Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Micro, small businesses find opportunities in gift-giving By Nancy R. Cudis Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WHAT is Christmas without gifts? The tradition of holiday gift-giving is helping several Cebu-based small businesses that specialize in gift items.
Jade Saducas Surban, a cake designer, noted a high demand for cakes and brownies at the onset of the holidays as many people prefer to give baked products as Christmas gifts.
She said the demand come from friends, relatives, visitors of her online social network accounts, regular customers and people to whom she had been recommended to.
“People want to give cakes because they want to give something different. Also, they can have (an experience) or their life drawn on the cake, which makes it a unique gift,” she said.
For Christmas, many customers would go for her brandied walnut sponge cake that costs P900 and P1,200, as well as assorted brownies with a price tag of P185 and P275. But all year round, she gets many orders for her customized and “naughty” cakes.
Earnings
She earns at least P5,000 a month from her cakes, which she considers her art. She maximizes her income by investing on equipment, buying cookbooks, enrolling in painting classes and buying a camera to document her cakes.
Surban, who began baking and selling macaroons in high school, is behind the pastry business Creole Cakes. She uses her residence in A.S. Fortuna, Mandaue City as her bakeshop.
She founded the business in 2002 as a hobby and a sideline job; she works as a senior financial analyst during the day.
“I am delighted whenever I make people happy by the cakes I make. At the same time, I am happy that I get to hone my artistic skills,” Surban said.
Roanne Yu, a medical student at Cebu Doctors’ University, has also grabbed the opportunity offered by increased spending during Christmas. She joined a bazaar in her hometown in Butuan to sell various items, like bags, dresses, blouses, and shorts.
She also maintains an online store at Multiply.com called Mariers, where she sells bags, shorts, dresses and blouses.
Internet
Yu, who started her small enterprise last summer, said that she would get five to 10 orders in a month, mostly bags. She earns at least P1,000 to P2,000 a month, which help augment her allowance.
She credited the sustained growth of her business to the Internet that she considers as a useful marketing tool for small and medium enterprises since she noticed that many people now prefer faster transactions.
Meanwhile, key chains, beaded necklaces and bracelets, as well as cellular phone accessories, are the sought-after gift items at family-owned Klacc Creation and Handicraft on Lopez Jaena St., Parian, Cebu City.
Selling fashion accessories for as low P10 to P20 for earrings and P15 to P60 for necklaces, Klacc Creation proprietress Rogelia Ferolino is hoping to earn more this holiday season.
Klacc Creation maintains a website to reach out to a wider market.
Ferolino said the family business is planning to come up with more designs to cater to the fashion tastes of its target market that includes locals and tourists.
