Lessons from Injap Sia, the master strategist

The first time I met Edgar Sia II, better known as Injap, was in 2009 when his entry to the Mansmith Young Market Masters Awards (YMMA) won and made him part of the batch.

He was just 32 years old then.

I learned that during that time, he was preparing Mang Inasal for its initial public offering (IPO), so it was understandable that he wanted Mang Inasal to be more high profile.

He also won an Agora Award with his Mansmith YMMA, getting repeated validation and admiration from third parties about his unique concept of recombining classic elements like BBQ chicken and fast food into what has become a new fast-food category.

Previous BBQ chicken concepts were based on a traditional casual dining restaurant format.

The year after, intending to take Mang Inasal public, he also got multiple letters of intent from various parties wanting to buy a part or all of the company. Jollibee was one of the companies that approached him as Mang Inasal was deemed a good addition to its restaurant portfolio. Mang Inasal is the only BBQ chicken restaurant among the top five fast-food chains and has become a thought leader in the industry, especially after it launched the ‘unli-rice’ offer, a lesson Injap picked up from the telecommunications industry’s unlimited call and text offers. While implementing the offer, Injap had the presence of mind to increase prices by P2 to make up for the potential losses from giving away extra rice, which also made a compelling proposition to both consumers and franchisees.

Mang Inasal’s offerings were about 20 percent cheaper versus Jollibee’s in 2003.

But as market shares and brand health scores improved, Injap was able to narrow the price gap, then he reinvested extra funds into marketing, rushing to create economies of scale via franchising.

Mang Inasal was eventually bought in 2016 at a total valuation of P5 billion, including an initial P3 billion for 70 percent of the company in 2010.

Injap did not end with Mang Inasal, however. He found a new market space to conquer via DoubleDragon Properties, cochaired by Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong.

The insight that led to the new venture came from his weekly travels to the provinces during his Mang Inasal days.

He saw the biggest school, the biggest hospital, the biggest port, the biggest of everything and discovered that there was no shopping mall in most third class cities of the Philippines.

This led to the chain of CityMalls that now dot the countryside.

His sense-making skill helped him interpret what’s going on. His discovery skill helped him connect the dots and see things differently. His innovation skill helped him recombine existing industry variables. His thorough preparation gave him courage to execute his plan swiftly. And his inspiring and soft-spoken ways influenced others to help attain his goals.

I included my interview with him in “The Rainmakers” book and he is one of the people who inspired me to author a new seminar, “5 Skills of Master Strategists.”

Always humble and respectful, Injap acknowledges that he is simply being used by God to inspire others; he had in fact gifted substantial shares of his company to his siblings even before the Jollibee acquisition. Very grounded and analytical, casual and respectful, he speaks his mind with sharp recollection of his entrepreneurial exploits.