Fil-Am entrepreneur: Doing business in PHL complicated but fun

The Filipino-American entrepreneur behind the successful cosmetics company in the United States said doing business in the Philippines may be more complicated than in other countries, but it is more fun.

Lorena “Nena” Mondoñedo-Perez, founder of Nena Cosmetics, said she is seeing the differences between doing business abroad and in the country after branching out in the Philippines late last year.

Manufactured in the US and Germany, Nena Cosmetics are sold in the US, Philippines, Dubai, Spain, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Singapore. The cosmetics brand started becoming available in the Philippines late last year via zalora.com.
 
 “In the beginning, I was a little frustrated because the ways in the Philippines are much different than the States, where everything is paperless,” Perez told GMA News Online in an interview after conducting a special make-up workshop at the F1 Hotel in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig last week.

As much as possible, in the US, people are discouraged from having to go to certain government offices to file papers, she said.

“Everything is online so it's so easy to open up a business. Everything you need is available online. You never have to leave your home,” Perez said.

“Here [in the Philippines], I find that everything you have to do, you have to run to it. You need to go there to process it, otherwise it takes a long time,” she noted.

However, Perez clarified that “it’s only in the beginning. I think once you're already setup, then it's really going.”

She also explained that while things may be more complicated in the Philippines, she enjoys doing business here.

“The big difference is that I like working with Filipinos because I'm a Filipino. I can relate with the people. I know our skin type, it's my skin type. I know the style and what Filipinos like and all that,” Perez said.

“It's just more fun for me. Not to say that I don't like working in the States,” she added.

Perez noted that even in the US, about 60 percent to 70 percent of those who attended her makeup workshops were Filipinos. The rest are Caucasians, Latin Americans, and African Americans.

However, Filipinos are still her biggest followers in the US, where she set up the business four years ago. The company ended its first year with a $500,000 profit and its income has doubled every year since then.

Among the Filipino celebrities who have used Nena products are Lani Misalucha, Cherie Gil, and Dawn Zulueta.

No place like home

Even though Perez has been residing in the US since her teenage years, “there's no place like home and I've always been a Filipino and proud to be a Filipino. That's the only main reason I brought the line here.”

“I'm doing so well in the States, the business is doing so well in the States. It's really difficult for me to bring the line here but I wanted to bring something back in the Philippines that I could be proud of in my home country,” she said.

“I've created a line in a business that would allow me to travel back because there's no place like home I really enjoy it when I'm here,” added Perez, who frequently travels to and from the US and the Philippines.

She admitted feeling a little homesick for the US sometimes, saying “I miss my bed, I miss my home but when I’m busy, I don’t feel it so I just stay busy. I stay focused and it's very rewarding when I'm see that things are going well and the brand is doing so well.”

Asked on how her business is doing in the Philippines considering her products became available locally only last December, she said the “numbers are really good.”

She explained that in the US, “it took us a while to take off but I can't complain. It took about a year for the numbers to be where they are but some businesses need two to five years even to achieve that. So I'm still very blessed because it really has taken off really fast.”

Both in the Philippines and the US, Nena Cosmetics are available only online. In the US, people order directly through the company’s website. In the Philippines, Zalora processes the orders and ships them to the clients.

“I opted to partner up with Zalora here because first I'm not here all the time. It would be nice to not worry about shipping on time and they already have a good setup here,” she said.

She explained that Zalora is one of the biggest e-commerce sites in Asia with branches in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and other countries.

“Hopefully, I'll be able to bring Nena to all those different countries in Asia also,” Perez said.

Asked about her plan for expanding her business in the US, Perez said, “We still have a lot of states that we haven't tapped. Were huge in Chicago area, Midwest area all the way to Washington D.C. but L.A. (Los Angeles) we have a few customers there but we haven't really fully launched in California.”

New products

In December last year, Nena launched its newest product: CC cream, a color-correcting cream with anti-aging properties.

She also mentioned the Valentine’s package that puts together the different makeup products women need when they go on a date.

Perez explained that the contents of the Valentine’s package are not new lines of products but existing products like lipsticks that come in a new paprika shade.

She said when she returns to the US in about a month, her team will be working on the Nena’s spring and summer collection.

In the US, Nena Cosmetics has about 50 products available. But in the Philippines, the company only has about 30 so far available via Zalora.

Advice

“I've always liked just clean makeup and not too much, not overpowering. I think a lot of men still like to see the natural features, not too clownish,” said Perez, a trained makeup artist and licensed esthetician. She has a Master’s in Skin Care Therapy at the Skin Care and Spa Institute in Illinois.

Perez went to the US in 1985 after finishing high school at the International School-Manila in 1985. She took up Business Management at the College of Saint Benedict in the US.

“If you're going to do red lipstick then you'd like toned down eyes. If you want your eyes brighter and darker, tone down your lips. Don't do both because it might be too dark,” she said.

“A clean face is always nice, just subtle, not too much even though if it's an evening,” she said. — KBK, GMA News