Why buy a company instead of starting one: Fil-Am business leader explains

Every start of the year, among Filipinos’ traditions is to create NewYear’s resolutions, and usually included in people’s bucket lists is to start a new business venture.

Filipino-American business leader Loida Nicolas Lewis is among those who believes in new year’s resolutions and for this year, included in her targets is to throw away anger.

Whisper when you’re angry

“When I get angry, I shut up. When I’m angry, I whisper. Because if you whisper, the anger would lessen,” she said in an exclusive interview with the DAILY TRIBUNE.

A lawyer in both the Philippines and New York, Loida is the widow of Reginald Francis Lewis, reputedly the first African-American to build a billion-dollar company, TLC Beatrice International Holdings Incorporated. 

Forbes listed Reginald Lewis in the Forbes 400 in 1992 (and commonly cited around his death in early 1993) as one of the richest Americans.

In 1992, he donated $3 million to Harvard University Law School, at the time the largest grant in the school’s history. The school later renamed its International Law Center the Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center, the first major facility at Harvard named in honor of an African-American.

    His interest was 

to create wealth

Reginald’s interest was to create wealth, Loida said of her late husband. Among his means for wealth-building was to acquire existing businesses, instead of starting new ones. 

Although she applauded those who able to start their own businesses from scratch, she said buying an existing company is a more practical choice.

Thus, for those eyeing to invest in a business venture this year as part of their new year’s resolutions, her advice is: “Buy a company to sell it. We call it leveraged buying-in. You buy a company because it is very profitable and then, you borrow all the money, leveraged buyout. You borrow all the money and the company will pay you. They pay for it.”

Do not start your own company, she said, “Because if you start one, (you have a) 90 percent chance of failing and only 10 percent of winning. If you buy a company, it already has sales, organization, revenue and income;  It’s already ready-made. All you have to do is to make it successful,” explained the entrepreneur, whose business portfolio included a coal company in Europe, a supermarket chain in France, and an ice cream brand.