Cover Edgar “Injap” Sia II (Photo: DoubleDragon Properties Corporation)
Edgar “Injap” Sia II (Photo: DoubleDragon Properties Corporation)
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This Tatler Asia’s Most Influential 2022 honouree talks about the challenges in entrepreneurship and his goals for the future
An inspirational figure who bootstrapped his way into a food and real-estate empire, Edgar “Injap” Sia II is the chairman and CEO of DoubleDragon Properties, a listed real estate company that develops the CityMall chain of malls. He is also the founder of Mang Inasal, an affordable unlimited rice-and-chicken franchise that grew to more than 300 branches nationwide. When it was bought by fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corporation in 2011, Sia became the Philippines’ youngest billionaire.
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“I plan to continue my entrepreneurial journey, as I believe that carefully built sustainable businesses are hard to do but worthwhile. . .the positive impact [they] create to society [are] highly transformative over the long run,” he shares.
In this article, Sia tells Tatler some of the highs and lows of his entrepreneurial journey.
Above Edgar “Injap” Sia II (Photo: DoubleDragon Properties Corporation)
Edgar “Injap” Sia II (Photo: DoubleDragon Properties Corporation)
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What projects in the last two years are you most proud of? Why?
Overall, I am grateful that the DoubleDragon and MerryMart teams, despite these new companies being adolescent businesses, successfully navigated over and above the highly challenging multi-crisis in the past two years. DoubleDragon (DD) and MerryMart have strengthened their position in the past two years.
What challenges do you see now in your respective industry? How do you intend to help address these challenges?
With all the strange things that have happened around us these past couple of years and continue to happen now, the common denominator is change. Change in how people think and behave. Change in what, why and how in businesses. Change in world order. Change is creeping in just about everything.
And while we are all in the middle of this major global shake-up, rest assured that the whole DD team will remain steadfast, determined, focused, alert and agile to continue to grow and nurture all its business units to get stronger each year forward.
What can you say to those who want to follow in your footsteps?
My advice to other aspiring entrepreneurs is it’s all right to start small. Before you take your first step in starting a new business, give a lot of importance to studying deeply the industry that you want to penetrate, then carefully prepare your business plan.
Once you are ready, be prepared to execute passionately and have a laser focus on growing your new business, especially during its start-up stage. Also very important before one decides to begin a new business is to make sure the business segment you choose will remain relevant in the next decades and can have deep natural roots as having a durable natural barrier to entry walls is important.
What are your plans for the coming years and what keeps you going?
I plan to continue my entrepreneurial journey, as I believe that carefully built sustainable businesses are hard to do but worthwhile. . .the positive impact [they] create to society [are] highly transformative over the long run.
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