christmas morning

aaahhhhh life is beautiful!

just ranting

i know its christmas but can i just rant? i just cant believe a person could be full of negativity that she cant afford to say anything nice to someone even to her own family! you be nice to her and for sure, she'll say something against you. you keep quiet (to avoid those nasty things) and you end up being inconsiderate. so what to do? its impossible to avoid her. i understand that bad things and age had caused her to be that way, but c'mon!! it's so tiring and so so deafening to hear it all times!! all the complaints about every single thing. the 'bad things' that people do to her and not do to her. no matter how many times people around her tell her to do otherwise, she cant stop. oh well.

i just hope i don't end up like that.

PS: i dont mean to be mean here (its my personal blog anyway), i am just ranting ;)

financial learnings

2010 is about to end and it has been really tough for us especially on the financial side. the important thing is, we've learned and we are still standing. AND we have faith that God will see us through this.

oh, and did i say that these learnings had also cost us? sheesh. oh well. again, at least we've learned. let me put it into writing so we won't forget. hahaha!

when selling an item, learn to wait. give a time line before lowering the price. money down (fully paid) before giving it to the buyer even if its a relative or a trusted friend.     

never do business with MFB!

one won't really earn big by joining a bazaar. if you want to earn, make joining a bazaar a business. join regularly.

in a car accident, don't admit right away that it's your mistake. keep your cool. relax. get a police to assess the situation. 

when engaging into a new business, do not use your personal money especially if you just have enough. save some more or make a loan.

selling online could be somewhat difficult. one has to have a lot of network to be able to sell continously. buying items in another country and selling it here in the philippines is good. one just has to know the right products that will sell. if unsure, just try a few items first. otherwise, you'll be stuck with the products.

purchasing electronics in another country will cost less, true. but when shipped here, it will cost more because of taxes and customs dues. PLUS, when the unit gets defective, the authorized centers could repair it but it would also cost more since the parts had to be ordered abroad too.

 

don't own a credit card. period. :) if unavoidable, try to maintain just one (and only ONE) and keep the credit limit at a minimum. pay on time and in full.

 

it is ok to help other people. secure yourself and family first.

 

cheap items or buying items at a bragain does not really mean that it is of high quality. it is best to canvass and research. plus asking around helps too.

tithe. it will be an 'added expense', but base on experience, doing so will help you have enough resources for all of your expenses. honest!

God is amazing!

the few things i miss

there are a few things i miss about having a job in the corporate world especially during Christmas season. one is having the christmas bonuses. yup, bonusES! :)  i used to work in a very generous telecomms company that gives up to 21 months bonus! though our salary is low and that its taxable, still, i have been blessed for 7 years to have received it. aside from that, we also get to received a christmas package consisting of chocolates, cookies, chips, coffee, and food for noche buena such as spaghetti sauce, noodles, Nestle all purpose cream,  fruit cocktail, condensed mil etc. on top of it all, we get to receive 4 pieces of 1kg ham! 

i also miss the parties. funny, i used to not like attending the company's christmas parties. well, perhaps i just like the idea of having to have a christmas party to attend to. hehe.

i miss giving gifts. my gosh, with all those christmas bonuses, i could afford to give gifts! haha. well at least now, i get to choose who i want to give and the gift is really well thought of.  

i also miss receiving gifts of course from colleagues.

it's different now. i miss those things but i surely don't regret this new world where i am now. it's a time well spent with my family (especially that i dont have to work on Christmas day and even the new year), close friends (which is much better than with colleagues that you are "forced" to be with, and with loved ones. the gift of time and relationships are the best things that i could ever have and definitely i cant live without.

nanay

nanay, husband gelio's grandmother, passed away this morning...

messy world

there's so much things to be done this last quarter of the year and that's causing me stress. whats kinda frustrating about it is that it shows! vain! nah! it just shows that i have too many things at hand that i can't handle it all :(

whew! breathe in, breathe out.

since we closed the food cart business, all items are here at our humble abode. the cart, freezer, leftover stocks, etc.

some px goods are also stored here at home. me and my friends tried selling these stuff second quarter of this year. we still have leftover stocks and everything is here too.

we also have old clothes, toys, shoes, unclaimed bedsheets and comforters from the laundry shop which are for disposal. and yes, they are all here.

imagine what our house looks like now :( and sicne our house is small and we don't have a garage nor a storage area, everything is all around us. poor us.

i wish i could dispose all of it by first quarter next year. aside from garage sale and online selling, which i think i dont really have the gift for it, i don't know how else to dispose them. para na rin magign pera. hehe.

i read somewhere that if your area or workplace is messy, it means that your life is a mess. oh no! whether it's true or not, well for the moment it is true for me. :( not so good especially its the christmas season. i pray that everything will be clean soon.

franchise learnings

after just about three months in operation, we decided to finally close our food cart franchise business :'( we lost money, and staff but i am sure we did learn. we felt bad of course. the staff that we had to let go were really trustworthy and hardworking people. they did not want to go back to our laundry business. and we can't hold them right? they too need a job. and so they did look for other employers.

we also tried to look for a different location where we can place our food cart. the thing is, we can't afford yet the 3 months advance and 2 months deposit. also, we still have issues with our franchisor and the product itself that we want to put it to rest first.

so what did we learn from this food cart business?

1) it doesn't mean that if you like the product -- like in our case, corn -- a lot of people will like it too.

2) don't be in a hurry.

3) take seriously the things such as: market research, product study,  background check, company profiling, etc.

4) don't believe everything you see online or what you read. like in our case, MFB claims that they were awarder as the 2009 Best Filipino Foodcart Franchise Provider. base from our experience we now question their credibility. awards like this could be bought. i don't want to be mean, but our experience with them was really really that bad! we have a contract with them for 3 years. if that matters to them, or if WE the franchisor meant anything to them, they will wonder why we stopped operating right? we havent heard from them since the beginning. we do the follow ups even the repair of the cart (which was reported first day upon delivery), the signed and notarized contract, the orders, the defective items that they delivered, the poor quality of corn cobs, etc. if they are the BEST PROVIDER, how come we experience these? anyway, ill write a blog about them one of these days. one last thing, if they are the BEST, then where are the other franchisors? there is no COMMENT or TESTIMONIALS in their webpage.

5) consider all other costs such as taxes, permits, franchise fee (if any), profit share (if any), sanitation training (required for food business), other items not included in the package like the 12% VAT (MFB did not mention in their training that all items we get from them are not yet VAT inclusive), provision of fire extinguisher, garbage bags, tupperware, water, ice, and so on. little things but when summed up, will cost a lot.
6) if possible, get in touch with those people who have the same franchise and get feedback.

 

7) when getting a franchise, get the one with a name. it may not be as big as McDonald's or Jollibee, but there are other companies who could really give quality products AND service; who will be true to their word when they say that they will give support.

 

8) it pays to pay extra.  

 

9) to open a franchise, one should have enough money for unforseen circumstances.

 

10) pray. expect the worst and hope for the best.