Remotify CEO and founder Maria Sucgang was chosen as the cover story for Women Entrepreneur Magazine’s feature on the top female start-up founders in Asia for 2023.

As a woman of colour and business leader, this gives Maria an incredible opportunity to share her journey and uplift other aspiring entrepreneurs that want to make a difference. The feature in Woman Entrepreneur Magazine also sheds light on the milestones that Remotify has reached.

When asked about Remotify’s growth journey, Maria told Women Entrepreneur Magazine, “Given that we are a bootstrapped start-up that relies on owner finance and sweat equity, our path has been both difficult and gratifying. 

“Despite having minimal resources, we increased revenue by 2176% in 2022, with a 92% yearly client retention rate, and increased organic web traffic by almost 600% in the previous year. This expansion was made possible by thorough preparation, strategic judgement, and a commitment to providing customers with value.”

Remotify’s success is indicative not only of Maria’s leadership but also of the growing need for Employer of Record services in the Philippine remote work landscape. Remotify’s origin stems from Maria’s realisation of how much time she’d missed with her family throughout her 17-year career of office-based work. 

The Covid-19 pandemic propelled her to act in making remote work a viable and preferred option for Filipinos, leading Remotify to reshape the world of remote work. 

Maria Sucgang recognised as one of the top 10 start-up founders in Asia for 2023

The selection process for the “Top 10 Women Startup Founders in Asia,” was rigorous and thorough. The magazine asked its subscribers to nominate candidates they think should be featured in this edition. 

Subscribers selected candidates based on their educational qualifications, experiences, leadership skills, recommendations and contributions to their respective industries.

Women Entrepreneur Magazine received over 100 suggestions, and the list was then handed over to the in-house market research team. The team actively tracked those nominees from industry news, business reports and LinkedIn activity.

After this screening process, the advisory board of the magazine, including the editorial board members and an evaluation panel of C-level executives, reviewed the shortlist of candidates. 

During this evaluation process, they decided on which candidates to include based on which ones have a great business story, strong communication skills and the ability to motivate fellow entrepreneurs. The chosen start-up founders also need to have remarkable leadership, assertiveness, and ingenuity. 

All this is why it’s a great honour for Maria Sucgang to be chosen as one of the “Top 10 Women Startup Founders in Asia for 2023”.

How Maria Sucgang is transforming the remote work industry with Remotify

Maria’s feature in Women Entrepreneur Magazine is entitled: “Transforming the Landscape of Remote Work in the Philippines”. It highlighted not only Maria’s journey as a business leader but also Remotify’s journey of growth and development in the course of two years.

Maria’s professional experiences shaped the way she leads her company and influences the very foundations of Remotify — empowering Filipino talent on a global scale, promoting the freedom to live and work on your own terms and contributing positively to society by targeting the underserved gig market.  

Maria told Women Entrepreneur Magazine, “When establishing Remotify, one of the significant gaps we discovered was that Filipino remote workers were typically gig workers with no employers on record. The country is a mecca for outsourcing with its largely English speaking educated workforce, yet there was a lack of opportunities.”

This makes Remotify services a win-win situation for both employers and remote employees: It allows international businesses to legally hire Filipino talent without having to set up a local entity whilst providing remote employees with the security and stability of a full-time job with all the flexibility that comes with remote work.

The qualities of a leading start-up founder

In her 17-year tenure of an office-based career, Maria held a leadership position, providing country management and support to local teams while aligning global strategies and leading multiple departments across five countries.

This gave her the opportunity to grow as a successful and confident leader in her field, allowing her to integrate her experiences and learnings in building Remotify. Maria learnt that being a successful leader requires the ability to simultaneously run daily operations, navigate disruptions, and strategise for a transformed future. 

There are specific qualities that make a great business leader:

• Vision - A clear vision serves as the guiding principle for conceptualising an idea and driving transformation. This will keep a business owner and their team grounded in reality while providing a continued direction for them to follow in achieving their goals. Remotify has a clear vision of enabling freer lives for Filipinos while ensuring that they are a good business for all — that it is good not only for employees and clients but also for the Philippines at large. This vision gives Remotify a clear brand identity that strongly resonates with its circle of employees, clients and partners.
• Tenacity - Having tenacity is essential for a business leader to overcome obstacles they will face in building and growing their business. Tenacity has also been described by Forbes as a fierce blend of determination, persistence and grit — a crucial combination in achieving success and learning from failures. As a bootstrapped start-up, Remotify has faced challenges that Maria and her team have had to overcome together, and their tenacity and perseverance have allowed the business to thrive.
• Authenticity - An authentic and genuine business leader encourages trust and loyalty in their team, encouraging them to work in achieving the business goals. Maria has infused her beliefs and values into her business, and her passion is evident in the work she does in Remotify, inspiring not only her employees but also their clients.

Remotify was recently featured as a business case study for a class at City University of Seattle in Canada, and according to Dr. Gabriel Orendain, PhD, "Remotify is a young company that is doing things right the first time on all business fundamentals. Without any hesitation, I brought them as a case study for my class to replace textbook case studies of Fortune 100 companies. I knew my students would learn more from Remotify than they would from the big ones.” 

It is clear that Maria possesses these qualities and more, as evidenced by her success in building Remotify into the business it is today.

Remotify’s journey into the future with Maria Sucgang at the helm

Even as Remotify hits milestone after milestone, the business remains customer-focused with its on-brand human approach.

“We prioritise developing close relationships with our customers and offering great service, which leads to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth. We've seen customers grow their teams and won multiple additional clients through word-of-mouth referrals,” Maria shared with Women Entrepreneur Magazine.

Remotify is also driven to provide a great workplace and community for its remote employees. In 2022, Remotify was Great Place to Work certified, demonstrating that Remotify embodies the necessary qualities to be a great workplace for its employees.

Remotify is poised to dominate the remote outsourcing market in the Philippines. Contact us and we will help you simplify outsourcing excellently and cost-effectively.