After Splash Corp. was sold to an Indian business global giant, cofounder Dr. Rolando Hortaleza decided to take a long break to recharge. Just the thing he needed following the rigors brought about by the business he founded in 1985. His move, however, surprised some people because the doctor entrepreneur has a reputation of being one of the
countryās top caliber businessmen.
After managing the business for 35 years, the entrepreneurial doctor thought he must have gotten tired of improving business processes, professionalizing the work force, launching several products, and facing business issues and challenges every year.
āI needed a break. I wanted to focus on my health and wellness. I did a lot of sports, and also trekked to different sites in the Philippines with a group of friends. I also tried Pilates, worked out five times a week, and went to pursue a healthy lifestyle,ā Hortaleza told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview at the Bonifacio Global City.
As part of his wellness and health regimen, Hortaleza practices an 18-hour intermittent fasting, and then feast for six hours. He adds that he is a proponent of ketogenic diet and exercise. Furthermore, Hortaleza joined his buddies in mountain trekking activities in Bhutan, Korea and in Sagada.
However, as the saying goes, once an entrepreneur always an entrepreneur. Hortaleza later decided to survey the business horizon. Seeing new opportunities, he established two new business venturesāPrime Global Corp. and the Prime Global Finance Corp.
He also brought his two sons to the business. Alfonso is involved in Prime Global Finance, while Alexone is with Prime Global Corp. āAlexone is handling fast-moving consumer goods [FMCG] for Prime Global Corp., while Alfonso is involved in our financing company called Prime Global Finance,ā he said.
The Hortaleza patriarch and Alexone are excited about their acquisition of the Barrio Fiesta condiments business, where 60 percent of their products are sold overseas while 40 percent is sold to the local market. āLater, we would like to make it 70 percent local while 30 percent is for the overseas market,ā Hortaleza said.
āWe are doing a lot of initiatives. We are launching different products. Right now, itās not anymore bagoong. Since we have a small market, we introduced other products, such as bullion, peanut butter and many more,ā he added.
To promote its newest products, Prime Global is organizing several āboodle fightsā in the country in coordination with different organizations.
Prime Global is also going to push its direct selling to the local market. Hortaleza believes this business platform offers a great potential in the market. He said this will use digital technology to expand the market. āWe will revolutionize direct selling by applying digital technology,ā Hortaleza explained.
For his retail trade, direct selling and FMCG businesses, Hortaleza will use digital technology to build the brands and expand the business.
Prime Global is also going to introduce the delivery carry out concept. Expounding, Hortaleza said Prime Global will offer the Delco service in some of their stores for delivery of food products. āFor the next five years, we plan to introduce this service nationwide,ā he said.
Hortaleza said the launching of Delco is in response to the traffic situation in the metropolis and customersā demand for convenience. Moreover, Prime Global will also introduce a set of products for a specific market segment, such as Chinese and Korean brands. āThe idea is to simplify the approach, if there is a chance that we can buy brands, we can skip the learning curve,ā he pointed out.
āWe are also developing our own brand,ā he said.
Since Prime Global is partnering with a lot of big banks, Hortaleza said they are prepared to roll out this initiative nationwide.
Prime Global Corp. is introducing a product this year in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, Hortaleza said, adding that the new product will cater to the needs of the local government units.
Before digital technology became a buzz word in the local business horizon, Hortaleza pioneered in the introduction of SAPās enterprise resource planning solution (ERP).
āSince we are now in the digital age, my new businesses are going to be anchored on digital technology,ā he pointed out.
Work life balance
Right now, Hortaleza is quite busy beefing up the digital capabilities of his new businesses. He stressed this is the way to go for any enterprise to be able to thrive and compete in the new economy. He said the millennials are harnessing the power of digital technology to do their shopping and other activities. Thatās why he is building an IT team to handle the distribution of the workload and management of the business.
Hortaleza said that an automated system gives a business a bigger room to hire professional managers to handle the system.
In balancing his time between managing the business and pursuing a work life balance, Hortaleza said it is important to hire competent people to help the job get done. Even during meetings, he said his new companies are using templates that are brief but at the same time substantial.
It was a far cry from his previous business where meetings and presentations took long hours. As he has mastered the templates, Hortaleza can now breeze through the meetings in a shorter span of time. āNow, we have more time for relaxation and be more productive,ā he said.
During weekends, he is
on a relaxed mode. Hortaleza loves to drive to Tagaytay and try out the
different restaurants. He prefers Japanese food over Western food because it is
healthy. āI am thankful to have this chance now to pace myself in an easier and
more
relaxed manner.ā