WBW 10: "It's Not Me! It's You!" Serving Others Will Make You Rich, and Give You A Rich Life

“Its all about the bottom line.” This is what most businessmen tend to focus on – immediate growth and profitability. Yet in the pursuit of these goals, most do not give enough attention to one of the key factors in business success – SERVICE. In this episode, Konrad Chua shares with us his experiences and principles on 2 parties to focus on in any business – customers and employees. His project “Tubos ATM” is a perfect example of service for his employees that generates a type ROI that no amount of money can give – loyalty, hard work and dedication.

Who Is Konrad Chua?

Konrad Chua graduated from Xavier School (Batch 1998) and then received his diploma from National University of Singapore in 2002 where he majored in Information Technology. Since 2003, Kons has been working in Fumaco Inc., one of the Philippines’ leading manufacturer, importer and distributor of quality lighting products. As Fumaco’s Assistant GM, Kons has initiated various organizational changes in the company, including the Company Cooperative that provides loans and savings opportunities for the company’s 100+ employees. He is also currently active as a member of Charity First Foundation, supporting various Education, Medical and Dental Programs.

When asked what's his greatest failure?

When asked what's his greatest success?

Show notes:

Its more about the people you serve

• Success comes when you focus best on the people you serve
• Not so much on the personal profit or how much more you make in a year
• More of how you affect the lives of the people around you

In business, there are two groups that you can make the most difference with

• Customers
• Employees

Customers

• Customers give the business
• If you put yourself in their shoes, you can find ways to help them that you probably in ordinary situations wouldn't think of
• Customers call him for things that he doesn't even have products for because they like his brand of service, save them money and they receive practical solutions
• Hopes his customer’s success will bring more business
• His success will be because of this relationship with the customer

Employees

• Currently, Fumaco, Inc. has about 200 employees
• A few years ago, they discovered that one of the problems their employees had was their personal finances
• Loan sharks had already taken their ATMs to serve as collateral
• It came to a point that their employees couldn't work properly anymore
• Because they can't work properly, the company’s products and services were already being affected

Tubos ATM Program

• The company then came up with the Tubos ATM Program to bail out their employees
• They had to spend about close to half a million pesos to bail out the debts of all their employees from the loan sharks
• Also started their cooperative in the company, wherein the employees can loan from for a very small interest
  

Results

• Right now, all of their employees have already paid their debts
• Some of them borrowed money again from loan sharks but not in huge quantities as before
• They are more aware that they are responsible for themselves
• Also, they now have other options when it comes to their financial needs
• In case something happens, they know they have someone else to go to. They don't have to go directly to the loan shark, borrow, pay 10% per month on the interest on the principal
• This has given us a lot of dividends in terms of the loyalty and hard work of their employees

Lesson

Many factors lead to success thinking of other people is one good component that will help you become successful in the future.

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