Entrepreneur 13: SHEREE GOTUACO

SHEREE GOTUACO

Business: Freeway

Category: The Young Millionaires

She was exposed to the clothes business at a very young age, but she never thought that she'll be working with her mom. Her family background led her to go for a business degree. After working at a retail firm in the U.S. after taking up marketing and management in college, she decided to study fashion design because she's always interested in arts, pattern making and designing. 

When she came home, Elite garments helped her launch a new brands. She began with Ensembles but noticed that Robinsons Galleria catered for a young student crowd, so that's how Freeway started and eventually Solo, which offers casual wear for young men and women.

"It wasn't always easy in the beginning. Elite was a small company that was established in 1959, so I had to deal with people who were much older than I was, but it was tough integrating into something that was already set. Today I keep track of the company's performance and study how each brand is doing. Monitor the efficiency of our inventory to minimize losses, and then come up with special designs that set us apart."

She hired younger people and rewarded employees by merit not by seniority.She try to make herself very accessible to her team members whenever they're having a hard time with what they're doing. She even ask them what improvements they would like to see in the company. One of the reasons a lot of their good people stay. 

"Being open-minded to change and innovation is certainly one of the advantages of being in business at a young age. When you're young, your tendency is to be more of a risk taker, but I would suggest taking calculated risks because that's what I do: carefully assessing and studying every aspect before plunging in"

"When starting your own business, you have to know what you want and believe in the concept. You should always start for the right reasons."

GOLDEN RULE: You need an original concept if you were to compete in the garments industry and carve a niche. It would also help to have control systems in place, particularly because it's the last thing a storeowner who is new in the business focuses on. And, while it's easier said than done, you must innovate constantly.