Novel businesses

Entrepreneurs, wake up, it’s your time! We’re starting this short series as a tribute to the young Filipino entrepreneurs who are now making their mark.

Just look around you and you will be amazed at how many new businesses have come up in the Philippines, most of them run by young entrepreneurs, many of them still in their 20s.

The food truck idea, which originated in the United States and which has become tremendously successful there, was brought here a few years ago and one of the pioneers was the Binalot group led by Rommel Juan.

Binalot, of course, is another success story in itself.  Started about two decades ago, the novelty of eating rice with adobo, for instance, wrapped in banana leaves and at very affordable prices, caught on with many harried people going home from work, parents who do not have time to cook, but can bring home hot delicious food for dinner. The original owners are now one of the prime movers of empowering the Filipino through entrepreneurship, specifically through franchising.

Binalot now has so many franchise branches all over the metro, and his food truck part of the business is also packing in the working class. The formula for the food truck business is simple: location (which is moveable and thus very adaptable to new circumstances that could affect business and offers convenience), good hot food at popular prices, and fast service, and these are the very reasons why the idea should click immediately with our yuppies who do not have time to find a nice restaurant, sit and wait for the (costly) meal. The menu is short and simple as well, and the food truck is the only costly part of this business – one can’t buy it straight out of a truck dealership because it has to be customized for food service. 

This is really no problem at all in the Philippines as we have excellent and competent young entrepreneurs who have been serving the motoring industry for several years now who can provide this: Atoy Llave of A-Toy Body Kits, to name a few. They have obviously found their niche, filling a need in the industry and they have built a solid name for themselves, doing a great job customizing vans, trucks, etc. tailor-made to the needs of their clients. Another example of a good business model.

And while we’re still on the subject of customized trucks, a young entrepreneur from BF Homes in Paranaque also came up with her own novel idea using a customized truck. Young Mau Bagsit-Marasigan thought of a mobile truck servicing homes in the neighborhood (initially).  If you live in this community, you would have caught sight of this bright blue truck with Dogs in the City splashed across it. The name is hip, young and with easy recall. They are on-call to keep your dogs perfectly groomed – shampoo, nail clipping, ear cleaning, haircut, etc. and they use social media as well for easy booking. Her customized truck has facilities for shampooing and blow-drying the dogs, and the controlled environment inside the truck makes for fast, easy work which means less stress for the animals as well.

We’re regular customers of Dogs in the City and we always love it when we come home to nice looking, fresh smelling family pets when their bright blue truck comes a-calling. Just one competent and trained attendant and one driver are all Mau needs for one truck that can make several trips in one day. Keeping your costs down to a minimum is what makes this a viable venture, and what’s probably just as important is the fact that Mau doesn’t really need a full staff or an office to run her business. She can work comfortably from the comforts of her own home, at her own time and pace.

Now that business has been stable, Mau feels it is ripe for franchising, and other communities will be glad to benefit from this home service for their pets.

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Another home-grown business is Germano’s Chillies started by Gerome Panlilio who couldn’t seem to find his peg earlier on.  He graduated with a nursing degree which he completed in six years, showing from the start that his heart wasn’t in this profession. He ended up behind the counter of a big drugstore company dispensing medicines, but it was only a matter of time until he found his own niche.

A younger brother, Germano who is a chef, came out with an excellent chilli sauce in garlic and olive oil which the family and friends loved. But when a job opportunity abroad came, Gerome was left with the recipe, and thus came his big opportunity. He didn’t think twice about leaving his stable job and set out to become an entrepreneur. To give credit where it is due, he named his product after his chef brother who started it all.

Not a chef or even a cook, there were some serious studying to do. He knew he had to standardize the product and ensure its food safety, and he needed expert help.  Gerome wasn’t even good in math, so he enrolled in a short course for basic accounting, then set out to get some expert help from the Department of Science & Technology and the Food and Drug Administration. He cites these two government agencies for guiding him all the way until he was set for his own home business.

With a good-sized kitchen at home, Gerome now had a modest production facility, good packaging, and a lean staff to cook, bottle and package the products that now come in two variants:  corn oil and olive oil. He started with delis, bazaars, and not too long after, Germano’s Chillies started appearing on the shelves of Landmark, Robinson’s, Unimart, Makati Supermart and specialty shops like Gourdo’s. And last we heard, Germano’s Chillies are now being exported to the United Kingdom! 

Success is sweet after long hard work and careful study.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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