Advisory group expands in Cebu
In a bid to attend to the needs of small and medium family businesses in Southern Philippines, advisory firm W+B Advisory Group, led by consultant Enrique M. Soriano, opened a physical branch in Cebu.
During the inauguration of its newest facility in the Carlos Pelaez Building along AC Cortes Ave. in Mandaue City, Soriano said their opening of a physical branch in Cebu is aimed at helping more family businesses.
“(In Cebu), there is a pressing need. We want to help families and make sure that they don’t suffer in the same way families suffered in the past,” Soriano told reporters, adding that some family conflicts have led to court proceedings and even murder.
The senior family business coach of the W+B group has 20 years of experience in family business advisory and has held key positions in a number of Asiabased corporations, including an appointment to the C-Suite of the Belo Medical Group and Intelligent Skin Care, Inc.
Soriano, who writes a weekly column for SunStar Cebu, is also chairman of publicly-listed Empire East Suntrust Developers and country president and CEO of Singapore-based Electronic Realty Associates, Inc. He regularly travels around Asia and North America to provide coaching to family businesses.
This vast experience, Soriano said, is what he will bring to Cebu-based family businesses, together with Danny W. Barrenechea, a Harvard Business School alumnus, who also served as vice president and marketing director of Cosmos Bottling Corp., producer of soda brands Pop Cola and Sarsi.
“With our presence in Cebu, we definitely would want to expand our SME market, because we want to fix the problems (that local family businesses face). Out of 10 family businesses that approach us, seven are on the verge of full blown legal or escalating conflict. We want to prevent that,” Soriano said.
Although 40 percent of his clients are high-net-worth family businesses valued at more than US$100 million, Soriano has expressed his concern for small and medium-sized players.
“When you’re about to take off, and you’re mid-size, you need to have governance already. Governance comes in three forms: family governance, business governance, and ownership,” Soriano said.
“Problems can easily be solved when you work on governance. You put in the rules. You put in the protocols. You make sure there is compliance, and if they do not follow the rules, there are consequences. That has been our mission since W+B started more than six years ago,” he added.
In most cases, family businesses do not survive in the third generation because as the business and the family expand, more conflicts tend to arise. A system of governance must be put in place, Soriano explained. Founded in 2009, W+B Group maintains its headquarters in Manila and has allied offices in Iloilo, Vietnam and Singapore.