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This was what Farah Kharen Orosco told wedding and event organizers about her business of selling chocolate candy bars to would-be couples, birthday celebrators and school prom guests.
For a business that began with just P2,000, Orosco is having the last laugh: her return on equity is impressive. In eight months since she established her business, Orosco has posted gross earnings of P##,000.
“I’m still here and so is my business, which is booming. It just means you can’t put a good woman down,” Orosco told The Manila Times.
Indeed, Orosco has shown that persistence, hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit can make a difference in the cutthroat world of business.
The eldest of three daughters of retired Armed Forces of the Philippines doctor, Col. Christopher C. Orosco, Farah’s entry into direct selling was through a network of friends, contacts in two schools where she teaches, and list of people downloaded from the Internet.
Always keeping in mind her mother’s lesson that everybody should work hard to earn even for a peso, the feisty 28-year-old set out in the summer of 2004 to find her business niche.
Since she graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, Farah spent hours on the website of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), studying business products, trends and opportunities.
“That time, I just finished teaching entrepreneurship in the food and nutrition sector and saw how my students enjoyed meeting a class requirement of building a business on just P2,000,” Farah told The Times. “I thought then that I had to also go through the process.”
She said she thought of putting up a restaurant but that type of business required a lot of money.
“So I had an inventory of my strengths: small capital, network, skills and knowledge,” Farah said adding that she bought molding cups, printed brochures and spent hours sending these via snail and electronic mails to weddings and events coordinators.
Her family’s support was very valuable, as her mother refused to charge her for the use of the oven, gas and telephone. She also used their house in Lagro Subdivision, in Quezon City, as office and minifactory.
She remembers fighting off sleep to bake and pack an estimated 1,000 chocolate bars for the Ateneo de Manila junior-senior prom. That hard work paid off since she earned a gross of more than P10,000 for this client alone.
Her mother also gave out samples of each of the four flavors of Farah’s chocolate candy bars: cookies and cream, white chocolate, choco krispies, and white pandan. By October she joined a weddings trade fair after reading and linking up with the weddings@work website. She put up her first booth at SM Megamall at a trade fair sponsored by The Wedding Library shop. Her fifth booth was at the Rockwell Plant Mall in August.
“I credit my critics for bringing me this far,” Farah said adding that if not for the comments that she will fail, she thinks she wouldn’t have the drive to prove her critics wrong.
However, she said she also believed in her product, which she said is very important for those going into business.
“Have your own formula and be unique. Because if you do, you’ll stand out,” Farah told The Times. Still, she added, the businesswoman must have the heart and the patience to overcome the challenges thrown her way.
The world doesn’t look kindly on women, especially women who act independently, think wisely, and out to prove many people’s perception of them wrong, Farah said.
While aiming for her first million pesos, Farah said she can’t imagine herself outside the classroom. Currently, Farah teaches a class of 38 students each at St. Paul’s College and La Consolacion College in Manila and is trying to finish her master’s degree in Food Service Administration at the University of the Philippines.
What she gets from teaching she spends for her daily needs as well as the needs of her family.
She said everything she earns from her business she plows back by buying raw materials, contacting potential clients via short message sending and e-mail, printing new wrapper designs and other capital expenses.
“I’m enjoying my teaching, my business, and the people who support me,” said Farah, who now have clients as far as Canada and as near as Pampanga.
“There is still hope for business in the country because there are young entrepreneurs,” she said.
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