Carmen’s Best founder Paco Magsaysay launches Skin Adept, shares business lessons

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MANILA, Philippines — Why go from ice cream to beauty clinic?

Many people have been asking businessman Paco Magsaysay, founder of heritage ice cream brand Carmen’s Best, such a question since he recently opened Skin Adept Clinic and Surgicenter in Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons, Pasig City.

“You know, as an entrepreneur, you're always looking for other opportunities,” Magsaysay, grandson of the country’s seventh president Ramon, told Philstar.com in an interview.

“And even if you're not really looking for opportunities and you come across services or experiences traveling or what have you started thinking of ways how you would solve the problem if there's a problem, if you were to do that business, ‘di ba? So parang as an entrepreneur, you're always thinking of opportunities or businesses or what if I were in this person's shoes? What would I do? And, one of the businesses that sort of entered my mind was this, I guess, parang derma clinic or aesthetic clinic simply because, not that I go to it a lot ‘no?”

It all started, he recalled, when dermatologist Dr. Benjamin Bince, brother of his Carmen’s Best business partner, told him about the big potential of a beauty clinic wholly run by doctors in the Philippines.

“The brother of my business partner, Pipes, was based in Dubai for over 12 years. And, grabe daw the way people, avail of services in a derma clinic or an aesthetic clinic. And then some of the machines are really expensive now that they're not able to offer certain services because the machine is just way too expensive. So Pipes and I would talk about the possibility of  buying  a piece of equipment that we would share the cost of. And then whatever services that machine would do, parang we would charge a tolling fee…” Magsaysay narrated.

“Parang you're always looking for opportunities… So that's really how it started.”

When Dr. Bince decided to move back to Manila due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Magsaysay, the Bince brothers and their other partners and collaborators came together to set up Skin Adept.

The clinic, Dr. Benjamin told Philstar.com in a separate interview, is named as such since it offers services not administered by aestheticians, but by board-certified specialists who are “adept” or professionally skilled and licensed to address skin and other beauty problems and needs. 

Patient over profit

Magsaysay saw how the country is lacking in a beauty clinic with services only administered by doctors and dermatologists.

“Well, you know, we're not looking to be a major player in the multi-billion-peso industry. I mean, it's somewhat similar to Carmen's Best where, we're just looking to serve a niche market, a small segment of the total market. And that's for people who want things done properly, want things done right, and want things done by people who are licensed doctors and who have years of experience,” Magsaysay said of Skin Adept’s unique business proposition.

What also sets the clinic apart, he and Dr. Bince said, is that it puts the patients’ needs and welfare first before profit. As such, Dr. Bince admitted that they sometimes do not encourage a patient to undergo a treatment if it would not be good for the patient – never mind if they do not earn anything from it.

“The trust level is critical that the doctors don't push other procedures or other products to our patients or our clients. So it's kind of similar to what we are doing in Carmen's Best. We were not looking to do a mass-market claim. We were not looking to be the largest in the industry. So ano lang talaga, parang catering to a select group… And that's what we have in mind. We're not looking not to be a very big group. It's more about serving our niche,” Magsaysay explained.

Since the clinic aims to put its patients first, unlike other clinics, Skin Adept does not impose a quota to its doctors, said Magsaysay.

“When we started Carmen's best, wala naman akong idea kung ano magiging ROI (return of investment) namin. So, I mean, the ROI in Carmen's Best came in, I think, in two years. But, with this one, we understand it's gonna be a little bit longer. But the fact that, if more people start patronizing our services and develop that relationship of trust with our patients, then we'll feel it's more of a long-term type of a business. It's not like a quick-earning-type business. So more long-term and more steady.”

Since Skin Adept is serving a niche market, it also offers specialized services such as consultation, skincare treatments like Peel2Glow, Acne Treatment Package and OxyGeneo facials; non-invasive procedures such as acne scar treatment; melasma, warts, Syringoma and Milia removal; facial and eye area rejuvenation; pore minimizing; laser hair reduction; injectables; Ultherapy; and surgical procedures like breast or chin augmentation, fat removal, excisions, Liposuction and Tummy Tuck.

Above all, at the heart of the licensed ambulatory surgical clinic is its hospital-grade operating room accredited by the Department of Health, making it among the very few aesthetic clinics in the country with such a high-standard operating room, said Dr. Bince.

According to Magsaysay, Dr. Bince also told him about the clinic’s unique capability to perform a stem cell treatment using one’s own blood, which is crucial since people now go to aesthetic clinics not just for beauty, but for longevity, Dr. Bince told Philstar.com in an interview.

Overcoming challenges

Magsaysay professed that putting up Skin Adept costs way more than Carmen’s Best, especially with the clinic’s equipment alone that cost millions.

“Ang laki pala ng capital. It's so much more than what we spent with Carmen's Best when we started… We only started with P600,000 in Carmen's Best. But, you know, being a derm clinic and you're dealing with people's skin and doing a lot of very sensitive work, yes, the equipment's going to be a lot more expensive than making ice cream in a kitchen in a residential kitchen,” he said.

Besides gathering funds for the venture, Magsaysay also did not personally regularly frequent beauty clinics.

“Well, the challenges would be the fact that I am not seen to be connected to such industry… paano ka napunta sa sa derma or clinic, medical, when people know you as an ice cream person and as a broadband Internet and cable TV person? But ‘yun nga it was more about the exposure. Pipes and I, my business partner and I got talking to Benjie, him telling us about the great demand of the procedures and so on. And, you know, sort of identifying a niche or an opportunity, that we could sort of, fulfill,” he said.

“In terms of difficulty, it's easier now for me because I have credibility in the market that people know that I'm not going just get into something and try to earn money from it. You know? When I get into something, it's more about, the quality of it, doing it the proper way, and, you know, being upright and honest about things in an industry where trust is so important. Kasi, alam mo naman, may mga namamatay diyan eh. So it's very important that your doctors are properly trained, accredited, licensed doctors, have years of experience, using the proper equipment. So it's more about doing things the right way.”

More than just putting up a new business and growing it, Magsaysay is more into creating a benchmark for “doing things the right way.”

“The expectation is not to be a Vicki Belo or to be a Calayan or anything. It's more about serving a niche nga. So I talk to my friends about it, my family members. You know, I try to expose them to it. So, you know, they also ask the same questions. How did you get into that business? It's so different from what you're doing. So that's basically, I tell them that the basics or the foundation of what we did in the past is being used at this new business. So that's the similarity of it,” he said.

Lessons from Carmen’s Best

Although no longer managing Carmen’s Best, which Manny V. Pangilinan’s (MVP) Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) acquired a majority stake of in 2022, Magsaysay still sits on the company’s board.

Carmen’s Best recently launched its new line of 100% fresh and locally-sourced milk line that includes Whole Milk, Low Fat Milk, Chocolate Milk, Salted Caramel Milk, and Barista Fresh Milk.

With only 1% of the country’s dairy requirements sourced locally, Carmen’s Best aims to be a catalyst of change by pushing for nationwide presence of distribution with its recent acquisition of Universal Harvesters Dairy Farm Inc. in Maramag, Bukidnon. Soon to follow is the opening of Metro Pacific Dairy Farms, a state-of-the-art dairy facility that will further boost fresh milk supply and processing of more types of fresh dairy products, toward the end of the year.

“As our chairman MVP would say - we must be able to develop the ability to feed our people first. This launch of Carmen’s Best Fresh Milk is just the beginning of many fresh and exciting things that will nourish not just more Filipinos, but the Philippine dairy industry as well. We invite all of you to join us on this journey - together, we can build a fresher future for more Filipinos, one glass of milk at a time,” Jovy Hernandez, MPAV and Carmen’s Best President and Chief Executive Officer, said at the milk line’s launch last January.

According to Magsaysay, the milk line harks back to Carmen’s Best roots.

“Actually, that milk is the old milk, new Hottie's milk. So it's not actually a new product. It's a rebrand. Kasi that was actually the business my father started, to sell fresh milk, to the public. And then the fresh milk, that's how I got the idea of Carmen's Best because I had access to fresh milk so I could buy the fresh milk from my father's group and make whatever product I wanted. And that product turned out to be ice cream,” he shared in the interview with Philstar.com.

From Carmen’s Best, Magsaysay has been able to use the lessons he got and apply them to his other ventures like Skin Adept.

“Well, the lessons I learned is, you have to be honest to your clients or honest to your patients. You have to take care of your people, in the organization and get the right people. You can't just get anyone to come in and do sensitive work for you. You have to get the proper, skilled labor for exactly what you're looking to do. Also, the equipment. I mean, the equipment has to be topnotch. It cannot be something that is both secondhand somewhere and, you're not sure how it was taken cared of in the past. Like I said, ang laki ng risk kung may mangyari sa isang patient kaya we're trying to lessen that risk that something happens to them, as we hope to be in business for, you know, in the years to come,” he said.

“So it's more about, same thing, developing relationships with our clients, keeping the relationship transparent or honest, just doing procedures that we feel is right for them, not pushing. So ‘yung group of doctors namin, wala kaming quota. You hear of other hospitals or other clinics having quotas for their doctors to hit. Kami wala kaming ganoon. Because, we feel that it's, just on our part, ‘no, not really talking about others, but we feel that it's unethical if we are to implement a quota system with our doctors that they have to push X number of procedures or X amount of, procedures to hit a certain figure. We feel that's not the right the best way to serve our patients.”

For aspiring entrepreneurs, he also has some pieces of advice.

“It's important that they do something that they like to do, simply because, any business or anything that you start will require so much of your own time that if you're doing something that you don't enjoy, mahihirapan ka. Kung habol mo lang is pera and hindi mo naman masyadong hilig ‘yung ginagawa mo eh baka bumigay ka kasi ang dami mo talagang ilalagay na hours every day, number of days a week, and just putting time into your business. So, for me to keep your sanity, it's better that you do something that you enjoy.”

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