WM Global Holdings, Inc. plans to open at least five more metalworks outlets through franchising over the next five years, said president and chief executive officer (CEO) Philip Tan.
Tan won the Innovation Entrepreneur award during this year´s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards by the SGV Foundation Inc.
Philip Tan
Tan said he is more keen on expanding locally “to help our own economy.”
“There is so much opportunity here. It´s just a matter of believing in the Philippines,” he told reporters.
Tan’s company has two franchised outlets in Dumaguete and Tacloban cities.
LEYSAM (Leyte-Samar) Wellmade Ventures Inc. in Tacloban was established earlier this year to contribute to the city’s recovery from super typhoon Yolanda.
A third franchise is expected to open in Ormoc City at the end of the year, and a fourth one in Tagbilaran in the first quarter of 2016.
As this is a turnkey franchise, Wellmade will set up everything for their clients, including the systems, machines, software and equipment.
Clients provide the capital and all they need to do is market the franchise, he added.
The entry level price for the franchise is P10 million and can go as high as P20 million, depending on the size of the business, which can can have 10 to 20 employees, all trained beforehand by Wellmade.
Franchise holders are also required to hire at least one person with disability (PWD) after three years of operation as part of their corporate social responsibility.
It was this innovation, a first of its kind in the Philippines, that landed Tan the Innovation Entrepreneur award.
Tan had no engineering background but compensated for this by taking crash courses and trainings in mechanical engineering.
He also traveled to learn the best practices in Singapore, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Korea and India.
Most of the trainings he attended were sponsored by government agencies, including the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and TESDA.
Asked where he got the idea, the executive said that he looked at other franchises and wondered why no one had done it for the metalworks industry.
“I always defy logic. Just because nobody has done it before doesn’t mean we cannot do it,” he said.
He has since then created a build-operate-transfer (BOT) business in 2011, as well as started a research and development division within the company to recreate and manufacture previously imported machines.
One BOT business in Davao services the city´s largest taxi company.
WM Global Holdings Inc. started as a single proprietorship company under the name Wellmade Motor Parts and Industrial Sales in 1988.