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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
The prize of guts
By Gigie A. Agtay
WHO would have thought that these two carefree-looking ladies from Luzon would find business luck in Davao City?
The gutsy duo behind the 5-year-old Bulbagaba Restobar in Taboan at the Matina Town Square (MTS) was initially half-hearted to operate a resto bar.
First, they didn't have the business management training to start one. Second, a friend, Dr. Maricar Lim decided to defer her plans as their business partner. And third, they were simply not ready to gamble on a business venture in a strange place like Mindanao.
In the early 2000, then 23-year-old Myra G. Tolentino relocated to Davao City upon the prodding's of close friend Julia Bartola Mallilin, a dealer of medical books who had been to Davao on several business trips. Fresh from an emotional setback, Myra wasted no time, packed her things and bid goodbye to her family in Angeles, Pampanga. Myra, a BS Tourism undergraduate of the University in Baguio, and Julia or Tola, a BS Mass Communications graduate of the Far Eastern University in Manila, wove friendship way back in the late 1090s at a boarding house in Baguio City.
Fast forward...Barely six months in Davao, Myra along with Tola found this newly-built Taboan. With only P200,000 in capital, they opened Bulbagaba in June 2000 -- the second business establishment at the Taboan Strip next to Captain Grill.
The name Bulbagaba was inspired by the famous "Flinstone" cartoon, Myra said. True to its name the restobar has come a long way since it's opening. It's senior bar at the Taboan strip "Captain Grill" saw an ownership turnover and is now called "Goat's Eye." Regular customers keep coming back for Bulbagaba's specialties -- the authentic Kapampangan Crispy Sisig and the Ilocano Dinakdakan, a mixture of pork "maskara," onions, seasoning, cream and dabbed with ox brain.
Bulbagaba originally had a male cook from Pampanga. Within a year, he trained a female local in the kitchen before moving back to Luzon. Now, Bulbagaba has introduced a variety of dishes like the Bulalo Steak, Pancit Lukban (from Lukban, Quezon), and Laing (a Bikolano delicacy), all of them have become the customers' favorites. For the Bicol Express lover, Bulbagaba sells the bottled one that comes all the way from Camalig, Albay.
In managing their business, Tola considers her people as their biggest asset. She said, "My principle is to have a good relationship with my staff. I consider them our business partners because they are the ones helping us run the business."
Myra and Tola are hands-on businesswomen. They do the opening and the closing of the resto bar including their "Tawin" boutique at the NCCC Mall in Ma-a.
"It's simply management by example to generate respect from our staff," Tola said.
Bulbagaba employs six people from Davao City--a cook with an assistant, a dishwasher, and three regular waiters on weekdays and one "on-call" waiter on weekends. After more or less three years of diligence and hard work, the duo recovered their capital.
Myra describes the first few years of the business venture as "very, very difficult and challenging." She even recalls how business can be so slow especially on weekdays and on rainy days. Myra and Tola are, however, optimistic that there is bright hope for entrepreneurs like them. Along with that optimism is their plan to branch out come 2006.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (October 26, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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