Livelihood projects make entrepreneurs out of housewives

CEBU, Philippines - Full-time mothers-turned-entrepreneurs Jorenda Desamparado, Maria Theresa Ventanilla and Elna Marba now hate to be called plain housewives.

Call them empowered housewives — these three residents of Mandaue City chose to break free from the ordinary homemaker’s life and ventured into selling different kinds of food products.

Desamparado bakes and sells pan-bisaya or native bread in Barangay Opao, Ventanilla makes special delicacies in Barangay Basak, while Marba does home-made ice cream in Barangay Paknaan.

Shelling out a measly amount of starting capital, these three self-confessed business-minded mothers find a unique feeling of happiness only people like them can experience: the joy of seeing their kids grow while contributing to the family’s coffers at the same time, all in the comforts of home.

More than just the financial requirement, however, Ventanilla admitted that her passion for making delicacies is her foremost asset. A native Tagala, she has a meticulous taste on fine food.

Ventanilla began by offering free food to her colleagues in their church during meetings. “When they found out that my sapin-sapin tasted great, the orders started pouring in,” she said.

Her sapin-sapin, composed of three layers of ube, melon and malagkit rice, sells at P140 per order. Apart from sapin-sapin, she also takes orders for crispy dilis (buwad) at P60 per 150 grams, leche flan at P100 per order, ube haleya (jam) at P100 per order and the veggie puto cheese for the diet-conscious at P5 each.

“Although my business depends on seasonal demand, the regular demand is there. It’s a kind of business where you’re number one endorser is the customers themselves,” Ventanilla said, referring to how her delicacies became “a word of mouth” in their locality.

As for Desamparado, it took her three tries before perfecting the quality and taste of her native bread. The first try did not have the taste she wanted, while in the next attempt, the bread were baked too big for a retail price of P5.

“At first, customers mocked around. They would say ‘Walay pan-Amerkano diha’? Things like that. As an entrepreneur, you must not give in to these things. You must have the heart to keep doing what you have started,” she said.

Desamparado remembered that her initial cash outlay was only about P1,200. She used this money to buy a hand-made oven for P1,000, and the rest she spent on ingredients like flour, sugar, yeast, milk, etc.

One piece of pan-bisaya is sold at P5, but customers could get an extra one for free if they buy in bulks of 20 pieces, she  said, adding that her bread jams with any kind of drink, whether hot coffee, chocolate or cold juice.

Her neighbors eventually became her regular patrons. Now, she also has individual sellers who trade her pan-bisaya around their place. Her dream is to put up the first pan-bisaya bakery in Cebu.

With just about P1,000, Marba likewise humbly sent her ice cream business to a takeoff.

Marba said she started with only a few utensils and one ice cream container. Now, she has four containers already, thanks to the regular demand she enjoys during hot weather.

Learning the ropes of the ice cream-making business from her friend, Marba did not have a formal training on the trade but she assured her consumers that she strictly enforces the rules on sanitation when it comes to food handling.

“Kay pagkaon gud na, so kinahanglan limpyo gyud pirmi (Since we deal with food, we have to make sure that our goods are always clean),” Marba said.

Her ice cream comes in varied flavors, among them chocolate, mango, ube, avocado, and many more.

Ventanilla, Desamparado and Marba wrapped up that love should always be present when doing the job, especially when one cooks or bakes. “Kun happy ka nagluto o naghimo’g pan, mogawas na siya sa resulta nga lami pud. Apan kun duna kay problema, makabantay ka nga mura’g di mao ang timpla.”

The three mothers are actually beneficiaries of Kapamilya Negosyo Na (KNN), which helps deserving small enterprises by providing them some amount of seed capital.

After successfully complying with the requirements of KNN, they were able to get a maximum of P10,000 in additional capital to further their businesses. (FREEMAN)