels of P60 per share.

The company consulted Feng Sui experts for its operations. I do it sometimes too but I just practice the basic elements because I still believe that skill, hard work and destiny make up the 75 percent of one’s life and the remaining 25 percent would be luck. But my cousin Jojo Concepcion who heads the CIC follows Feng Shui. So now, my wife rolles out 888 oranges inside our house, following his advice. Funny but we did it as there is nothing to lose, except our weight gain after eating all those oranges!

Speaking of Chinese New Year and business, I met the other day two Chinese-Filipino entrepreneurs who became close to me and the Go Negosyo family as we share the same vision to build a country of enterprising Filipinos, prosperous and free from poverty. They are successful in their respective industries as they possess passion and perseverance in leading their companies, and did not depend on plain luck. Both are self-made and inspiring as they started from humble beginnings in the province. And for the past few years, they continue to build and grow their respective enterprises which are now leading players in their fields. And as part of the Go Negosyo advocacy, both want to share their stories to as many as possible, empowering them with the right attitude and approach in facing challenges and adversities.

These two inspiring colleagues are Injap Sia of DoubleDragon Properties and Justin Uy of Profood International. Justin is one of our original Go Negosyo trustees who joined our advocacy from the start, 10 years ago. Injap, on the other hand, was one of the awardees from our Iloilo summit back in 2008.

We all know the story of Injap who starteed Mang Inasal. I can consider his story as one of the most inspiring stories, starting with his first branch in the province until it grew to around 300 stores in about seven years until it was acquired by Jollibee. Today, he is moving beyond Mang Inasal. He is venturing now into building hotels and other high-rise buildings. With his Injap Investments Inc. and other partners, they have built several Hotel 101. This is the type of hotel where one can become an investor by acquiring a unit from the hotel which will be pooled and managed for leasing. Hotel of Asia Inc., the company formed for this venture is also the master franchisee of Jin Jiang Inn, the biggest hotel chain operator in China. The Philippine branches of the Jin Jiang Inn will soon open, but this is mainly positioned for the growing Chinese Market.

Aside from the hotels, Injap’s DoubleDragon Properties, in partnership with Tony Tan Caktiong of Jollibee, has been formed. Today, DoubleDragon is projecting to build many Citymalls in different key cities in the country. We can see the aggressive vision of Injap’s team as they target 25 Citymalls by the end of 2015 and 100 Citymalls in a couple of years.

As for Justin, he is still the country’s top exporter of dried mangoes and processed fruits through his Profood International. He has innovated into various packaged food products for the export market. He is definitely one of the taipans from Cebu, who has also expanded into malls and hotels. The J Center Mall in Cebu, which we used during last year’s Go Negosyo Creativity and Innovation Summit, is expanding and now adding a hotel in the area, while his Imperial Hotel in Mactan continuous to provide quality service to Cebu visitors, both local and foreign.

Starting with virtually nothing, our two friends have really gone a long way and the good thing with them is that they have not forgotten to help and reach out to others through Go Negosyo, by sharing their uplifting stories and giving mentorship and assistance to those in need.

They are among the many entrepreneurs in the Go Negosyo community who are making a difference in the lives of others. We wish all the entrepreneurs a Happy Chinese New Year!

Chris Chilip opens second store in Magallanes.

May I congratulate my friend Chris Chilip who recently opened his second store of TireShakk in Magallanes. His first store is located in Ortigas. The store opening was attended by Charlie Rufino, Earnest Cu, Sen. Sonny Angara, Yasuhiro Nemoto of Dunlop Southeast Asia, Tammy Campos and Judes Echauz.