Abigail Yap and her Click-and-save world by Manila Standard (Business Sunday) December 17, 2000 The new millenium has ushered in the new economy businesses which are described as click-and-save companies with computers as their main tool, a sharp deviation from the traditional brick-and-mortar ventures. One of these new economy businesses is Yapster e-Conglomerate Inc. which offers a host of online services and supporting infrastructure companies that would enable clients to establish or expand their businesses. The company is being managed by Abigail Yap, niece of the group patriarch, Felipe Yap, chairman of the Philippine Stock Exchange. Established last year, Yapster was an offshoot of the Yaps' plans to convert the family-controlled Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. into an IT venture. But since the concept of e-business is fast taking shape then, the second-generation Yaps started talking about putting up an e-business company and taking their traditional businesses into the Internet. "There was talk about how e-business is going to revolutionize the economy and how it was going to be the second industrial revolution," Abi said. Nine months of discussions with software company Oracle Philippines gave birth to Yapster e-Conglomerate. It's not just critical to have the online companies but it is also important to have the necessary infrastructure and the support companies. We want to consolidate all the requirements to a model wherein each company is a profit center in itself and focuses on a particular aspect of the business. There is cross fulfillment of requirements among all the companies," Abi said. Family affair Being the primary contact with the Oracle people, Abi has volunteered to be the CEO of the holding company, and her siblings and cousins, CEOs of the different subsidiaries. In a business environment where putting up an IT company takes very minimal resources, she added it is very important to continuously evolve and not to remain stagnant. As Yapster's CEO, Abi has the unenviable position of looking at the business at a much bigger picture, a taking a big role in the mapping out of the company's future direction. "Among other things, I have to look at how we can expand the company regionally, look at the different players in the industry, and see how we can position ourselves as a first mover at the forefront of all these changes. It's a big responsibility." She said the company, in its bid to become one of the major players in the industry, is looking at going into other businesses apart from what it has now and build up the portfolio. "In the Internet business, one has to be very cooperative and very flexible." Currently, the operating Internet companies of Yapster are Active Business Solutions Inc., Yapster e-Trade, Yapster e-Insurance Brokers Inc. and Yapster e-Learning Inc. The two other subsidiaries, which are not yet operational, are Yapster e-Travel Inc. and Yapster Shared Services Inc. Abi said her job as full-time CEO of the Yapster conglomerate does not interfere with her social life. "Part of my social life is really hanging out with my family. Working together, we still get to spend time with each other but in a different footing, this time we're running a business." First step Taking the first step, Yap said, is very important for people who want to start their own business. "As long as you know what you're doing and see your vision, it's a good thing to talk to other people about it to validate your thoughts. But it's really taking that first step, believing in your vision that your idea will work that you start to build on something. Different people have different situations. Some people might need financial funding, some people might need professional advice, some people might need to partner with other people, those are all different options but somebody has to have the vision, that's very important. Once you know what your goal is, or where you want to go to, then you can map out your direction. It could either go left or right but you have that direction. "There's a lot of successful people who do not have the entrepreneurial background. I think the success factor lies in them having faith in their vision and realizing that things do change. When you go to a point when you think you know everything and nothing would change, that would be the start of your downfall. As long as you realize that things constantly change and you don't know everything, then you could continue the learning process and there's room for you to grow," Abi said. "It's always very challenging to see how different areas fit together, how people's strategy fit into yours, and how you can find ways to partner with each other and help each other, that's always interesting. I think this is the key to understanding things: To know that you don't know everything, not everybody knows everything. It's a continuous learning process," she explained. Daily routine Her day usually starts at around 9:30 in the morning and she works until around 9 in the evening. "It's a nice working environment, it's a good working environment. I don't mind staying to work here and getting things done." While some people say she is a workaholic, Abi says she is just doing her job. She usually takes coffee break for about 15 minutes. She doesn't work on weekends. Whether in the office or outside it, Abi said she is one and the same person. "The same values that I have as a person, I apply to work. And the same group of people that I hang out socially, are the same group of people that I look for in the work area. Other than skills and competency levels, it's important to be working than the skills, these are not something that people achieve through training. It's in themselves. Me as a person, whether I'm with friends or work people, it's basically the same. What you see is what you get." If the shoe fits... Apart from being Yapster's CEO, Abi is known as a coffee drinker and a great lover of shoes. She used to drink up to eight cups of coffee a day but she had to cut it down to between four and six cups a day. "I like shoes. I love buying shoes. I haven't counted how many pairs. I have formal, I have sneakers, I have slip-ons, tsinelas, flat shoes, close shoes, everything. When I go shopping and I see a shoe store, I have to go in. I rarely throw away shoes. Like I have shoes when I was still in high school, my feet never grew again. From first year high school, that was already my shoe size - six. I don't have problems buying shoes." She likes going to movies and shopping. On the average, she spends a good four to six hours in the mall a week, mostly during the weekends. Her favorite hangouts are Glorietta in Makati, Shangri-La and SM Megamall in Ortigas. Abi is strong-willed and very focused. Steering her company in the Internet age where everything is constantly changing, she needs all the help she could get. And most of it would come from herself.