Francis Fermin, Founder, Outside the Box Business Solutions (OTBBS)
In the heart of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s industrial center, container ships crowd the port while production floors hum to rhythmic machines. Here, the spirit of problem-solving isn’t optional but survival. As growing deadlines push production lines into overdrive, the supply routes cut across the skyline, and companies of every size live under the same demand: deliver more, deliver faster, and deliver better. In this city, efficiency buys survival, while waste drains it away.
Amid this relentless drive for progress is one such engineer-turned-entrepreneur, Francis Fermin, carving his own path, reshaping how businesses think and grow. Francis founded Outside the Box Business Solutions (OTBBS), building his career on a simple truth: solving problems doesn’t always mean reinventing the wheel. Sometimes, it just means using the right tool at the right time. For him, entrepreneurship wasn’t a departure from the engineering field but a natural extension of it. It was an evolution of a 19-year career spent bridging engineering precision with business pragmatism. Yet, behind every boardroom role and technical breakthrough, a deeper calling persisted: the desire to fix not just machines, but businesses themselves.
That calling took shape as Outside the Box Business Solutions, the company Francis founded to help businesses eliminate inefficiencies, simplify complexities, and unlock scalable growth. This is the story of Francis Fermin.
From Engineering Roots to Entrepreneurial Wings
Francis’s career didn’t begin in some random cubicle corner of an office. It began in the trenches of engineering, where process, precision, and persistence mattered the most: in the meticulous world of research and development. This foundation soon expanded as he moved into testing and quality management, where he began to see patterns not just in machines, but in organizations themselves. This strengthened his ability to identify problems quickly and implement lasting solutions.
Over time, Francis entered a leadership role, managing teams, driving operational excellence, and navigating global market industries. Here, he discovered a recurring theme: businesses weren’t failing due to a lack of vision, but because silos, inefficiencies, and system gaps were slowly weakening their potential. For him, this became both a challenge and a calling.
After more than a decade of learning what worked, what didn’t, and why, Francis founded OTBBS in 2024. Instead of prioritizing only automation or technology, he envisioned a consultancy that treated process improvement as a growth strategy. His goal thereafter became helping small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) operate with the efficiency and resilience of much larger companies.
The Problem Francis Set Out to Solve
Taiwan’s economy is dominated by SMEs, many of which are currently struggling with scaling because they jump into automation without addressing the underlying processes. Francis saw the consequences firsthand: expensive systems implemented on unstable foundations, with results continuously falling short of expectations. “Businesses were outsourcing their problems, but without truly understanding their workflows. What they needed wasn’t just more automation; it was clarity, structure, and adaptability. They also needed a well-balanced integration of both structured methodologies and innovative tools that creates scalable, business-aligned results,” he states.
And so, Outside the Box Business Solutions was carefully designed to provide just that. By blending Lean thinking, Six Sigma methodologies, AI integration, and analytics, Francis created a consulting approach that fixes today’s issues as well as equips companies to handle tomorrow’s challenges.
Overcoming Skepticism Through Results
When Francis first introduced OTBBS to the market, potential clients weren’t convinced by an approach that blended traditional process improvement with emerging technologies. Many companies were wary of yet another consultant promising improvement. “The early skepticism was real. People wanted to know how different we were from the rest,” he admits.
Francis addressed this with a simple and effective answer: show results quickly, and on a small scale. By focusing on pilot studies, he removed barriers, reduced errors, and improved output. This way, by delivering visible results, OTBBS built its trust with clients who soon expanded their scope of work.
One example that stood out was addressing an issue with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) struggling with recurring defects that had gone unsolved for years. OTBBS traced the issue back to a minor process change made three years earlier. By identifying the place of error and correcting it, Francis and his team not only eliminated the defect entirely but also recovered significant lost efficiency. Gradually, with similar early wins shifting perceptions, clients began seeing OTBBS as partners who could bring both insight and execution to the table. That belief, together with the organization’s commitment to delivering exceptional results, kept the team in good spirits and moving forward.
The “Business Handyman” Mindset
Francis describes his work at OTBBS as being like a “business handyman,” a mindset that means spotting solutions that others might overlook. And at other times, it means remixing solutions from one industry into another. For instance, OTBBS efficiently addressed the case of a warehouse struggling with congestion and delayed shipments. Rather than designing an expensive new system, Francis and his team borrowed an idea from supermarket checkout lines, optimizing flow by creating parallel, modular pathways. The fix was cost-effective, practical, and immediately improved performance levels. “Adaptability is everything. No two businesses are the same. That’s why our solutions are modular and designed to evolve as the company evolves,” he explains.
A People-Powered Transformation
Behind OTBBS is a lean but cross-disciplinary team that echoes Francis’s philosophy of adaptability. Engineers, process specialists, and data analysts work together, continuously learning and cross-training to approach problems from multiple angles. “We don’t just deliver solutions to clients. We apply the same principles to ourselves. We practice what we preach and we’re always refining how we work, making sure we can pivot as quickly as the companies we serve,” he shares.
For all his focus on systems and processes, Francis emphasizes that business transformation is ultimately about the people. “In consulting, we often assume people are already motivated. But that’s not always true because sometimes, you have to ignite that spark first,” he opines. This insight shapes OTBBS’s approach of involving process owners directly in improvement initiatives, building trust with frontline teams, and ensuring changes don’t feel like mandates but like shared victories.
Shaping a Future Beyond Consultancy
For Francis, OTBBS is more than just a business consulting and services company. It’s a movement toward sustainability and adaptable growth. By incorporating Lean thinking methodologies into companies, he hopes to leave behind not just improvements but a whole new mindset. “Real success is when the client no longer needs us every day. Because it means they’ve internalized a new way of thinking that allows them to solve problems on their own,” he reflects.
Looking ahead, Francis envisions OTBBS widening its horizons beyond Taiwan. He aims to help SMEs across the Asia-Pacific region become as agile as their foreign competitors. Furthermore, sustainability also forms a central role in this mission: improve resource management, reduce waste, and ensure growth doesn’t come at the price of our environment.
To future leaders starting their entrepreneurial journey, Francis’s advice mirrors his own philosophy: “Different entrepreneurs, different tools, different paces. But one thing is constant: persistence. So keep showing up, keep refining your approaches, and don’t be afraid to take even a small win and build on it.”
It’s a lesson he has lived himself, from an engineer to problem-solver and from tinkerer to entrepreneur. And today, as the founder of Outside the Box Business Solutions, Francis Fermin leads an enterprise that proves clarity, adaptability, and persistence are the true engines of growth in an ever-evolving world.