WBW 42: There's No Such Thing as an Easy, Overnight Success part 2 of 2 with York Vitangcol

Nothing could be spookier, more difficult and deathly boring than running a family business - what more a family mortuary business. Hearses, the  "bata ka lang" attitude, morgues, inevitable family drama – these are enough to send shivers down the spine of any ordinary mortal. Fortunately, York Vitangcol felt that there was a need to not only revolutionize the funeral industry, but also put his faith in a family business entrenched with bad habits. And so with patience and perseverance, he did what had to be done - injecting modern management concepts transforming what used to be scattered businesses into the first, fully-integrated “deathcare” company in the country.

Who is York Vitangcol?

York Vitangcol is the President an CEO of the St. Peter Group of Companies and the Chairman of the Board of St. Peter Life Plan Inc. The St. Peter Group of Companies is the first and only fully-integrated “deathcare”s company in the Philippines today – covering life plans, memorial chapels, casket factories, and crematoriums.

He graduated from the University of the Philippines, where he was a varsity basketball player for the UP Fighting Maroons. He also graduated from the Strategic Business Economics Program of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He worked his way up in the family business, while advocating radical changes and innovations to transform what used to be a conservative and conventional memorial service business into an integrated, synergistic and progressive one – implementing various innovations, among the more interesting are free wifi in chapels, and free online viewing service of wakes and funerals.

Amidst his very disciplined and professional disposition, he still manages to crack some well-punned tacky jokes, which we should admit, are actually very funny.

Show notes:

Where we are right now isn't the story

• Of the 230 chapels we have right now, 110 are fully-owned, while 120 are franchisees. This worked for our business model. It helped grow our life plan business.
• It is said that the first generation starts the business, the second generation grows the business, the third generation squanders the business, the fourth generation has no more business.
• But being the third generation, I found it necessary to let in professional management, because that somehow prevents the closure of businesses after having been passed to the third and fourth generation.
• But we worked hard. We were at the office by 8am and worked long hours, to show the board of directors that we were serious about the changes that we wanted to make. The board of directors liked what they saw.
• I said, if we wanted the family business to grow faster than the growth of the family, we cannot keep doing the same things and doing the same results. We have to do something radical and different. So they entrusted management to us and they had to sit on the board.

Family business wasn't a pretty picture

• The transition was painful. You’re sitting in the board meeting, being very professional, and your own uncles would tell you, “ano ka?”, “bata, hinay ka lang, easy ka lang, relax, masyado kang agresibo”. But the business has to grow faster than the family’s growth. Of course, we still believe in our founder’s saying “Nawa’y ang lahat ng taga-St. Peter, guminhawa ang buhay dahil sa St. Peter.” So no matter how my relatives treated me, their own nephew, during meetings, it did not affect me.
• The culture in St. Peter when I took over was very selfish, walang pakialam, no teamwork, no professionalism, no discipline, no fairness.
• But as a young entrepreneur, I wanted to establish a culture in my company – happy, but hardworking and honest.

What specific things did we do to propel culture change?

• Professionalize leadership
• Compensate fairly
• Apply rules to all; establish fairness
• Leaders model the corporate values; lead by example
• Encourage idea/thought-sharing, harness intellectual capabilities
• Cultivate people – learning opportunities

What are the most important reasons for reaching the next level?

• Relentless pursuit of the vision
• Commitment to the mission
• Acting the corporate values

We are successful because we want to help people.

"The Board" message:

Click here for WBW 42 part 1 of 2 with York Vitangcol