Villa Dizon was an OFW for nine years. She realized she was not able to guide nor spend time to know her children until one day her eldest daughter convinced her to come back in the Philippines and just open a business to finance their needs. In 2012, having doubts, she and her husband flew back to the Philippines. Nevertheless, they pondered on what business they will venture in? One day, her eldest daughter shared her struggles in studying, that she had a hard time looking for a place to study, so the concept of a coffeeshop with a fairy tale theme evolved from there. She thought that the idea of a crib makes you feel comfortable and you have your own space and you will be treated like a king or queen. This she felt was the dream that every mother would want her child to feel especially during exams and thesis writing. With the help of her daughters, she cooked and created the drinks while her daughters thought of the unique name of each food based on fairy tales. The business idea became a reality when she opened their first branch in Angeles City last November 2013.

 

Admittedly, without a business background, Villa Dizon had some difficulties in running her business. Having heard that the Department of Trade and Industry- Pampanga will launch Kapatid Mentor ME Program, without a doubt, she attended the orientation and became one of the mentees of the KMME. During the program, she learned eleven modules which would fully equip her in running her business. She realized that running a business entails preparation for future growth and expansion. According to her, she was able to finally put into writing the current state of her enterprise and she was able to identify areas for improvement.

 

As part of her business improvement plan, she is now in the process of establishing Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) for her products. She was able to adapt an Inventory Management System to systematically monitor and control her inventories. Moreover, she was able to release new line of products namely:

 

As for her financial plan, she hired an accounting clerk to properly record all business transactions and prepare financial statements every month. Likewise, the accounting personnel will compute the financial viability of the acquired packaging equipment. As for Villa Dizon, she now has more time to monitor the collection of sales.

 

Mrs. Dizon was able to help her fellow mentees by outsourcing their products to her business. After the KMME, she was able to order Twenty Thousand Pesos (Php 20,000) worth of cupcakes per month from Hashtag Sweets by Will, Twelve Thousand Pesos (Php 12,000) worth of pastillas per month from Indung Ivatan Sweets and Pastries, Two Thousand pesos (Php 2,000) worth of Camote powder from LGP Food Products and Twenty Five Thousand Pesos worth of Banana Chips from Big J Asher Banana Chips.

 

Truly, under KMME program, she was able to meet colleagues who later became her business partners.

 

Although there was increase in sales for 2017 due her business mistakes before, Villa Dizon is confident that 2018 will be a better year for the business, especially now that she has learned a lot from the Kapatid Mentor Me Program.♦