This is a story of how a small business became a successful food cart franchise.
Rolly Divino Jr. started his siomai business on July 29, 2009 with only only 1kg of pork. He was in charge of everything—purchasing, production, delivery and collection.
As the years went by, the number of orders increased which enabled him to hire and train people as assistants. Eventually, his business grew, thus the birth of Buk-an’s Siomai & Food Cart on February 28, 2012, as a DTI registered business name.
Buk-an’s Siomai offers mouth-watering siomai, siopao & other products made from quality local pork, which made the customers keep coming back.
A planned business expansion failed, however, as he has lacked formal training and knowledge on how to run the business properly.
Fortunately, Divino learned of a program by the Department of Trade and Industry called Kapatid Mentor Me Program, which taught short business management courses to MSME entrepreneurs like him.
He also secured loans from the DTI and help from the Department of Science and Technology to expand his production plant and upgrade his machinery. His production plant grew from an 80 sq. meter kitchen-type business to a 341 sq. meter production plant.
As the business grew, it started supplying to all 8 Iloilo Supermart branches and various food carts within Iloilo City, Iloilo Provinces, Guimaras. and Antique. Thereafter, the company launched its own food cart brand on September 22, 2017, in Mohon, Arevalo, Iloilo City.
Along the way he also encountered problems, most notably the 40 percent increase in the price of local pork, as well as difficulties in handling employees.
Despite all these, he kept the business running, putting his customers as the top priority.
Valuable lessons learned by successful entrepreneurs
The very first thing that people notice about a successful entrepreneur is that he makes a lot of money. But to gain all of those, an entrepreneur needs to go through a lot of struggles and challenges.
We all dream of becoming successful one day. But not everyone has the guts to face adversities, thinking that success is due to luck.
I don’t believe in such luck. Whatever you are today is the result of what you do. If you put a lot of effort into something that you are interested in, you would eventually see that your business would grow. And that is exactly what Mr. Rolly Divino, Jr. did.
He did not give up because he wanted to give a better future for his family. And with his hard work, he helped his family and also became instrumental in helping others succeed, as well.
Rolly and his wife Melody participated in the “My Franchise My Work” program, conducted by the Franchise Guru, where they learned to craft their franchise business.
It takes a lot of time and effort to make things possible. It is all in God’s perfect time.