Ellice Chew and Brylle Uytiepo are among the new breed of millennial entrepreneurs who believe technology has enabled them to level the playing field and pursue
business growth.
Chew, owner of Empanada Nation, told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be competitive without the need to invest in expensive infrastructure.
“When one of our branches experienced a dip in sales, we decided to deploy Grab Food service. It was a positive move as that branch achieved a growth in sales because it was able to reach out to more clients,” she said.
She established Empanada Nation in 2009 by opening a store at Scout Rallos in Quezon City. Right now, Empanada Nation has six branches and plans to open four more branches in the country, the majority which are company-owned, while the rest are franchisees.
Basically, the business grew by word of mouth when people grew to like their products. Moreover, the introduction of Grab Delivery helped a lot boosting sales with more deliveries to customers.
Chew also learned to select their target markets properly. By introducing budget meals with an average price of P150, Empanada Nation was able to capture their market composed of workers from the business-process outsourcing industry and office workers.
The graduate of hotel and restaurant industry management graduate from the De La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde (DLSU-CSB) admitted that the food business is full of challenges, especially in the routine handling of inventory which requires closer monitoring. “You need to be hands on in running the business,” she explained.
Before opening Empanada Nation, Chew worked for three years in the hotel industry and rice trading business.
Slowly but surely, Chew said Empanada Nation is growing, even as she also said she experienced the ups and downs when she tried to operate a kiosk, “We realized later that our niche is in the restaurant business offering varieties of Ilocano dishes. “We learn from our mistakes,” she said.
Uytiepo, on the other hand, who is also a graduate of culinary arts at DLSU-CSB, believes the right training, a millennial mindset and use of technology are critical factors to expand their Liezel’s La Paz Batchoy.
It was an easy transition for Uytiepo as he grew up exposed in the family’s business since he was a kid. “Entrepreneurship has been in my DNA since I was a young boy and I was exposed to the business since it opened 10 years ago,” he said.
Being a millennial, Uytiepo was quite open in the use of technology to make the business more efficient and productive. “When Grab approached us to offer their food delivery service, we immediately signed with them,” he said. Right now, Liezel’s La Paz Batchoy has four branches located in Ermita, Iloilio, Parañaque and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.
He also credits DLSU-CSB for teaching the skills to run the business. “The [school] taught me to be a marketer, especially in the culinary business,” he said.
Meanwhile, Grab Philippines President Brian Cu said he is aware that technology plays an important role in helping SMEs expand.
“At Grab, we recognize
technology as a force for good and continue to level the playing field so that
SMEs can grow. Through our super app services like GrabFood,
GrabExpress and more, SMEs now have access to millions of users through an
online storefront, efficiency in logistics costs and incremental revenue,” Cu
said.
To help local businesses thrive and succeed, Grab also aims to put at least 1,000 SMEs on the map. This will allow businesses to be discoverable in-app so that consumers and driver-partners can easily locate them on Grab related transactions.
Anyone can nominate local businesses by filling out a form at the booth or by simply replying to Grab’s social-media channels.
“We are opening our doors to more SMEs in the Philippines who wish to be part of Grab’s ecosystem. Our goal is to tap more local businesses and help them reap the benefits of our connected super app services, which has already empowered thousands of entrepreneurs and enterprises to date,” Cu added.
“We have always been inspired by the power of technology when used for good, and we at Grab would like to harness that asset to empower more Filipinos to live better lives everyday, “ he said.