FOOD entrepreneurs of today should not just merely focus on boosting their presence online but also to strike a balance in terms of onsite visibility.
For Raquel Moras of Hyderabad Dine-in, running a business during the Covid-19 pandemic has been challenging, especially as she admitted that she wasn’t a techie person.
“I found it very hard to mix online and offline in the business. But again, I believe, in every predicament, there is always an opportunity,” she said.
Hyderabad started in Banilad, Cebu City in 2019. The business has been part of Sugbo Mercado since February 2021.
“Sugbo Mercado has opened a lot of challenges for us and opportunities too. Since we opened in Sugbo Mercado, from one branch, we now have five branches,” Moras revealed during the Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) Youth Can Do It event by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021.
YEP
YEP aims to equip, enable and enhance the Filipino youth’s entrepreneurial skills to foster a healthy Philippine business ecosystem now and for the future.
DTI 7 Director Maria Elena Arbon said despite the advantages of the digital space, there is still a need to establish personal connections within the market for entrepreneurs to be well aware of what their consumers want and need.
“We are feeling the loss of personal connection. That’s why we began with the networking because as entrepreneurs, I believe we really need to network. Zoom is super efficient, but there’s an element that we need--human connection that gets lost in it,” she said.
Although the online space expands the entrepreneur’s reach, Arbon said for more meaningful business-to-business relationships, there should be physical face-to-face outlets for businesses.
JP Chiongbian, LEB Holdings Inc. president and creator of Let’s Eat Bai and Sugbo Mercado, said to maximize the market’s presence online it should be paired with physical presence as well.
“The two have to really co-exist during the pandemic,” he said.
Chiongbian said before the pandemic, entrepreneurs built a brand and created a cult following in order to fulfill their dreams in major malls.
“We noticed we lost several entrepreneurs because it’s hard to compete with national, local and international franchises with exorbitant prices for space for minimal capital start-ups,” he said.
Chiongbian said with Sugbo Mercado they are able to help startup entrepreneurs gain traction, which eventually lead them to open in malls or expand in commercial strips.