Chef Randy Molina is considered as a celebrity chef in one of the top restaurants in Papua New Guinea for years. But upon marrying his wife and having twin sons, he realized that he could no longer be apart from his family. With a heart full of longing for his family and backed up with small savings, he decided to return home for good.
As a father and a provider, Chef Randy entered into various small food businesses. In 2015 he managed to establish a small food corner in Calamba serving his signature Tapsi. His Tapsi venture went good for a while but then he realized that its business operations required too much of his time to the point that it was already taking a toll on his health.
In 2016, after gradually giving up his Tapsi business, Chef Randy started to venture into selling Sushi and Maki online. At first, he was just receiving few orders but then later on, it eventually grew customer patronage which asks them to do catering to events like wedding, birthdays, gatherings and some corporate events.
In 2017, after a year of serving Maki and Sushi online, Chef Randy and his wife Ms. Aillen Molina were started contemplating on the idea of putting up a small food stall in Calamba. They started to work on it by first acquiring Business Name registration from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and that’s when Oishii Maki by Chef Fuzion was born.
Despite the lack of business technical knowledge of the owners, Oishii Maki’s first ever store was opened in September of 2017 at – then newly opened CITYMall branch in Calamba. The customer’s response was overwhelming that in no time, they were able to open additional stores under someone else’s management.
In late 2018, one of DTI Laguna’s Business Counsellor Roxanne Fatima Garcia happened to stumble upon one of their branches. It was then that Oishii Maki by Chef Fuzion started receiving various counselling and detailed assistance from DTI. As a Negosyo Center Business Counsellor, Ms. Garcia saw immediately the potential of their product and brand. Securing an IPO registration was immediately recommended by Ms. Garcia which its Certificate of Registration from IPO was later then released after its publication on December 9, 2019.
Later on, as their brand becomes stronger and continually receives positive feedback from customers, thru the help and continuous counselling and assistance of Negosyo Center Binan City, Chef Randy decided to finally open it to franchising. Just in time when DTI R4A headed by Regional Director Marilou Toledo in partnership with Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. (AFFI) launched its hAFFI Franchising Bootcamp. hAFFI is a three-day boot camp, where entrepreneurs learn how to turn their business into a viable franchise.
Unfortunately, Chef Randy wasn’t able to made into the hAFFI’s list due to his busy schedule. But being a persistent DTI Negosyo Center Business Counsellor, Ms. Garcia provided an extensive series of comprehensive assistance which includes:
- Market Research, which helped their brand to identify their potential franchise market which later on became as their basis for developing a compelling value proposition for the launching of their franchise system.
- Business Development framework, which enables them to connect with both potential clients and possible sales channel which includes commercial establishments including SM, Robinsons among others.
- Product Development and Technology Facilitation, which was done by linking them with independent graphic designer, a client also of DTI Negosyo Center Binan City who became in-charge with the enhancement of their brand in terms of graphic design needs.
- And to top it all, with the help of a corporate lawyer and a CPA, Chef Randy was given a comprehensive Franchise Agreement which is now being used as a guideline for both franchisee and franchisor.
Today, Oishii Maki by Chef Fuzion has 17 operational stores across Luzon and is set to open 4 more stores within the second quarter of 2020, giving jobs to almost 80 staffs and providing business opportunities to aspiring entrepreneurs.♦
Date of Release: 6 April 2020
By: NCBC Roxanne Fatima Garcia, NC Binan I