Note: Due to time constraints, this article may be kind of late but I will publish it anyways.
Last February 22-26, we had our online selling. This online selling is part of our immersion/on-the-job training program. As the days passed, problems started to arise thus making us anxious.
1 or 2 weeks before the immersion, our adviser discussed what will happen, what to do, and what to expect on our online selling. He divided the class into ten groups consisting of 10 members. He then assigned each group to think about what product we would plan to sell if ever and discuss it later on.
Our group's product choices are Potato Balls and Sisig Burger. We ask our teacher about his opinion about our plans and he didn't see any problem with it. Meaning, we can continue to the next stage; estimating the ingredients' cost and product selling price.
Ingredients' cost and product pricing.
Dito kami medyo nastress 😂. There are so many factors to consider. Kaya bawal ang patumpik-tumpik na desisyon.
We tried checking the prices of ingredients online, which gave us a hard time because we are not sure if this is the cheapest option on the market. We might buy this and eventually found something cheaper. Instant regret 🤣. We also need to estimate how much of the ingredient will be spent on making the product. We need to ensure if it is just enough for our needs to avoid excesses and wastage of money. The quality of the raw materials is also considered. We must choose products that are cheap but have excellent quality at the same time.
After estimating the cost of goods, we finally move on to estimating the selling price of our products. For our Potato Balls, we decided to have a markup of 25% from its unit cost which gives a final price of 50 pesos. For our sisig burger, we voted to raise the price by 50% which gives a final price of 80 pesos. Some of you may say that our burger is expensive but just so you know, the effort we invested is not a joke.
After the estimation, we gain a better view of the possible expenses and profit. This is the time we decided to have a contribution.
The contribution
May mga nagreklamo dito pero kung tutuusin mas mura yung ambagan namin kesa sa kabilang grupo 😕.
After knowing the cost of ingredients, we come up with the final price of 2,770 pesos. We divided it into ten giving an amount of 277 pesos. So, every member of our group needs to contribute 277 pesos to buy the essential raw materials.
There's some kind of misunderstanding that occurred among the group members. The reason is they think that the contribution is too expensive. I understand because also, for me, it is already expensive. We are just students who rely on the budget gave by our parents. I explain it to them carefully. From the expenses, uncertainty, and effort we will invest, I think the contribution price is reasonable. I also learned that the other group has a contribution of 400 pesos which is far higher than ours.
The buying of ingredients.
2 days before the online selling, we settled the plan. The only problem left was who will buy the ingredients. I ask them if who's willing to grab the responsibility and thanks to Steve, my tropa/close friend, volunteered. Since he's the one who showed an interest, I give him the freedom to choose what time he will get the ingredients. He chooses to get it on the day of our immersion, which let me doubt his decision since the supplier is from different places. The burger buns and the packaging is from Dasmariñas, the sisig meat is from Parañaque, and the sliced cheese is from Mambog. I persuade him to get it before the day of immersion so we will not chase the clock, but he insists that he can do it on time. I trust him so, I let him.
I tried getting information from other groups. Since I am the class president, I used my power to let them speak mwehehehe. Just joking 😂. I talk to them casually and ask them for any advice. I understand why they avoid talking too much. It may because they don't want anyone to copy their strategy. Hays, high school competitiveness. But thanks to those peeps who share little tips with me.
Day 1
Super stressful nitong araw na 'to.
The day has come. Our immersion has finally started. I woke up early to prepare the things needed. From kitchen tools and minor ingredients, all are set in. I also cleaned the house and the kitchen so that we will have a good and nice workplace. I also reminded the supplier that my friend is coming to them to get the supplies. My friend also notified me that he's ready to go. He's using his bike since it is the only available and cheaper transport. I am a little worried since the suppliers are far from our city. In Parañaque alone, he will travel 9 km.
I also remind the other members to be responsible for the tasks I gave to them. There are three people assigned to the marketing, daily sales report, and documentation. Three people to the preparation of food, and the rest for advertising and collecting of orders. I and Steve were assigned to the preparation of a sisig burger.
Back to my friend who decided to get the supplies just by biking, he drove to Paranaque for 3 hours and he didn't expect it. He said that he was overwhelmed by the distance he traveled. I feel sorry for him to be honest. But a day before, I ask him again if he is sure about his decision. He insists. He said we could save more on expenses in this option. He has a point though. After getting the sisig meat on Paranaque, he again traveled almost an hour to deliver the supplies to me and get another material to Dasmariñas. However, time is running out, my friend is already exhausted, and we just decided to get a courier to get the remaining materials. We spend 187 pesos on it but that's okay since the clock is ticking.
We ask how many sisig burger orders were collected and then proceed with preparing. On that day, we just received two orders and there's no problem with that; we think we can't handle more orders. On the other hand, the one who is assigned on potato balls, likewise, had a hard time preparing it since she was bombarded by orders. Potato balls are the best-selling product that day. With around 20 orders or 200 pieces of potato balls, she can't cope up.
It is already 2 pm. This is the agreed time of the group where we all meet in one place to distribute the orders. The group is almost complete and the one who prepared the potato balls is the only one we are waiting for. It's almost 15 minutes but we have no updates with her. My groupmates keep on messaging her but no response. Another 5 minutes and she came but with bad news. She told us that not she's able to complete the 5 remaining orders- it is already late. We have no choice but to inform the affected customers that their orders will be delayed.
The night after our immersion, we ask our customers about their feedbacks and sadly, most of them are not happy with our products. They said that the potato balls are not hot enough to be enjoyed. On our sisig burger, they said that it was not worth it for its price and the presentation is kind of a flop.
Of course, I am sad that time knowing that our customers are not satisfied. Aside from that, the preparation of our products is not well prepared. I called them for a meeting and discussed the change of plans.
Day 2
We decided to temporarily suspend the production of sisig burger and help our other groupmate in preparing potato balls since it is overwhelmed by orders. That day we received 20 orders and managed to finish them on time. We realized that preparing potato balls is time-consuming. We advised her to make the work faster, the night before the deliveries, she should start preparing them, para kinabukasan prito nalang.
By 12:30 pm, Steve and I left my groupmates' place to distribute the orders. We informed the group that we are on our way. We don't have any transport vehicle so, we need to commute. The sun is shining all through the day sky with no clouds to block its sun rays. The warm air is also blowing. We have no choice but to withstand the scorching weather. We reached the meeting place, soaked with our sweat. Pretty exhausting but worth it knowing that we have done it in the right way.
Day 3
I decided to make this day our rest day. The first two days are pretty stressful and exhausting and I think we need to take care of our self. But even though we don't have online selling on this day, I asked my groupmates to still collect pre-orders for tomorrow. A good way to start their day productive haha.
I also take this free time to buy some additional ingredients for our sisig burger. We thought of putting some additional toppings to it. Aside from that, I also discussed the minor changes in strategy and plan; I noticed that our burgers have the lowest sales so I tell them that we should focus on it.
Day 4
Everything went pretty smoothly-we have learned from our experiences these past few days. We managed to finish the products early and delivered them on time. Even though the weather is warmer than usual, it didn't stop us from serving with a smile.
However, I noticed something alarming. We've not yet reached our quota for burgers. I inform my assistant leader about the problem and she asks me to help her have a manual audit of the profits. We discovered that we are still far from our goal. We immediately called a meeting to inform them that we will be stopping the production of potato balls and will just focus on burgers. Everyone agreed and inform the customers by posting on our Facebook page.
I asked for some updates from other groups and lucky them, they already stop from selling as they already reached their target sales. Kind of disappointing of course because tomorrow is the last day and yet here we are still far from our goal.
Day 5
The last day of our immersion. Mix emotion to be honest. Happy knowing that we can finally rest, sad and disappointed because we are unsure if we will gain profit or loss.
A total of 25 orders were made for this day. Not that bad since the sales target is 30 burgers. For a while, Steve and I had a short reflection of our performance lately. He admitted that he should have gone to the supplier before the day of the immersion. If it's done that way, he thinks that the flow of our immersion is will be better. I also confess that I never expected the situation will be like this. I should've thought of more comprehensive plans. After those self-reflections, we also realized that we should not blame ourselves too much; everyone can commit mistakes and use them to improve oneself. We just looked at the things we have done after experiencing those 'failures'. For instance, we changed the tactics for preparing the products so we can finish them early.
After that day, we jumped on our bed to rest our tired bodies and souls.
What did I learn from our online selling?
For the one whole week of immersion, I have gained a deeper understanding of the struggles of online sellers. From budgeting to delivering the goods, I can say that being an online seller is not an easy job, a contradiction to the perspective of others. During online selling, we experienced difficulties in terms of communication and understanding. We can't fully explain our suggestions and viewpoint to a certain action. This results in various mistakes in judgment that make the job slower and inefficient. But as time goes by, we eventually learned from our experienced and used it as an advantage to improve our service. Overall, our immersion is pretty successful and served the lesson we need to acquire.
Being an online seller is not an easy job. Every time we encounter them on social media, we should respect them. React to their post, we can comment 'up' to make their post more visible to other people, and if you have an extra budget, try to buy their products. We must not use them to be part of our entertainment; some people do insensitive pranks, pretending to be a buyer and then will eventually cancel their orders. Trust me, it is so heartbreaking. We experienced it ourselves. From the time they spent from estimating the cost of goods to delivering the products to your home, nothing is easy.
The immersion served its very purpose; to experience what the real job feels.
Good job