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SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2017
Business
Ray S. Eñano, Editor / Roderick dela Cruz, Issue Editor business@thestandard.com.ph
HOW A MILLENNIAL COUPLE BUILT A CAFE
odrigo Ang Escobar and his girlfriend Andy Wong saved most of their income from office jobs in Makati City in preparation for a married life. Instead of spending the money in a grand wedding, the couple decided to put up a business that can support a family. Last year, they quit their jobs and established Sulok Cafe in a busy corner of Antipolo City just across Ynares Center at L. Sumulong Memorial Circle. “When we had the money, we thought we could not be stuck in our jobs. I, for one, cannot be a father if I spend more than 12 hours in the office. I would not be able to fulfill my role as a dad. She also spends four hours a day to commute from Antipolo. And we were salaried employees. We don’t want to be stuck as employees, so we made sure that once we move on to the next stage of our life which is marriage, we would be better off,” he says. Escobar says they chose to have their own business first, before the wedding. Aside from being a couple, they are now business partners. “She is my longtime girlfriend for seven years since college. I am 25 and she is 26. We first met at University of Asia and the Pacific where we were studying. She was taking Business Management and I was taking Integrated Marketing Communications,” says Escobar. Escobar, who got tired of a 12-hour work day, quit his job as a digital marketing professional while Wong, who used to commute for at least four hours a day between Antipolo and Makati, resigned from an electronic commerce company. They applied what they learned from school and work in promoting Sulok Cafe, which now has one of the strongest online presence among the 16 cafes in Antipolo City. “We now work full-time with Sulok,” says Escobar. “We want to have our own business. We are technically in the age group of millennials. I was born in 1992 and my girlfriend in 1990.” Once they had the money, they looked for a good location for a business, even without a solid concept in mind, says Escobar. Escobar, who lives near Katipunan Ave. in Quezon City, says they explored various areas in Quezon City, Marikina, Pasig and Antipolo during their weekend dates to find the best site. “We had no solid business concept. That’s why a number of landlords rejected us. We could not blame them because they would not bet on a tenant without a solid concept in mind,” he says. When they found an ideal place at the second floor of Okinari Arcade Building near Ynares Center—a popular sporting arena in Rizal province—they immediately knew a cafe would be the right business there. “That is what the location dictated. We made sure it had three qualities we were looking for. First is purchasing power of people in the area. Second is foot traffic and third is points of interest,” says Escobar. Aside from Ynares Center, the cafe is also located near Pinto Art Museum, one of Antipolo’s main tourist attractions. “It had those three qualities that we were looking for,” says Escobar. Escobar says Wong took the task of overseeing the construction of the cafe, while he was still rendering his remaining 30-day work in Makati. It is a 36-square-meter commercial space, which they divided into a 25-meter dining area and a small kitchen. “We did not have a background on hotel and restaurant management. We studied to make professional-grade coffee two weeks before we opened. Most of our investments went to the acquisition of an espresso machine,” he says. Sulok Cafe, which had a soft opening in July 2016, now has seven tables and 22 chairs. About 60-percent of the coffee shop is a non-smoking
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MILLENNIAL COUPLE.
Sulok Cafe owners Rodrigo Ang Escobar and Andy Wong
area. “At first, we did not know where to source the coffee beans. But once we got the word out, it is the suppliers who approached us. Very recently, we have established a good supplier connection,” he says. He says through economies of scale, they are able to bring down their prices. “It is cheaper to buy your products such as coffee and milk in bulk,” says Escobar, who goes to Antipolo public market everyday to source most of their supplies. “Here, we were able to apply all the discipline, skills and temperament we developed while working for different companies in the past four years,” he says. Escobar says they decided to choose the name Sulok Cafe, because they want to provide every customer a corner or a confined space that he or she finds comfortable to be in. “That’s how we envision Sulok to be for our customers. It is nothing pretentious—a corner that can be their personal space,” he says. Aside from coffee and tea, Sulok Cafe is known for its good food, including pasta and meals. Janine Tolentino, who used to work in Las Vegas, prepared their menu. The cafe also employs a barista, three cooks, a helper and a part-time server. “We are a self-service cafe,” says Escobar. “The price of the same drink and quantity is almost half of those in commercialized coffee shops,” he says. “But what makes us different is how we treat people. There is this certain appreciation that people give us. Once customers enter our coffee
shop, we never call them sir or ma’m. We call them tito, tita, pare or idol. Yes, we are feeling close.” He says Sulok Cafe has built a network of repeat customers. “What sustains a coffee shop is repeat purchases. That affirms you are doing a good job,” he says. Escobar says the first year is about building the business, the second year is making it profitable and the third year is for expansion. “Two years and eight months is our realistic ROI [return on investment] target. With a growth rate of 10 percent to 15 percent on a monthly basis, we can achieve it in one year and eight months. But realistically, it is two years and eight months,” says Escobar, who has never had a hair cut since the business opened in July last year. “That’s the symbolism behind my long hair. Once we have our ROI, that’s the time I will go to the barbershop,” he says. The couple experienced a number of challenges in operating the business, including falling short of their sales quota for a number of days. “There was a time our sales reached only P398. There was a time we prepared our resume because we did not meet the quota. But we have high hopes for the business. This is our second year. In 2016, the goal was to operationalize the business. This year is to make it stand alone on its own, and next year is to have it franchised,” says Escobar, who looks up to businessman Edgar “Injap” Sia as a model. “Mang Inasal of Injap Sia is the business model we follow. Start small, make it big and have it franchised,” he says. Escobar has a piece of advice to other millennials who want to start their own business. “Start moving. Plans won’t get you anything unless you move it. It is when you’ve taken the first step that sets the pace for your business. Be brave and scared at the same time—brave enough to take on the call for putting up a business and scared enough to be delicate about the decisions you make. Don’t get too worried if you make mistakes. It is part of the process and one of the special things that will shape you to become an entrepreneur,” he says. As to their wedding plan, Escobar says it remains the ultimate goal. “It will come. We are still young,” he says. Roderick T. dela Cruz
WHICH UNIVERSITY PRODUCES THE MOST EMPLOYABLE MILLENNIALS? By Othel V. Campos THE country’s largest state-run university also produces the biggest number of employable millennials, results of an online job site show. In its latest Employers’ Survey on Fresh Graduate Hiring Preferences, Jobstreet.com said newly hired fresh graduates from PUP average 3,000 a year, the highest among
Philippine universities. The survey conducted in February among 644 companies also shows that employers prefer graduates from PUP, the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas. When asked to assess the performance of these fresh hires, UP graduates scored the highest, followed by alumni of PUP and Ateneo
de Manila University. Particular industries also had different views on where their best new hires graduated. PUP graduates came up on top among employers in the BPO, retail, manufacturing and real estate industries, while IT and education companies gave their highest marks to UP alumni. According to the survey, eight out of ten employers are happy
to employ a recent graduate into their workforce, similar to last year’s figures. While the 2016 survey championed their need for applicants who have a solid working experience through internships and part-time employment, this year’s results revealed attitude, field of study, and asking salary as the primary factors they consider for hiring fresh graduates.
WOMEN CLOSING GENDER PAY GAP WOMEN graduating from university in developing markets in 2020 could be the first generation to close the gender pay gap in their lifetime, according to new research from Accenture. The report, Getting to Equal 2017, reveals that within decades, the pay gap could close if women take advantage of three career equalizers and if business, government and academia provide critical support. With these changes, the pay gap in developed markets could close by 2044, shortening the time to pay parity by 36 years. In developing markets, the changes could cut more than 100 years off the time to reach pay parity, achieving it by 2066 instead of 2168. “The future workforce must be an equal workforce. The gender pay gap is an economic and competitive imperative that matters to everyone, and we must all take action to create significant opportunities for women and close the gap more quickly,” said Accenture senior managing director and technology lead in the Philippines Ambe Tierro. Accenture’s research found that globally, a woman earns an average $100 for every $140 a man earns. Adding to this imbalance is the fact that women are much less likely than men to have paid work (50 percent and 76 percent, respectively). This contributed to a “hidden pay gap” that increases the economic inequities between men and women: for every $100 a woman earns, a man earns $258, the research shows. The research also identifies several critical factors that affect a woman’s ability to achieve equal pay as early as university. Female undergraduates in the Philippines are currently less likely than their male counterparts to choose an area of study that they believe offers high earning potential, have a mentor or aspire to senior leadership positions. Additionally, young women lag in adopting new technologies quickly and in taking coding and computing courses. The report, which builds on Accenture’s 2016 research on closing the gender gap in the work place, offers three powerful accelerators to help women close the pay gap: digital fluency – the extent to which people use digital technologies to connect, learn and work; career strategy – the need for women to aim high, make informed choices; and manage their careers proactively; tech immersion – the opportunity to acquire greater technology and stronger digital skills to advance as quickly as men Applying these career accelerators, combined with support from business, government and academia, could reduce the pay gap by 35 percent by 2030, boosting women’s income by $3.9 trillion. Accenture surveyed more than 28,000 women and men, including undergraduates, in 29 countries. Othel V. Campos