Think beyond the old box and into the wonderful world of technopreneurs.
And with that plus the old formula to success -- courage, perseverance and hard work -- co-owner Jeff Tan of the Rising Dragon Beauty & Wellness Trading Corp. is happily reaping it, hand in hand with partner and company CEO Leo Ortiz.
Tan, however, went on with more courage, doubled perseverance and worked harder that he and Ortiz, also a technophile, are now the celebrated starts of the digital entrepreneur world.
“Leo and I decided to plunge headlong into the booming digital entrepreneurship and, I hate to say this, but the pandemic that brought the world to a standstill and a lot of business down to the ground proved to be the ticket to our beauty slimming and whitening products booming -- thanks to the wonders of the digitak world," said Tan in a recent interview in their well-appointed home in Antipolo City.
"when people stayed at home during the long lockdown and for a good part of 2019 with multi-levelled quarantines, we found huge and good customers online. We did most of purchasing our stocks online, marketed and sold them online, and earned big and fast, online."
Tan, who worked as a marketing executive in a five-star hotel met Ortiz, a nursing cum laude graduate who ended up selling beauty and wellness products and into an enterprise that was the Rising Dragon, in 2017.
Both Tan and Ortiz were quick to emphasize that their personal and business partnership begun via a dating app.
"Yes, our affair started digitally, again thanks to technology."
And so Tan, with his professional background, took on the branding, design and layout, plus the purchasing side while Ortiz took care of the marketing, combining all their strong points into the now booming digital enterpreneurship.
“We started with the Glutalipo juice. Then we introduced the coffee and milk tea mixes. And from our start-up phase filled with hits and misses, we finally learned to adapt to the ever-changing digital business.
“Its really hard to introduce any new product. So aside from ensuring the quality of the product, we made our presence felt in digital marketing," added Tan.
With Rising Dragon a market leader in direct selling and distribution space, Tan and Ortiz recalled how their business eveolved from slimming drinks and excpansion that included skin-care products (serum, lotion, underarm cream and soaps), as well as glutathione and melatonin capsules.
Knowing and learning what people need and want, online, Rising Dragon came up with another skincare brand for the mass market, the Lumina Glow By Beauty Vault.
Their bestseller remains the Beauty Vault Rejuvenating Set, which contains a Kojic soap, toner, night and morning creams.
All these products are made solely for the Rising Dragon brand in compounding and toll packing arrangements with their partner with manufacturing plants in Quezon City and Marikina.
"And we made sure that our products are made using only the best and latest technology. We are so into technology."
Tan noted that the pandemic had the company’s network of distributors and resellers peak to 20,000. Amid the crisis and with both businesses and consumers keeping all in digital for ease and safety reasons, Rising Dragon now has 5,000 partners.
"We really tried to keep it real, digitally. We embraced fully the concept of online selling and boosted our stocks through social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook, as well as marketplaces Lazada and Shopee. We even have celebrity endorsers and influencers who, like us, are very much into the wonders of technology."
Tan and Ortiz are, hand in hand, bravely looking forward in continuing the Rising Dragon success.
The couple has just sealed a new distributorship proposal in Indonesia which will add to their current markets abroad such as the United States, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
They also plan to create new brands for Watsons and Mercury Drugstores with new breeds of Glutalipo products available to common shelves or over the counter of pharmacy-cum-convenience stores.
“We’ve been in the online world for more than six years, and we realized that Filipinos are very into beauty products in the digital world. They just need a trusted brand, and trusted people behind the brand.”