Top franchise development and consulting firm Francorp Philippines gained another momentous milestone as its CEO, Sam Christopher Lim, gained the “Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship (medium-scale)” accolade in the recent 40th Agora Awards.
The award is bestowed on an owner or partner of a medium scale/medium enterprise (with asset size of P15 million to P100 million) with exemplary performance to attain growth in sales, market share and profitability in the last three years.
Such meritorious distinction is one of the seven coveted individual awards presented by the Philippine Marketing Association. Now on its 40th year, the Agora Awards is the country’s most prestigious marketing award that recognizes outstanding Filipino enterprises and leaders in the marketing profession whose laudable pioneering contributions across the Philippines have immensely shaped the country’s thriving business landscape.
Prior to joining Francorp, Lim spent a decade in Unilever as senior global brand manager in Manila, Bangkok, Shanghai and London. He graduated with distinction honors from Oxford University with post graduate diploma in Strategy & Innovation. Lim is also the president of U-Franchise Sales & Management Inc. and a co-author of the book “The 12 Strategies of Franchising”.
Lim, a passionate marketer whose campaigns helped establish enterprises and Filipino global brands in the past 16 years, underscored the pivotal role of Francorp’s “purpose-driven marketing” in cultivating avenues for new entrepreneurs and creating job opportunities in the Philippines.
Apart from pursuing innovation and profit generation, Lim stressed the importance and far-reaching impacts of growing businesses anchored on unparalleled customer/client services and a “bigger” mission to “promote positive values, fair growth, and better future” for all.
“It was in Unilever that I first got exposed to the idea of purpose driven marketing…. that brands should be pursuing profit while also pursuing a positive social purpose. And it was Francorp’s mission that continued to inspire all of us to grow the business, the mission of generating thousands of jobs through franchising. And over the years I’ve been privileged enough to meet some great brands that have been able to pursue both profit and purpose,” Lim said in his acceptance speech.
Among the franchise brand partners that he said exemplified this meaningful thrust are LT&G Credit Line (the first ever microlending franchise in the Philippines that gave access to capital to more micro entrepreneurs), The Generics Pharmacy (whose clear mission is to make medicine more affordable to the masses) and Vibes massage (a blind massage franchise that now employs over 600 blind individuals).
Lim expressed his gratitude to his “purpose-driven” colleagues and mentors in the industry for their inspiring leadership which instilled in him the marketing discipline, the passion “to be of greatest service to the greatest number of people” and motivation to make Francorp the leading franchise partner of successful Filipino entrepreneurs who make the country a better place, one business at a time.
“At Francorp we all beam with pride because we know that every brand that we help, every franchise outlet that opens is another few new jobs created. That’s why with a team of 50 people, we’re proud to have helped grow over 700 Philippine brands and help generate over 250,000 jobs. May we all channel the unique power of our brands and businesses to create profit through both passion and a dedication towards a bigger purpose,” he said.