My business

Have you ever wanted to have a business of your own? I remember as a kid when we were asked what we want to be when we grow up, I would write businessman and lawyer. Even if I was a girl, I wrote businessman. LOL. I don't know why I wrote it but honestly I have no idea with its job descriptions. I wrote lawyer because it was my dad's occupation. I was in grade school back then so I wasn't that serious about what I want to be when I grow up.

I think I was 12 years old when I started doing business in school. I used to watch cooking shows during weekends back then and there I got a recipe for pastillas de leche. It is a sweet soft milk candies that originated in San Miguel, Bulacan here in the Philippines. It is usually shaped into small logs that is rolled in sugar and wrapped in Japanese paper individually. For my version, I shaped it into balls and wrapped them in cellophane. I think I was able to make around 48 pastillas.

Since I made too many, I decided tp bring it to school to share with my classmates. They were the ones who told me to sell it because it was really good. I was really happy that they liked what I did. When my mom fetched me at school, I was excited to tell ber about it. She supported me so we went to the supermarket before going home to buy some ingredients and packaging for my pastillas. I doubled the recipe for the next day's business then tripled it until I always bring about 200 pieces of it the following days. Imagine I would make pastillas after doing my homeworks. My mom would help me by shaping each into balls followed by rolling into sugar then wrapping each pastillas every night. We would stay up late making those because it was really a hit to my classmates until one day I had a competitor. Not only is she just a classmate but she is my direct competitor. She also sells pastillas. My classmates who bought from me were reduced in half. Some of our classmates said that they like my recipe and others said they like hers. That day after school, I wasn't able to sell all my pastillas but that didn't stop me. I still sell the next day. Same result only this time I only sold a few pieces. So my mom decided that we stop.

Back then I really didn't know anything about business. Yes selling is already business but with regards to profit, loss or breakeven, I have absolutely zero knowledge. When I started selling it my price per pastillas was Php1.00. Then when I had a lot of orders, I had a 0.50 increase and my final price was Php2.00.

Then in college, I again had the chance to sell some baked goodies in a bazaar. Yes we were taught about food costing but we just priced our goods based on how we feel like it. We were actually 4 who decided to join the bazaar. We divided the rental of the booth amongst us but we didn't know that one of our friend would go solo with her baked goods. I know the 3 of us didn't have anything to sell on the first day. So on the rest of the weekend we we see to it that we were prepared but not as prepared as our other friend. During the last day's event we wanted to increase our sales that we even sell banana que and turon (popular street food or snack that uses plantain bananas). It worked as we were able to get noticed. The end part is that we didn't profit from the bazaar. LOL. But at least we were able to experience selling in a bazaar and we now know what to do next time.

All businesses have its pros and cons. Yesterday that certain friend that I mentioned prepared during our bazaar, messaged me and told me about a bogus buyer in an online shopping platform. She told me about it because she knows that I also have a business.

What exactly is my business? 2 years ago I have started my crunchy chili garlic in oil. Since it was Christmas time, my family and friends ordered from me to gift to their colleagues. In terms of packaging, it wasn't really well thought of but at least I have a name for my business. I spent weeks thinking about the name and logo that I neglected the packaging. After that, I only got a few repeat orders for 2019 then same scenario during the Holiday season. Mid this year I decided to make a Facebook page to further promote my business but competition is tougher now compared from when I started because a lot of people have started their own business due to the pandemic.

Now I don't just have one competitor but a lot more. When I started 2 years ago there were only a few competitors. I didn't backed down before so there is no stopping now. This year I decided to have sticker labels so that my product will look more appealing. If I really want this to be successful and make it into a big business, I should never quit especially if this is what I really want.

But yesterday as I was making my crunchy chili garlic in oil, we tasted the garlic and it was bitter. It was as if we ate an ampalaya (bittermelon gourd). Maybe you will think that I burned my garlic but no I didn't. So then I tried frying it but this time it is super lighter than my second try. Yes it was already for my third try or batch. My first one was a little burnt, second was just right and the third was super light brown in color but still it was bitter. We were all wondering as to why our garlic was bitter. My mom's guess was they used some pesticide or chemical to make it bitter. As for me I think the person who planted it was heartbroke and is bitter towards life and love that resulted to the bitter taste. LOL. I have bought 4 kilograms of garlic and has already cooked 2 when we found out about it. Of course I couldn't sell it. My mom told me that it's part of the business. I was really dismayed because it is now considered a loss. I agree with my mom that this is part of a business and it is not always a win-win. There are really risks and sometimes we fail, make mistakes but we have to continue and learn from it just like in life. But honestly I haven't move on from that bitter garlic yet. LOL. I have realized that not only garlic is really a very delicate ingredient and that not all garlics are the same.

I remembered when I started with my business, I together with our helper manually peeled and chopped all the garlic and chili. I was the one who was in charge in cooking it batch by batch. It was really hard, our hands were burning, my back was aching and I really wanted to quit. But I still continued to make and sell them upto today. To better improve our service, we bought a manual chopper that you can see being demonstrated in the department stores. I also searched over the internet how to easily peel off garlic. Although it still require some energy, at least our hands didn't end up burning.

Do you have a business of your own? What is the nature of your business? Do you have any tips for people like me who is just starting up or to those that also want to start their own business? How about some marketing strategies? I do have a little knowledge in marketing but I would gladly like to hear more about it. Do I also need to create an Instagram account for my business?

By the way, please like and follow my Facebook page, Jarful of Flavor. And if you are from the Philippines, maybe you would want to try our crunchy chili garlic in oil. Was that a smooth marketing strategy? LOL.

If you want to start a business, my advice for you is to do it now. Everything was hard before it was easy. Everything starts from small before it became big. If you keep worrying about a lot of things chances are you are still not sure whether or not you want to pursue your dream to have your own business. Don't let it slip by. Start now. Take risks. Learn. Improve. Grow your business. Dream big.