In the recent GrowthCon PH 2024, startup founders shared the realities and struggles of starting a company.

”Being an entrepreneur is lonely. You need to be ready to be alone,” admits Peddlr’s Founder and CEO, Nel Laygo, during a forum at GrowthCon PH 2024.This, despite his company’s success since it launched four years ago.

Peddlr is a fee mobile app Laygo started in 2020, to help small and micro businesses (think sari-sari stores) digitize their processes, such as sales recording, credit and inventory management, in order to make them more productive and efficient. The company successfully raised a total of $4.8 million in initial funds, after just two years in operations.

Lonely, Stressful, and Isolating

But Laygo, who is also the 2023 Global Tech Innovator champion, warns entrepreneurship is not as fun and glamorous as it may seem. “Don’t start a business. It’s so hard,” confesses Laygo. “Especially if you’re doing it for the money. If you’re doing it to be famous, to be like on media, on the news, etc. Just don’t. Sobrang hirap. [It’s so hard.]”

Despite the funding and mentorship support he has gotten, Laygo admits, there were still times when he felt alone and he would just be “staring at the wall.” Dressed in casual jeans and a collared shirt, the unassuming start-up CEO, who previously worked in India, Mexico, and Singapore for multinational companies Procter and Gamble and Unilever, candidly served his truth bombs to the starry-eyed aspiring entrepreneurs in the audience. “You cannot talk about your problems to your people because they might think: Oh my God, magsasara na! Wala ka nang empleyado bukas.” [Oh my God, we’re closing down!  You’ll be left with no one the next day]. 

Other panelists strongly related to Laygo’s experiences.

“On the first day, I only had two cups of sales. Yung isa, ako pa bumili” [I was the one who bought the second cup], recalls Avocadoria founder, Cza Sevilla. Fortunately, the avocado dessert franchise has now successfully expanded to 250 branches nationwide, after just 5 years.

“It’s a lonely journey,” concurs SolX co-founder Matt Tan. SolX helps companies reduce their power cost by allowing them to buy directly from the power plants.  “It’s an emotionally tiring, 24/7, 365 day job.”

“I lost all my hair during the period,” admits M Tek Founder Dr. Raul Destura, as he recounted his own pressures as a founder, when his biotech company was tasked to develop the country’s own COVID-19 kit.

M Tek which develops affordable diagnostic solutions particularly for infectious diseases, created the country’s own COVID-19 test kits in just 21 days, making the Philippines only the fourth country to have successfully done so. “It usually takes 3 years to develop. We developed the kit in 21 days.”

Know Your Why

Because starting a company is not an easy feat, Laygo advises, to make sure one goes into business for the right reasons. This means being motivated by more than just money and fame.

“Go back to your why and stick with your why,” agrees Better Teem founder, Bo Discarga. “If you need to write it on a post-it and put it in front of your computer do it. Just so you can be reminded that this is what you wanted to achieve in the long run.”

No one knows this better than Vince Rocha, founder of Mylo—a mobile app for children with speech development delay. He developed the app to help his own son who has autism.

He recalls, that due to the lack of specialists in the country, it took him and his wife, one and a half years to find a doctor. This meant that their son’s development was also delayed by one and a half years. This is why Mylo currently provides learning and development tools for children similar to his son, to supplement their therapy and enhance their development.

“We closed our other businesses to focus 100% on Mylo,” shares Rocha. “My company is equal to my son, that’s why I can’t fail.”

Seek Support

To make the journey less isolating and lonely, founders recommend seeking help where you can. “Recognize your strengths and weaknesses and ask support where you’re weak,” advises DMark Beauty founder, Nikki Tang, who distributes beauty products to 80% of the clinics in the country.

For Josef Werker, co-founder of Humble Sustainability, your own investors could be a valuable source of advice and support. But it requires founders to be very open and transparent. “Tell your investors the bloody truth,” says Werker. “That’s really what they’re there for. That’s how they can make an impact.”  

Humble Sustainability is a climate technology company that recycles items from homes and businesses, especially warehouses with excess inventory, to keep them from ending up in landfills.

Although a social enterprise, Werker says it’s important to be profitable, and to show grit when your business faces setbacks. “It’s a really difficult journey to be in,” admits Werker. “Especially when you see others being successful.”

Keep Going

Despite the hurdles, investors encourage start-ups to just keep going, especially in trying to obtain the badly needed seed funding. “The first thing to do is try, and then if you don’t get an investment, try again,” offers Phoebe Fontanilla, Sr. Investment Associate at Gobi-Core Philippine Fund. ”We may say no at first, but we may say yes a second time.”

To increase the chances for success, Joseph de Leon, co-founder at Manila Angel Investors Network, shares three common pitfalls that start-ups should avoid:

• Pitching a business that isn’t solvig a problem
• Offering a solution without a problem to solve
• Proposing a start-up that isn’t a business, but just an idea.

Alewijn Ong, Asst.GM at National Development Company for his part assures, they’re ready and willing to support. “We’re open for business, we’re here for you,” says Ong. ”Hopefully the journey will not be as lonely…”

About GrowthCon PH 2024

GrowthCon PH is an annual business summit organized by The Business Manual, where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs alike are able to learn from each other, explore opportunities, and network with some of the most successful start-ups in the country today.

GrowthCon PH 2024 consisted of 4 sessions designed to level up participants’ knowledge and entrepreneurial mindset:

Session #1: Entrepreneurial Growth: Building Essential Skills for Success

Speakers from: Peddlr, Avocadoria, Parlon, DMark

Session #2: Sales and Productivity Growth: Advancing Through Digital Innovation

Speakers from: Humble Sustainability, SolX, Mylo, Luxe Beauty and Wellness, Baken PH

Session #3: Purposeful Business Growth: Driving Sustainability and Impact

Speakers from: 1export, Mtek, Kindred, Betterteem, Go Rocky

Session #4: Investment Growth: Securing the Right Venture Capital Partner for Expansion

Speakers from: Kaya, Foxmont, Gobi, Manila Angel Investors Network, National Development Company