Home is where the business is

MANILA, Philippines - Some people can take a nugget of an idea, do some work with it and end up creating a successful business plan that would dazzle you with its simplicity.

It could start from a mere moment of realization, an inspired ideal, or even just a personal need for something that grew into so much more.

In the home kitchen of GJ and Maricel Jimenez, for instance, baking pies was just a hobby, nothing more. The only time the baked goods ever left the house was for gatherings or as gifts to friends and co-workers.

Along the way, while the couple dabbled in other small-scale business ventures, Maricel’s pies were quietly making their way into other people’s homes via the occasional order from friends for other friends.

The epiphany came when the couple realized that the orders they were getting were now akin to something a full-time bakery would get and so the first few seeds of an idea were sown.

GJ, the official salesman thanks to his experience in marketing and product management, started off selling his wife’s pies to already established restaurants and bakeshops.

“Fortunately, we were able to strike good business relationships with some of the most popular and top food establishments in Metro Manila,” said GJ.

After Maricel’s stint at a morning show on a local network, the orders started getting too big for the home kitchen, so the Jimenezes decided it was time to take it up a notch. They decided to open their own bakeshop.

A “friendly loan” was obtained from their parents, GJ quit his job to devote all his time to their biggest venture yet and Maricel worked on her recipes to make it more professional-grade. Soon they were ready and Banapple 1 officially opened its doors to the public in March 2007 in Quezon City.

Banapple, a name taken from a combination of two of their best-selling pies, the Bannoffee (Banana Toffee) and the Apple Caramel Crumble pie, started out slow, with just friends coming in and the occasional walk-in customer.

Now, four years down the road and with five branches to its name, Banapple is still reeling in the profits. Their menu had, by now, expanded to include more than just pies and cakes. Customers now also come in for their scrumptious but affordable pastas, salads and sandwiches.

What started out as a little bakeshop ultimately took on the air of a neighborhood corner café.

‘Cristalle’ clear beauty

She wanted to “make the Philippines the most beautiful country in the world, one person at a time.”

The problem with Dr. Vicki Belo’s dream, however, was that not everyone could afford the procedures and treatments she offered in her clinics. Undeterred, she decided it was time to create a product line aimed at catering to a wider audience, but how to get it out there stumped her.

Enter Cristalle Belo Henares.

Cristalle, Dr. Vicki Belo’s only daughter, immediately put together a team of Fast Moving Consumer Goods Professionals aimed at, rather aptly, quickly getting the products off the ground.

Relying on her Business Administration background, Cristalle decided to create Intelligent Skin Care Inc. (ISCI), a separate but congruent entity from the Belo Medical Group.

Under the ISCI banner, she conceptualized a tactical marketing plan that would sell not only the beauty products but also the years of research and experience that her mother had put into them.

In May 2007, ISCI was ready to launch its initial line: the Belo Essentials whitening products. So great was the launch and reception of the product line that only six months after it’s unveiling, SM Supermarket proclaimed it the Breakthrough Product of The Year.

The following years would see ISCI launch other product lines, namely Belo Essentials Sun Expert, Belo Men and Belo Nutraceuticals, with the foremost garnering accolades left and right. Each new line created fresh marketing challenges for Cristalle but she welcomed it all.

She further revealed that at some point in her life she had considered following in her mother’s medical footsteps. Clearly, though, with the success she has attained in managing her mother’s products, Cristalle has forged her own path.

Indigo, color of passion

Red is the more commonly known color of passion. But for moms Denise Christine Sehwani Gonzales and Monica Eleazar, Assumption graduates and self-professed “soul sisters,” it’s the color indigo.

As co-creators of INDIGObaby, the fastest-growing online store for eco-conscious moms, Denise and Monica have taken a relatively tame color and made it feisty.

The idea for INDIGObaby came about when both women gave birth to kids a month and a day apart. Each had at this point decided they both wanted to take care of their children independently, without the aid of nannies. And with that wish came the desire to have high-quality products that would not harm the health of their children and the environment.

Finally it was time to put the plan into action. With each giving P100,000 into the venture, they set about looking for materials, tailors and designers for their first product launch, a line of nursing bibs and nappy clutches, while remaining true to their passion for attachment parenting and green living.

They introduced their line at a Rockwell bazaar in November 2007.

“We were so funny because we brought all of our 300 bags to the bazaar thinking they’d sell like pancakes and be sold out in one day. We’ve learned a lot since then,” quipped Denise.

What was it they learned? It pays to have an online store and good friends in the media. Having quality products to sell doesn’t hurt either.

Now, INDIGObaby is running on its third year, with their products continually being sold online and in specialty shops like Sesou and the Echostore, stores that promote natural, locally manufactured products.

Three stories. Six people. Each a perfect partnership. Each an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs all over the Philippines.

And on Sept. 23, at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, they are set to receive an award from Go Negosyo, an advocacy of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, at this year’s Young Entrepreneurs Summit.

Dubbed the Go Negosyo Young STARpreneurs award, the Jimenezes, Cristalle, Denise and Monica are among the awardees who have come up with successful businesses that have helped curb unemployment, created quality goods for the market and, in some small way, helped lessen poverty.

The third Young Filipino Entrepreneurs Summit aims to gather together the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

Various companies have showed full support for the summit and its advocacies: PLDT SME Nation, Smart Communications, RFM Corp., BPIF Ka-Negosyo, Avon Cosmetics, Condura, Multiply.com, Orchard Property Marketing Corp., Isuzu i-Van, LBC Group of Companies, Unilever Phils., Mang Inasal (Injap Sia), The Philippine STAR, and GMA-7.