When it comes to great mentoring, mother knows best!
Following in the footsteps of a successful parent can sometimes be challenging. However, for Heinji Daquin, having a strong mentor in his business woman mother has been very beneficial and has guided him to a successful business career of his own running two Red Rooster outlets.
Introducing Heinji Daquin – Red Rooster Franchise Partner in Cannington and Innaloo, WA
Here Heinji shares his mum’s greatest tips and tells us about his secret high school job.
Tell us about your background and how you came to be involved in Red Rooster?
I moved to Australia from the Philippines 10 years ago. I’m a 45-year-old father of six – I have three kids and three stepdaughters. My family had a business in the service sector and I’ve worked before in the QSR industry as manager at a McDonalds in Manilla. When I moved to Perth, I wanted to run my own business and I knew that Red Rooster as a brand would give me support. I instantly loved the fact that Red Rooster is very involved with its franchisees. I hadn’t experienced that before with any other brand. It made me feel secure and confident that I could successfully run my own business.
What was your first ever job?
My mum ran a very successful real estate and accounting business for more than 20 years. When I was in high school, each weekend I worked as her bookkeeper and every school holidays I was her office clerk. Mum always told me it was good training for management. But little did she know that I was also secretly working as a team member at McDonalds! I kept it hushed up as I wanted to gain experience outside of our family business. She’d always ask me why I was coming home late after school, which was a bit tricky to explain! She eventually found out when her assistant saw me working at McDonalds one day.
committed | driven | humble
Well, good on you for pulling that off for a while! So, is it fair to assume your mum is your mentor?
You got it. Mum taught me the value of appreciating people and managing money properly – she’s very thrifty and knows how to make every cent count. She’s also always been very generous with her staff and has even taken them abroad for holidays. The value she places in her staff has actually made her business more successful, so I always do my best to ensure my own staff feel important. I also live by her words – “Kindness in words creates confidence, kindness in thinking creates profoundness and kindness in giving creates love.”
What’s one challenge that’s helped shape who you are today?
The biggest hurdle was losing my kids from my previous marriage. It took me four years to rebuild my relationship with them. I learnt a lot from that. It made me realise that your family should always be your top priority and that you need to be happy with your personal life in order to be happy and successful in all the other aspects of your life.
Work-life balance as Franchise Partner
Has finding that elusive work-life balance been possible for you with your current stores?
It’s still a daily challenge to find the right balance between life, career and family. Although with all our kids being grown up now, it has allowed me to spend most of my time working on the business. I actually treat my employees and restaurants like my children!
You have several successful restaurants, what’s the secret of your success?
The secret is to create and build great relationships with your suppliers, employees and the brand network. You need to work with all of them on a daily basis, so it is essential to have a strong relationship to ensure you’re all aligned on the correct processes.
Finally, do you think your mum is proud of you?
Yes, I think so. Although I did study biology for a while at university when I was younger, because mum initially wanted me to be a doctor. To this day she still asks me if I want to go on to study medicine! I remind her that my heart is with the retail-hospitality industry and she then wishes me well in the business. I know she’s happy with what I’ve accomplished and so am I. I’m really grateful for what I have achieved with Red Rooster as I never imagined I’d one day be running a successful business of my own in Australia.
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