Business,
co.lab,
Misisadventures,
Trade School Manila,
Witty Will Save the World
Trade School Manila: How to Build a Start Up According to Tita Witty
10:00 AM
It's not much of a secret to my friends that I am trying to start a small business. Last September 19, upon the suggestion of my friend Paula, I attended a class that Trade School Manila conducted at the co.lab in Kapitolyo, Pasig City.
I googled Trade School and found out that they always do barter classes. The lecturers will have a list of the things that they want, mostly simple things, and you will give as your payment for the class. For this class, I brought three packs of Winston Lights. I didn't know cigarettes are now priced at P50 a pack! Haha!
The class is How to Build a Start Up According to Tita Witty. Chinggay and Tonet of Witty Will Save the World discussed to a group of 20 how they started their business. Chinggay and Tonet are the brains behind the anti-coffeehouse planners that they started in 2010.
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| Photo from Witty Will Save the World's Facebook page. |
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| Chinggay and Tonet sharing their experiences on starting up their business. |
It all started with Chinggay getting tired of the coffeehouse planners getting all the attention during Christmas season. She had a million dollar idea of creating an anti-coffeehouse planner. She texted a lot of her college friends from UP and fortunately, only one replied -- Chinggay. She started writing and they got an artist to design it for them. They had 500 planners printed. They ended up selling 3,500 pieces of planners.
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| My classmates! |
Tonet is the right brain of the company aka the artist, and Chinggay is the left brain aka marketing, sales, etc. Their partnership works so well because they divide the labor between the two of them. After the success of their first planner, they thought it will be a good business. They kept doing it and even released a slumbook and a wedding guest book. You can check it out on their Facebook page.
Chinggay and Tonet gave us a few points on starting up a business.
1. Nothing beats the word of mouth. Their business grew because people kept talking about their planners. It was blogged, featured, and seen everywhere. Friends bought them, showed them to their friends, and friends of friends. That was the beginning of it. So go out there and flaunt your product. You may need to give some to some people so they can feature your product but that's just part of your investment.
2. Have something original. Although there are a lot of planners out there, Chinggay and Tonet's planners were different. Totally different. It was the first of its kind. It was that combination of jologs and witty planner. Even if there is a similar product, try to give yours its own personality. It is the same but is different. You know what I mean?
3. Find your niche in the market. If Louis Vitton is for the very rich, what is for the sort of rich? And for the middle class? The thing about Chinggay and Tonet is that they found their perfect market. It may take a while but according to Chinggay, time will come that you will find your perfect set of customers.
4. Don't be afraid to put a price tag on your product. This is always what my husband would always tell me. It's not just the product that they are paying for, they are also paying for your idea and your talent. You might need to check similar products in the market and see if your pricing is competitive. You can't sell a planner for P2,000. No one is going to buy that.
They also discussed the challenges of start ups. Of course, they gave us possible solutions.
1. Customer Service. Coming from a family of business minded people, I get what they mean. If your customer has a concern, you always make sure to address them right away. If the product is broken, make sure you replace them. Be reachable. We know people, they don't normally need a solution right away, just knowing that someone listens to them is enough. They've had a few problems with their planner like missing an entire month, or upside down printing, or late deliveries!
2. Cash Flow. Chinggay mentioned that they never really had a capital. They paid the printer after they got the payment from their customers. It was only until recently when they thought of giving themselves their own salary and saving up most of the money that comes in. It is hard, believe me. Especially for someone like me that has a lot of bills to pay for every month, all the money that comes in just goes there.
3. Production. They said that their first printer didn't ask for a downpayment. As I've mentioned, they paid them after they got payments from their customers. Clever girls! One time, they asked for advanced payments from their customers and promised that they will send the planners right away. Sadly, the prints came in very late. It was a mess! If you plan to sell products that are to be supplied by another party, make sure that it comes on time or you're dead to your customers. Give yourself a timeline, a deadline, a Plan A, and a Plan B. Always.
4. Quality. If we put our selves to the customers' shoes, we of course wants quality products. We won't accept substandard things. We want something that is worth our hard earned money. We as businessmen need to always put that in mind. People don't just shell out money because they want to waste them. We always have to check the quality of our products. As for me, I make my own products so it's easy to check them. If I think they don't look nice, I don't sell them.
That's it! It was a fun filled and very helpful class. Really looking forward to attend the Part 2 of this talk. Yay!
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| That's me with Chinggay and Tonet. |
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| This is the entire class! Photo from Trade School Manila's Facebook page. |
If you want to know more about the business that I'm starting, you can check it our HERE.
You can also check out Trade School Manila's website, co.lab, and Witty Will Save the World's Facebook page.
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