Andrew Tan

Andrew Tan

As a working student, Andrew walked from his 20 square meter apartment in Sta. Cruz, Manila to school along C.M. Recto. For lunch, he often ate a banana cue that he bought for 30 centavos per stick along Gastambide Street. In his work, Tan was recognized by his hard work after two and a half years of working, and he was promoted from staff to Manager to Vice President. In his college days, Tan dreamed of opening his own grocery store, but he never got to do that. Instead, he spent a few years selling home appliances. In 1979, he went to the distillery business by putting up a small liquor factory named Consolidated Distillers of the Far East. In 1989, he set up the property firm, Megaworld. Through hard work and good fortune, his Megaworld has emerged as the country’s foremost property developer. His style in business is to invest on one business and, at any opportune time, he re-invested in another new business.

            Through the Alliance Global Group that he Chair, he diversified from liquor manufacturing and real estate into other fast-growing industries such as tourism. The first integrated tourism project is Newport City, home to Resorts World Manila. He started out in business with only five employees. To date, his group of companies employs more than 25,000 people. His Megaworld changed the concept of residential property development from stand-alone condominium buildings to clusters of condominium buildings to integrated, live-work-play-learn communities.

            His one of toughest challenges as a businessman was in 1989, two weeks after he set up Megaworld and launched his very first project, the bloodiest coup attempt against Cory Aquino governmentt took place. Business ground to a halt. Suspending the project would have been the easiest thing to do, but he held his own until the business climate improved. He had his share of failures early on his career. Those failures taught him to learn from his mistakes.

Secret’s of Success

            Whatever your work, always do it as best as you can. Never complain even if you are given a lot of work. When you are young, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain if you work hard. You will learn a lot of new things to add to your store of knowledge. You will develop your talents and skills, and grow into a worker who is tried and trusted. And your hard work will surely be appreciated and recognized by your employer.

            If you want to excel at something, you must know what you want to do and you must have a passion to do it. Never rest on your laurels; keep on improving yourselves. Keep on learning new skills. Keep on finding new ways to do things better and better to stay on top of a changing world.

            Life is full of uncertainties, and no one can foretell the future. You may stumble upon an opportunity, or come face to face with a crisis. Call yourself lucky if an opportunity comes your way instead of a crisis. But you will meet one or the other at different times; that’s for sure. If you come across an opportunity, you’d better seize it and make the most of it. If you encounter a crisis instead, do your best to overcome it.

            Failures, especially major ones, dampen the enthusiasm of future achievers. His advice is never gives up. Keep pushing on. If you fail, get on your feet and try harder. Also, life is full of opportunities that lead to a better life. If you know how to look for those opportunities and make the most of them, you will find yourself moving up from one level to the next in your chosen field.

            As your station in life changes, so does your attitude toward people. You become more generous and kinder to others. You become more willing to share your blessings to the less fortunate as a way of expressing your gratitude to God and society.