Tony Tan Caktiong was born on January 5, 1953.

His father worked for a

Chinese temple in Binondo as a chef. His hardworking parents introduced them
to business at an early age. As kids, Tony and his siblings worked as helpers at
their family’s restaurant business in Davao. They did everything from washing the
dishes to cleaning tables to serving customers. Because of this, the family had a
stable income and was able to send Tony to UST and graduated with a degree in
BS Chemical Engineering.
One day Tony and his friend went and visited the Magnolia Ice Cream plant. The
young Tony got interested with a poster advertising to franchise an ice cream
house for ₱175,000 per branch. In 1975, He was just 22 years old and decided to
invest ₱350,000 for the franchise, opening “Cubao Ice Cream House” and
“Quiapo Ice Cream House”. But he didn’t just stop there. Instead, he expanded
his business by rebranding the ice cream house to “Jollibee” in 1978 after people
suggested that they should offer something else because the customers didn’t
want to eat ice cream all the time. So they served fried chicken (which would
soon become the famous Jollibee Chicken Joy). They also offered hamburgers
and Pinoy-style spaghetti alongside the ice cream they were originally selling.

From Tony Tan Caktiong’s story, I personally learned that dreaming big is
important because it is free to aspire for something big. It is not a matter of how
big your dreams are, what matters is how dedicated you are in doing actions just
to make that dream come true. This brings me to the next lesson I learned which
is the importance of dedication, perseverance and hardwork because everyone
starts somewhere. Tony and his family started from almost nothing but he and
his family worked hard and persevered to achieve the success he has today. I
also learned that investing your money wisely is beneficial. Tony Tan Caktiong
would not have the Jollibee we know today if he did not invest the ₱350,000 for
the Magnolia Ice Cream House franchise when he was 22 years old. Lastly, I
learned that improving yourself and expanding your business is important like
what Tony did. He only started with an ice cream shop but he listened to his
customers so he expanded and rebranded the ice cream shop little by little. First
he just added Fried chicken and hamburger to the menu until it became the
Jollibee we know and love today.