THE PHILIPPINE LEADER
Businesses Amidst the Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many to transform in different ways: social distancing, health protocols, and moving to a digital ecosystem. Among those affected, businesses were disadvantaged as they navigated changing restrictions and lockdown schedules. Despite the challenges, these entrepreneurs were able to innovate, adapt, and overcome these obstacles. By interviewing businesses owned by JCI members, our team is excited to share their stories on how they were able to pivot and create more opportunities in this new economy.
ELEATIST KITCHEN Facebook: EleatistKitchen Francis Fabie and Lalissa Singson (JCI Quezon City Luna)
MR. DELIVERY PH Facebook: MrdeliveryCauayanCity Mark Duque (JCI Cauayan Bamboo) Mr. Delivery is a local delivery service in Cauayan City, Isabela. It caters to the immediate community by providing people with a localized courier service that runs errands for them within the region. It also extended its errand services to medicine and grocery items, as well as personal effects and parcels, where clients can customize the errands or deliveries. Our service proved useful for COVID-19 patients and PUIs who were confined for quarantine. They could order food and other necessities and have these delivered to them by Mr. Delivery riders who were well-trained in standard health protocols. More importantly,it helped local businesses survive the economic slump. When lockdowns began, many businesses had to close down for lack of customers. Fortunately, Mr. Delivery partnered with these vendors and withstood the financial difficulties. Mr. Delivery also capacitated the local workforce as it gave its riders and operators steady employment. Mr. Delivery expanded its services and developed strong communication through different online platforms. This includes Facebook, Instagram, Viber, Email, which would cater all services needed by our clients. We also assigned Customer Service Representatives to focus on this area. As a result, people and businesses benefit more convenience. One great advice which we can give is TO KNOW YOUR BUSINESS. If you fully know what you are capable of and your weaknesses, you can plan your strategies to survive. Such a strategy shall become your trademark-- the core of your endeavor.
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We serve graze boxes. It features the Eleatist Kitchen homemade garlic cilantro cream cheese, salted chocolate cream, and chocolate barks. Our graze boxes are curated to have the right balance of cheese, cold cuts, chocolates, crackers, nuts, and fresh and dried fruits. We carry limited-edition wines and cheeses from Europe and California. Aside to these, we also expanded to offer frozen USDA steaks, steak kits, and sous vide pre-cooked steaks. We started Eleatist Kitchen in February 2020 to offer graze boxes right in time for Valentine’s Day. After that, we were preparing to be an exhibitor for a wedding fair. Weeks later, the lockdown was announced and the event was cancelled. At the start of the pandemic, we were considering shifting to frozen foods because we were apprehensive that graze boxes will be a hit. However, since we already had the supplies from our cancelled event, we decided to take a leap of faith and market it as the perfect gift for ECQ birthdays and date nights. It worked! Soon, we were the only graze box supplier open in Metro Manila and this accelerated our growth. We took advantage of Facebook and Instagram as they were the most accessible social media platforms to everyone. We joined different Facebook and Viber groups and marketplaces like Let’s Eat Pare Association and Food Contacts Community. Most of our orders came from our business and personal pages. Contactless payment options were helpful, such as online banking, GCash, and PayMaya; and, third-party delivery services such as Lalamove, Grab, DingDong, and more. Take a leap of faith. You may have a lot of great ideas that you are thinking of doing but the most important step is to start. Don’t let your ideas just be ideas. Turn them into reality. strategy shall become your trademark-- the core of your endeavor.
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