Entrepreneur 35: NELSON YUVILLA

NELSON YUVILLA

Business: Philtec Label Corporation

Category: The Young Millionaires

"I believe that to be a successful businessman, you must learn from your mistakes."

A couple of unremarkable jobs coupled with his father's death prompted him to consider going into business. At the time, he'd been working in a car accessories shop for about a year when he realized he wasn't getting anywhere. Before the shop, he worked for a year at an SM Shoemart department store, where his mother was the treasurer. He started in the package counter, but because of the rash bombings at the time, he was transferred to the gift-wrapping department then to the hardware section, where he worked as a sales clerk.

His first attempt at business didn't start too well, either. He had been a success at selling car air fresheners to classmates in college, but now that he was out in the real world, he had no hits. His misadventures included making and selling car tire polish. The business clicked, but he thought it wasn't that hot. He was only earning five pesos per bottle, and he figured that if he stuck with it, he'd be gray and old before he made his first million.

Philtec had been the result of no more than curiosity. Many of his friends were either garment exporters or subcontractors for local and foreign firms, and he had noticed that robust sales were being made by people embroidering clothes. He figured he could do better by weaving labels, because all clothes needed labels. 

Over the next six months he visited label factories in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and attended trade shows in Asia and Europe for the best weaving technology. He had set his mind on acquiring computerized label looms from Switzerland which cost P6 million each. These machines could weave 10,000 labels in two hours compared with one day for electronic machines, and three days for wooden looms. To start his business, he needed to raise P18 million, and though his family did not have that kind of money, his godfather was so impressed that he offered to put up the entire amount to become his partner. 

They were the first company in the Philippines to acquire those machines. He had the edge in quality and efficiency, but no one knew how to operate the looms.

In the first few months, he delivered the labels himself and manned the looms when the operator was absent. He turned to Hong Kong and Israel for polyester yarn, the main raw material, when local suppliers failed his standards. When he lost a client after the looms broke down, and he failed to deliver 50,000 labels, he bought parts and more machines. Before the end of his first year, he had turned in a hefty profit.

He used the money he made from Philtec to put up Dhunwell Corporation, a paper distribution business. The company supplies to key printers, publication houses, and converters in the industry. These boards will eventually be converted into brand labels and boxes of different products that we buy in the market, such as liquor boxes and labels, books, magazines, and many more. 

"We really must take care of our people because they are a company's best resource. And we should take care of our customers. Don't call or visit them just to talk about business. Greet them on their birthday and call them to ask how they are. It is through little acts like these that important business relationships are made."

GOLDEN RULE:
" A small idea can be the seed of a big business venture."