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Our products are being sold in selected David's Salon and Watsons outlets

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up for tonight!

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up for today!

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up for today!

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up for tonight!

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up for today!

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up for today!

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Finat 2009 Europe International Label Competition

Royalè Business Club Int'l. Inc was given the most recommendable award in the category of C2 Cartons for the product Kojic Papaya by Finat 2009 Europe on June 12, 2009 at Antalya, Turkey. Pictures Below

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(NOTE: Please CLICK on the IMAGES below to make it LARGER)

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***Retrenched and Thriving*** By Rafael Santos (part IV)

LIFE AFTER "INTEL"

When he was laid off, Hurano used some of his severance money for house repairs and for paying off some debts. He then set out to find new employment through online job postings. It was to no avail, though; in fact, he realized after a few months that it was hard for a person of his age to find a job, especially one in the electronics industry. “It was then that I decided to use what was left of the money to put up a business,” he says.

He bought a secondhand vehicle and converted it into a school bus, servicing a neighboring school attended by some of his children. In early 2008, he also ventured into a steel-fabrication business; this business is now gradually gaining some traction. On the side, he earns extra income by helping manage a restaurant business owned by his brother-in-law.

Hurano says that although his current monthly take is less than half of what he used to earn at Intel, he is slowly getting the hang of being an entrepreneur. He credits the training program Intel had given him as one of the reasons for his newfound entrepreneurial spirit. And although he continues to look for either a local or foreign job, he says he is going full blast with his businesses in the meantime.

“My businesses are a fallback option for me, and when I failed to land a job, they became the only option,” he explains. “Right now, the businesses are new and not earning a lot, but I have learned to be patient and to see opportunities along the way. My training and experience with Intel are also of help to me in being objective and in seeing things in a measured way, which I think a lot of people are not capable of doing.”

In contrast to Hurano, Ellen Ramos had long planned a life outside being an employee. In fact, along with five of her friends, she had previously invested some money to put up a local franchise of the Royale Business Club (RBC), a multilevel networking company. Thus, for the last couple of years, she had been earning extra money on top of being an Intel employee.

She recalls: “I started with RBC a couple of years ago and after a while, I started earning good money from the business. That was when I realized that I could possibly become an entrepreneur while staying employed. I had initially put up P250,000 with five other people to acquire an RBS franchise, and it has been doing well ever since.”

To find time to pursue her sideline, Ramos had started taking advantage of Intel’s compressed workweek program. Instead of working seven days a week, she would take prolonged three-day shifts so she could take the rest of the week off to take care of her business. She eventually became such a seasoned RBC saleswoman that she started garnering awards from the franchiser. She thus had more than prepared herself for a life outside of Intel when the layoffs came.

“When I got the news that I was losing my job, I saw it as an opportunity to go into business full time,” she says. “I was actually preparing for an eventual business career after Intel, but although it came sooner than I expected, I welcomed it as a challenge. Now, I could also have more time for my children and be a home-based entrepreneur besides.”

Ramos, who had earned her MBA as an Intel scholar, allotted P250,000 for each of her three children, then used the balance of her severance pay to increase her share in the RBC franchise and to buy a service vehicle. She intends to rent out the service vehicle for ferrying employees of a nearby semiconductor facility to and from their houses in Tierra Verde.

A LUCKY BUNCH

Ellen Ramos and Jose Rico Hurano are among just a small segment of former Intel employees who have become owners of small businesses. Rather than become entrepreneurs, most of the laid-off employees had opted to take on other local jobs or migrate abroad. And they took widely different routes in using their severance pay from Intel.

Some of the ex-Intel employees interviewed by Entrepreneur are having their houses fixed, others are buying new or better cars, and the rest have put their cash in the bank until they could figure out what to do with it. But all of them are one in saying that the money might well be the last substantial amount they will get their hands on, and most are keen on making it last for as long as they can.

“I was really careful where I put the money because it might be a while before I see this much money again,” Hurano says. “I studied my investment decisions carefully and made sure not to put all my eggs in one basket. But then there’s always some risk in business, so I take everything as it comes.”

These Intel employees are well-advised in this cautious and prudent approach to the use of their severance packages. In 2005, a group of former Intel employees were bilked by unscrupulous people who had sold them counterfeit cellular phone cards. The scam lopped off a significant chunk of their severance packages, and most of those victimized were unable to recover from the blow.

Hurano says this is why Intel employees are now very vigilant against scams and have become more protective of their money. “It’s our hard-earned money, so my wife and I will try to stretch it as far as we can and see where we can best use it for earning our livelihood,” he says.

Ramos says that for her part, she plans to roll over the money into her franchise business and use it to eventually branch out into other ventures. She was originally set to immigrate to Canada with her family, but she is now having second thoughts about it now that her business is proving to be a viable income source.

“For me, the adjustment has been mostly on this aspect: receiving a fixed income as an employee before, and getting used to delayed gratification now that I am in business,” she says. “This experience has taught me how to budget better and to plan our family spending better. Right now, I have a good enough income to help the family sustain our lifestyle, and I believe that if I persevere with my business, my hard work will eventually pay off.”

Despite losing their jobs, most of the Intel employees interviewed by Entrepreneur feel lucky that their company has accorded them a “generous treatment” in the form of handsome severance packages. They point out that some of those laid off by neighboring factories were only given one month’s salary and no additional benefits at all.

Intel’s Arlita Narag explains the rationale for the generous severance packages: “We have always been committed to giving our employees the best treatment possible. As employees ourselves, we couldn’t be more satisfied with what the company has done for us. The training programs and scholarships they offered helped a lot of us over the years, and we appreciate the service our fellow employees have given to the company. So the company feels that it’s just right for employees to receive the treatment they deserve.”

The Entrepreneur team concludes the Tierra Verde coverage with a visit to Jose Rico Hurano’s metal shop, which happens to be closed for the day. Hurano says the keys are with the shop foreman, who is away installing a brand-new gate for a client. He is visibly flustered for having missed the chance to be photographed by Entrepreneur in his new shop—“for marketing purposes,” he says. He invites us to come back some other time, and we promise to do so after a few months to check on the progress of his post-Intel business.