Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ES 21) – B1
September 04, 2014
Henry Sy Sr.: From Rags to Riches On December 25, 1923, a boy named Sy Chi Shieng was born on a small village in Southern China. His father was a trader seeking opportunities for a place where economic progress was bright and promising. Back then, the Philippines was the country that had this special distinction that’s why he migrated. He later followed his Dad and migrated to the Pgilippines at the age of twelve. Since then, Sy Chi Sieng only had one goal in life: “The will to strive for excellence and to overcome the harsh environment of poverty through the discipline of hardwork and frugality.” Sy was enrolled at the Anglo Chinese Scholl at the age of twelve. Throughout history, his business life was always marked by risk and luck.
During World War II, the unforgettable tragedy happened in the Philippines. In 1946, their shop was plundered into ashes and rubbles. Then his father simply went back to China without any second thoughts. But he never gaved up and decided to stay. He began returning into business by peddling cheap American shoes. To improve his entrepreneurial skills in the buy and sell trade, he later enrolled at the Far Eastern University in 1950. He also considered the change of his legal name into Henry Sy after obtaining Philippine citizenship. Then he took up the opportunity by setting up a shoe store where he named it “Shoe Mart” along Carriedo Street. The store soon became very popular until one store expanded into three outlets but he soon noticed that his business was just a small scale cottage industry which was very limited. Because of this dissatisfaction, he decided to create something new and better. At this point of his life, he already began his journey towards climbing up his own mountain, the biggest franchising mall in whole southeast asia, which is the well-known ShoeMart(SM) Department Stores.
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“There is no such thing as overnight success or easy money. If you fail, do not be discouraged; try again. When you do well, do not change your ways. Success is not just good luck: it is a combination of hard work, good credit standing, opportunity, readiness and timing. Success will not last if you do not take care of it.”- Henry Sy, Sr.
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