Search on for entrepreneurs with ‘passion’

“WHEN the going gets tough, other people stop. When it gets rough, you have the tendency to quit but what’s important in business is to have passion which will drive you to success.”

Julita Urbina, owner of Cafe Laguna and Small Business Entrepreneur awardee of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006, said she believes this and is the key for small business entrepreneurs, who are new in the trade, to succeed.

Urbina gave the advice to new traders as organizers of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year search started accepting nominees.

Urbina recalls being surprised when she was nominated in the awards category that lined her up with big names in the business.

“I received the phone call for an interview with the panel. I was shocked because I didn’t see myself as a qualified individual. I did not see the potential in me but thankfully, other people did,” she said.

Before the restaurant chain, it was the earnings of her small six-table carinderia near Camp Lapu-Lapu, barangay Lahug, that provided her growing family financial assistance. Urbina then saw the opportunity to expand and rented space in Ayala Mall Cebu that became Cafe Laguna.

Now in their ninth run, the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year search is accepting nominations until May 31 for businessmen who embody “passion” such as Urbina.

SGV & Co. Cebu partner in charge Maria Madeira Vestil said during the program’s press briefing yesterday that they are looking for individuals who embody the passionate entrepreneurial spirit.

“We want to look for role models all over the country especially in the Visayas and Mindanao regions,” she said.

The Entrepreneur of the Year program was established in 1986 in the United States by professional services firm Ernst and Young and was introduced in the Philippines in 2003.

Since then, it has given global recognition to Filipino entrepreneurs such as Lance Gokongwei, president and CEO of Cebu Air Inc. (2005), Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Jr., president and CEO of Alaska Milk Corp. (2007), and Erramon Aboitiz, president and CEO of Aboitiz Power Corp. (2011). All are winners of the Entrepreneur of the Year search.

The winners of the country’s search are then sent to Monte Carlo, Monaco, to compete against representatives of 50 countries across America, Europe and Asia. Jollibee Foods Corp. president and CEO Tony Tan Caktiong won the first Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines title and went on to win the 2004 World Entrepreneur of the Year award.

For nomination forms and more information, contact the Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines secretariat at (02) 891-0307 local 7766 or e-mail at [email protected]. /UP Masscom Intern Peter L. Romanillos