Man of the Hour: Joe Magsaysay
by MJ Navida
The charismatic Jose P. Magsaysay, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Potato Corner, was the featured speaker of the Harvard Business School Alumni Roundtable on October 14, 2020.
JoMag, as everyone fondly calls him, talked about his famous French fries company — Potato Corner — the challenges and successes of the company, his health, and strategic plans.
On Health
Mr. Magsaysay opened the talk by sharing that he underwent several major brain surgeries in the past years. He has been seeing a psychotherapist after the surgeries. And to this, he mused that if he could go back in time and talk to a younger Joe, he would tell him to see a doctor right away when he notices something is up with his health.
“Too often, we get so absorbed in our daily activities, work, commitment, that we tend to ignore or take our health for granted. Let us never take our health, especially our mind, for granted,” Mr. Magsaysay emphasized.
On Potato Corner
The Potato Corner franchise started with a capital of Php150,000 in 1992. His goal back then was to dominate the market right away. He wanted his flavored French fries stalls to be available everywhere — malls, schools, theme parks, etc. During the first two years, Potato Corner grew to 70 stores. To date, there are thousands of Potato Corner franchisees all over the Philippines and abroad.
The struggles from the beginning included having no Franchising Law back in the 1990s, so they had to create their rules. They have also been working on improving the rules to adapt to the changing economic scenario.
Mr. Magsaysay also mentioned that they framed the franchising fee following the economic status of the Philippines. With Php350,000, anyone can have a franchise of Potato Corner.
On Continuous Learning
Mr. Magsaysay noted that for a company to prosper, good management and leadership should be there at the get-go. In his case, he was grateful that the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) allowed him to pursue a Master’s in Entrepreneurship degree despite not having an undergrad diploma. He mentioned that learning continuously is the key to improving your management capabilities. Although leadership is a skill that can be developed with time and proper training, management skills can be improved by studying and learning more.
On Strategic Plans
Mr. Magsaysay also generously shared Potato Corner’s strategic plans:
With the pandemic affecting the world economy, Potato Corner franchisees are trying to keep the business afloat. Mr. Magsaysay mentioned that their goal is to make franchisees profitable by Christmas, as people will start going out during the holiday season. They hope to achieve this goal when the nationwide quarantine status goes back to GCQ.
They are also looking to continue international expansion — new territories, Bangladesh, Canada, and other countries in the world that are starting to grow ahead of one another. Speaking of which, Mr. Magsaysay stressed that franchisees should stop being National Capital Region-centric. There are locations outside of Metro Manila that are starting to grow ahead of NCR. The stall location is a prime factor in success. Sure. It can make or break the business. But as NCR is already saturated, take into consideration prospering cities in the south and north of Manila.
The Potato Corner management team is also looking at offering deliverable food items. As French fries are perishable, they are producing other products to offer. They are also looking to partner with Grab and hopefully, in their own little way, help in reviving the Philippine economy.
Mr. Magsaysay also shared that focus is necessary for business. He knows that they can never be a Jollibee or a McDonald’s. They are instead working hard to make their business better by sticking to Potato Corner’s DNA. Think along the lines of how else to improve the product or how else to improve service to the target market, etc.
After an hour, the event concluded with questions from the audience for Mr. Magsaysay to share more about his business and health.
I watched the exchange in awe. To me, Mr. Magsaysay epitomizes what this Confucian quote meant: “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop”.
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About the author:
Mary June, or Mj, loves traveling, collecting shoes, writing poetry, and watching reruns of CSI. She hopes to witness the aurora borealis and meet Stephen King in person someday.
