Source: The Philippine Star: BULL MARKET, BULL SHEET By Wilson Lee Flores
The secret of joy in work is contained in one word — excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. —Pearl S. BuckRecently at the birthday dinner of Ever Bilena founder Dioceldo “Deo” Sy at the sea garden of Sofitel Hotel, I was seated beside SM Development Corporation vice chairman Henry “Big Boy” Sy Jr. His father, Henry Sy Sr., is chairman of SMDC. We congratulated him on his firm being the biggest among the Philippines’ top condominium developers last year, according to Colliers, followed by the Zobel clan’s Ayala Land and Andrew Tan’s Megaworld.
When I asked him for his 2012 sales forecast compared to last year, Henry Jr. replied: “Our SMDC sales last year were P26.5 billion, and we are bullish about the Philippine economy and the real estate industry. This year we’re targeting P40 billion sales.” Wow!
What are the success secrets of the third child and eldest son of Henry Sy? Born-again Christian Big Boy said, “There’s only one true secret to success: God. It’s all the blessings of God. We have to be prayerful and follow His teachings.”
What about business strategies in a highly competitive realty industry? Sy thought for a few seconds and explained, “Our father, Henry Sy Sr., taught us the importance of hard work, honesty, taking care of good quality and doing one’s best. When we develop condominiums, we think as if we’ll live in those homes ourselves, so they have to be nice, convenient and of good quality. We study well and try to fulfill the market needs so we build good condos with prime locations at affordable terms and prices, like monthly amortizations of P20,000 per month.”
Big Boy pointed out another dimension of the Philippine condominium boom, saying, “Last year’ 2011, we at SMDC developed 12,000 condominium units. I believe that we’re doing a social service. We want to help enrich our homebuyers with their good investments. Apart from having a good home in strategic areas of the metropolis, we are encouraging more people in Philippine society to own properties and homes, therefore helping them have a personal stake in the growing economy. This is one way to help strengthen social stability and to boost a larger affluent middle-class so essential to a strong democracy.”
