My 10-peso Sandwiches

September 12, 2014 by

If you see me a few pounds heavier than you last saw me, blame it on the 10-peso sandwiches! 😀

I’ve been selling sandwiches in front of our house for almost a month now.  They’re not fancy sandwiches, just plain ol’ ham, cheese, and egg sandwiches.  What made me decide to set up a snack table despite already having my hands full with ghostwriting, blogging, tutoring, and housechores?! I’m also asking myself that question!!! (Giving myself a big face palm as well!)

Seriously, I saw the market for sandwiches.  Since the kids started school and took the school service, I found myself waiting by our door for an hour before noon and another hour in the mid-afternoon.  During those times, workers from a nearby cemetery and mechanics from a car shop would flock the sari-sari store beside our house for snacks.  Most of the time, they would just buy biscuits or a peanut butter sandwich (the only variant that the store sells).  This was when I broached the subject of opening a small sandwich store to my husband.  Ever supportive of my undertakings, he bought me a small plastic cabinet and a panini grill.

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With handwritten signages and a plastic kitchen cabinet as stand, my little sandwich store looks like it was set-up by kids for a weekend sale.  One customer actually asked me if our store was a school project. 🙂 Add to that, our sandwiches cost only P10.  Since my target market are hard-working laborers who barely earn minimum wage, I decided to keep my profit margin small.  Ideally, food items must be sold with a markup of at least 100%.  Obviously, mine is much lower than that. Nevertheless, I’m happy to be earning even just a little ‘coz I’m able to provide others with affordable snacks.

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Aside from supplementing the family budget, we also learn a lot from selling sandwiches.

My kids learn to count money.  All our sandwiches are sold at only P10. Cupcakes and cake slices are at P5 each.  My little girl already knows how to skip count by 5s and 10s so she’s able to help me count money or give change.  The little boy’s still learning to do that but he can be tasked to get P10, P5, or P1 coins from the coin jar.

My kids learn the value of hard work. They know that the money in the jar doesn’t  just magically appear.  They know that Mama has to go to the market to buy ingredients, cook the ham and egg, prepare the sandwiches, and man the store.

I get a glimpsed of the outside world. 🙂  Sometimes when no one’s buying, I stop tapping on my keyboard and eavesdrop on the conversations outside.  So very impolite, I know, but some conversations are quite amusing. And for someone who has been cooped home most of the time for the last six years, I find it quite enjoyable interacting with people from all walks of life.

I learn to be humble.  There’s something very humbling about selling 10-peso sandwiches.  Here I am, in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, selling sandwiches and whatnots while most of my friends are decked in power suits and holding meetings in their offices.  Then I am reminded that all I ever asked God was to have children I could take care of – which is precisely what He has given me.  Yes, I’m merely selling sandwiches and doing odd jobs online, but I get to take care of my children and spend most of my time with them. It’s a good trade-off for me. 🙂

We’re barely earning the equivalent of minimum wage but who knows, if this picks up, we could turn it into a decent snack house. If that happens, we’d be able to provide employment to a couple of workers too. So, if you see our sign, please do stop for a while and buy a couple of sandwiches. They’re worth only P10 each. 🙂

Filed Under: Business Savvy Moms, Mom's Corner Tagged With: ,

Home-based Business Essentials

March 5, 2014 by

One of the many wonders of the internet is that it has enabled us moms to help augment family income while staying at home to care for our children. Home-based businesses are now easier to market through online avenues such as websites, social networks, and online market places. That doesn’t mean though that starting your own business would be a walk in the park.

After deciding on your products or services and finding a market for them, here are a few other things you need to set up your business:

  1. Business Cards and Brochures. Yes, most of your marketing will be done online but you would still have those occasional business meetings and events. If you’re selling consumable food items, your neighborhood would most likely be your primary market. In this case, flyers and brochures would help get the word out. You can opt to have your cards and brochures by commercial printers or print them yourself on your home printer. However, printing business cards and brochures alone cannot help you in marketing your business. You need to give them a flawless finishing touch. Many successful business owners often recommend cutting and creasing flyers and brochures using modern technological tools like creasers and slitters. That being said, you can acquire great slitters cutters creasers at an affordable price range from online shops like Duplo International. Remember that the finishing touch adds more appeal to your marketing materials.
  2. Business Website. Aside from being an effective marketing tool, a business website and email lend professionalism to your home-based business. You want to be perceived as a serious entrepreneur and not a bored mom in pajamas. Having a website just seems a lot more professional to people on the outside. If you’ve got the basics sorted, but are interested in taking your website further by understanding SEO better, it may be beneficial to check out sites like mississaugaseoguy.com, in the hopes of getting some help from professionals who can lead you on the right track and assist you in creating a website that you are actually proud of. Plus, it showcases what you have to offer to potential customers. Once you’ve thought about creating a website, it would be in your best interest to read this hostpapa review, as this may help you identify what you should look out for when looking for the right web host provider. Without one, you’re website won’t be visible on the internet.

    To do this, you may want enlist the services of a development agency to get you a professional looking and functional website.

  3. Workstation. A home office is ideal but a small nook would do as well. Having a workstation sets a boundary between home and work. Once business is booming, you can opt to have a phone line installed exclusively for business use. That way, your customers’ calls won’t be answered by your 10-year-old who’d most likely bellow “Mom!!!”.

Filed Under: Business Savvy Moms, Mom's Corner

Choosing The Right Home Office Chair

February 21, 2014 by

Among the many perks of being a work-at-home-mom is that we get to work anywhere we want. I know some of my WAHM friends spend most of the day on their beds running their online shops or writing articles using their laptops. There are those who’d rather work on the kitchen table perched on their favorite stools. A few opt for the comfy couch in the living room. Almost all of them do have their own nooks at home which have been turned into a home office but would rather stay in a more comfortable place. There are loads of other perks to working at home as well, as it can also affect youwr energy bills. Depending on how much time and space takes up your business at home you can take a look at having business energy instead of residential energy. This might help you save some money on your energy bills. For more information, why don’t you check out someone like Simply Switch who can tell you how much you might save if you can switch to business energy.

Even when you’re just working at home, it’s still important to choose the right office chair. You might say that the couch is so much softer or that the bed is more relaxing; however, there is such a thing as a comfortable office chair, you know. Ergonomic chairs are now much kinder to our bodies than chairs of yore. Speaking of chairs from long ago, you’d be surprised to know who was among the innovators of the very first office chair! Check out the infographic below:


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Thanks to technology, office chairs now are no longer just straightback chairs with wheels drilled into them. They now come with adjustable backrests, swivels, casters, and arm rests. They also come in every imaginable design and color. More than the design and color, here are some features that you must consider having in your own home office chair:

  • Adjustable Backrests. Choose a chair that has a back rest separate from the seat and that can be adjusted to your height. Something like the aeron chair could be a perfect fit if you need high levels of adjustability, but whichever chair you pick should also allow some forward or backward movement(tilt) that enable you to move while providing ample support.
  • Adjustable Lumbar Support. To avoid lower back pains, choose a chair that has excellent lumbar support. This would help maintain that natural curve of your spine for a healthier posture. As with the backrest, look for lumbar support that can be adjusted to your natural curve.
  • Sufficient Padding. A chair padding that is too soft would not provide ample support while one that is too hard would cause pain after a few hours. Make sure that your chair is comfortable enough to keep you relaxed during long hours of work.
  • Swivel and Casters. You have got to love those who invented these! They provide us mobility and help us use our workspace more efficiently, to allow for all the various Office Supplies that are needed on a day-to-day basis.

After you’ve found the perfect office chair for your home office, keep in mind though that spending hours and hours sitting on a chair – no matter how comfy it is – is detrimental to your health. There are easy ways to cut your sitting timeby making some adjustments in your daily routine. One of which is getting up for water breaks more often. You’d be hitting two birds with one stone at that – getting more physical activity and increasing water intake.

Filed Under: Business Savvy Moms, Mom's Corner

Help for Would-Be Entrepreneurs

February 11, 2014 by

After finding out about the free briefing sessions offered by the Department of Trade and Industry, I explored their website to see what other services they offered entrepreneurs or those who are still on the planning stage. It was a pleasant surprise that to learn that DTI has business counselors who provide free counselling services to would-be or existing entrepreneurs. To those who have no time to visit any of DTI’s MSME Centers, there’s a host of resources available on the website that can be downloaded to guide you in planning and starting your business. If you’ve started your business and are looking for software solutions to give your workflow a boost, particularly when it comes to the financial side of things, try lease accounting software to help you out so that you can spend more time dealing with other important issues.

Starting a Business

The Start Your Business section includes downloadable handbooks to help you brainstorm on a business idea. If you need help creating your own Business Plan, there’s a sample available and a thorough explanation on how you can identify the factors that are critical to your business. The most helpful information I found here are the downloadable files for various business ideas such as Beauty Salon, Herbal Bath Soap, Water Refilling Station, and various food products. There’s a handy business primer for each business type that details how much investment one needs to start the business, computations of product costs and projected income, and even suggestions on where to borrow capital for your new business venture. If you would like any extra help planning your product or sourcing a manufacturer for your product then you might want to look at the services Gembah offer. Now you would know that your business would not just comprise of you and that you would need all the help you need to expand and grow your venture. Protecting your business, which relies on the skills and activities of the individuals involved in your business is of utmost importance. In cases such as these, you could decide to not only get insurance for your business, but also for key employee insurance, which makes your business the beneficiary. Losing an important member of your team to an unfortunate event could surely mean the demise of your company, which is surely not a desirable option for your newly started venture.

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Centers

I haven’t been to one so I can’t tell how helpful they really are but from the information in the DTI website, you can apparently get free business counseling from MSME Centers nationwide.

MSME Centers provide business consultancy and advisory services; MSME information brochures, newsprints, and business reports; assistance in preparation of feasibility studies and business plans; and coordination of entrepreneurship and management training. They also facilitate business name registration and business linkages between buyers and suppliers.

These services would indeed be very helpful to those who want to start their own businesses this year. If you are a would-be entrepreneur, do go to www.dti.gov.ph for more information on how to set up your own business.

Filed Under: Business Savvy Moms, Mom's Corner Tagged With:

Know More About Business Taxation for FREE

February 11, 2014 by

Starting a business but not sure how to go about it? Do you want to know more about business taxation and to understand financial statements? If yes, check out DTI’s schedule of FREE Briefing Sessions for SMEs every Tuesday of this month.  You’ve already missed the sessions on starting a business, licensing, BMBE law, and trademarks BUT you can still catch the sessions on business taxation and financial statements. Call 751-5076 or 897-1693 for more information.

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SME Briefing Sessions are held FREE of charge at the BMSMED Training Room at the 5th floor of the Trade and Industry Building in Makati City.  They are on a first-come-first-served basis with limited seats so please call beforehand.

Filed Under: Business Savvy Moms, Mom's Corner Tagged With:
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