Interviewer: Tell us about yourself. State your name, age, address, and where you're from.

Interviewee: My name is Robert Gil Villajin. My age is 30 years old. I'm living at Cainta Rizal. My major is
Civil technology. My experience in my business is four years. And our business is Scented Candle. We
have a coffee shop. I also have a small rice shop. I also have an ice cream shop. I'm also a franchiser.

Interviewer: How many years have you been operating this business?
Interviewee: This coffee shop is one and a half year. But the other business, we started four years ago.

Interviewer: What is the location of your business?

Interviewee: It's in Lupang Arianda, Taytay Rizal

Interviewer: What do you offer in your business?

Interviewee: We offer coffee and tea. Big siomai, siopao, and hot drinks, ice cream, fries, and snacks.
We design stickers.

Interviewer: Are you a franchiser?

Interviewee: Yes, I'm a franchiser.

Interviewer: How do you prepare yourself? Academically and experience-wise. How do you prepare
yourself for your business?
Interviewee: I prepare myself as an operations manager. I mix self-learning, experience, and continuous
improvement. I attend various business seminars. Seminars are important for you to be successful in
your business. Seminars can help you. There are mentors who will give you knowledge on how to start a
small business. How to grow your business. How to market your business. How to manage your
operations. And how to manage your finances. How to manage your finances.

Interviewer: Did you learn about this kind of business during your college days?
Interviewee: No, it was through seminars. My friends helped me.

Interviewer: That's how you gain knowledge on how to start a business.

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: How do you join seminars?

Interviewee: Through DTI.

Interviewer: Even if it's not connected to your course?

Interviewee: Yes. DTI is a big help. If you are a member of region 4A. It started with our candle. That was
our stepping stone to learn more. That's how we applied to Coffee Shop. We love coffee.

Interviewer: Are you two husband and wife, and are you both the owners?
Interviewee: Yes. We own almost all of our businesses.

Interviewer: You are interested in coffee. That's one of the reasons why you started your business?
Interviewee: Yes. One of the reasons why we started our business. Instead of buying expensive coffee. I
see a lot of young customers. Their target market is teenagers. That’s why I chose to franchise it, and the
taste is really good.

Interviewer: How did you choose this place?

Interviewee: This place is not well developed. The road is not good. But we saw the potential. Because
there are a lot of people.

Interviewer: What do you think is the most important thing to learn? When it comes to hard skills
Interviewee: Yes, Process management, it can be done in the first place. But if it has a word.

Interviewer: But is there another word?

Interviewee: There is another word. Because in process management, you need to... In other words, a
shop is not automatically a grand opening. It can be called a sub-opening. That's where you can adjust.
You need to plan it first. What should be done in this situation.

Interviewer: So, product development knowledge is the most important for you?
Interviewee: Yes, that's it. That's where it starts. Before you launch a grand opening, you need to plan
the day where the sales will be strong and weak. How will you adjust? What time should you open?
Closed? That's it.

Interviewer: What if, for example, you have a shortage of coffee? How will you do that? You are a
franchise, right? So, you get the product from them. How will you do that?
Interviewee: In a shortage, we won't be blamed. Because the franchise of each of us... We were asked
by the franchise itself that once you run out of coffee, call a branch. They will give it to you.

Interviewer: That's how you do it. You check the inventory?

Interviewee: That's the important thing, the inventory. That's the basis of the inventory that your
employee will do. So, your employee really needs to have knowledge. Especially for you. Connection. It's
not much, but you need to have a commitment that every day, you need to send an inventory. That's
the daily order, the daily inventory. Then, the sales. That's how it should be, according to the business.

Interviewer: You mentioned the connection point in your employee. In terms of soft skills, is leadership
the most important thing in managing a business? Or should it be at the bottom or at the top?
Interviewee: Leadership is really top. Especially when you're in an operation. Let me share. When I was
in an operation, I was in a batching plan. I was a civil. I was an assistant. I was a QC manager. I handled
almost 45 persons. They were older than me. But when they told me that I was in a corporation, they
told me that leadership should be at the top.

Interviewer: To be a smart leader?

Interviewee:Yes. That's how you lead them. Those who are your followers, you're the leader at the top.
You'll get all the orders. You'll know what to do. But as a leader, you need to accept the opinions of
others. You need to accept the opinions of others, especially here in the mission. We'll follow the
opinions of others. We'll try. If that's okay, we'll follow it. If not, we'll follow the plan B. Plan B is
leadership. Leadership is the top priority.

Interviewer: In number three. In the daily operations of business, what are the problems that you
encounter that you find it difficult to solve? What are your strategies to prevent it in the future?
Interviewee: Aside from electricity and wifi signal, it's rare. That's all. But when it comes to encounters
with customers, customers are kind. They're not aggressive.

Interviewer: When it comes to products, do you encounter any problems?

Interviewee: No.

Interviewer: Number four. What strategy do you use to prevent or minimize the occurrence of the
problem? When it comes to electricity and signals, what can you do?
Interviewee: When it comes to electricity, I'll just use a large capacity power bank. We have internet.
Yes, it's on the other side. We share it.

Interviewer: So, you only use Wi-Fi?

Interviewee: Yes. Especially the CCTVs. They have Wi-Fi. That's important.

Interviewer: Isn’t that part of the cost? It’s definitely expensive.

Interviewee: Its part of the business, Of course, you really have to spend.

Interviewer: With your own money?

Interviewee: No. We have a fund. We have to pay for the cost.

Interviewer: So, you separate the money from your own business?
Interviewee: Yes. That's where you can see if it's really growing. If it's forming. That's where you can see
it.

Interviewer: What quality management programs are implemented in food production and processed
food? I'll simplify it. What are the programs or practices that you use to maintain the quality of your
food production, processing, customer service, employee performance, and employee training?
Interviewee: In the employee training, because it's a franchise that comes to us, they'll get what you
paid for, they'll train it, they'll get what I bought.
In the process, it should be stated that it will be mixed. It should be followed. Because once it's not
followed, there are a lot of... In our rules, in our group in the franchise, it should be followed because it's
like a domino effect. Once it's a shop, that's what happens. If someone comes here and comes from
there, they won't continue because they already tried it. So, from the very small process, it should be
followed. The time, the mixing, the pearl, the cooking, there's a time. So, in terms of the franchise,
they'll guide you. Just like here, everything needs time to cook, to mix, the tea needs time. So, it's not
like we say that it will taste good, but it's still there.

Interviewer: What's the name of the training program?

Interviewee: In the training program, in my case, I trained through TESDA. There are also online
trainings that I get from my MSKONEK, which is better.

Interviewer: Is it available online?

Interviewee:Yes, online. There, you can also get a good mentor.

Interviewer: How much is the fee for the franchise? For the franchise?
Interviewee: It's around 250,000. Coffee and tea? Yes, coffee and tea. There's also equipment.
Interviewer: There's also a supply. For them as well?
Interviewee: Yes, for them as well. That's the good thing about the franchise. Because you don't have a
problem with the supply. I think everything is okay. I don't have any problems.

Interviewer: What about the ROI?

Interviewee: Oh, the ROI. The ROI is really long. It depends on the strength of the shop. There are
people who ROI can last up to one year or two years. It depends on the business. But for this one, it's a
long-term investment.

Interviewer: How can you be sure that the owner of your franchise won't buy for example a pearl from
someone else? Like from the market? There are people who know people who buy for a lower price so
they can make a bigger profit.
Interviewee: There are cases like that. But don't go too far from the brand. Because there's a brand
that's in the franchise. If you buy from outside, it's still the same brand. It's still the same. But there are
other brands that are cheaper. Sometimes, we focus on the cheaper ones. But the quality of the taste is
different. But the truth is, the franchise has the cheapest price. If you buy from outside, they have the
cheapest price.

Interviewer: Do you have a contract?

Interviewee: Yes, we do.

Interviewer: How do you assure that your employees are productive and do the tests and follow the
measurements?
Interviewee: Based on the report and the sales output, you can't tell if they're productive. But there's a
time when you can't tell if the cost is low. They report to us daily. We also go here. He also trained in the
franchise with us.

Interviewer: But your training is free, right?

Interviewee: Yes, it's free.

Interviewer: As an owner, what strategy did you use to control and manage your businesses? All the
aspects that you mentioned earlier, from food production, customer service, employee performance,
and employee training and development.
Interviewee: My second option is my regular job. I mostly focus on this. My mindset is that I focus on my
business. I only care about my employees. We're all in this together. Not only me. My wife and I help
each other. Especially when we have events at the wedding. Especially there, I'm more excited because
I'm the one who meets the client. In all of that, you need to be happy. That's the most important thing.
If you want to be incorporated, you need to be happy. Your second option is your regular job.

Interviewer: How much do you pay when you work with other people in the events?
Interviewee: It depends. It depends on how many cups their order will be. If it's 100, it's 50 cups. It
depends on the cups. It depends on the total. it's okay. It has a computed amount of money.

Interviewer: What field do you prefer? Business or corporate work? You have a manager. In your
business, you're the manager. But in corporate work, you're the boss.
Interviewee: My mindset is to be an achiever, not a follower. I prefer my business. If there's a business
that I can open, I'll open it. It's been a long time since I became a follower. That's why I'm an achiever.
That's my business.

Interviewer: When you say business, you always mean risk. Have you reached a point where you feel
lonely? Have you reached a point where you don't have anything to do? Have you reached a point
where you feel lonely?
Interviewee: Yes, I have. It happened a lot of times. First, the rice shop that I opened. It was a loss
because I had to pay for it. Second, we had to handle our woodworking. It was a loss. If you tried to do
it, it was a loss because of mismanagement. When we opened it, we were lucky in that situation. But it's
okay. Mentors will teach you how to do it.

Interviewer: So, you cultivated your knowledge about business when you joined training and mentoring.
It's not academic.
Interviewee: Academic is theoretical especially in the city. It's like a paper. It's theoretical. It's close to
the truth. But it's not real. It's up to you to make the decision on how to do it. It's up to you how to
teach it.

Interviewer: Where did you fail as a business?

Interviewee: In Mismanagement. In terms of income, in terms of employees I thought about it as a
corporate. But now, it's still a corporate.

Interviewer: But now, you learned it and applied it in your current business.
Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: Have you asked if the success and income of your business depend on you as a manager?
Does it depend on you the success and profit? Why or why not? Interviewee: It doesn't depend on me.
It doesn't depend on you. Because it's up to the team. It's up to you. But there are people who can help.
For example, my wife, her sister. Her sister was our advisor on how to do it. My wife's sister is an
accountant. She became our bookkeeper. Then, it's a bit... It's up to the team. It's up to us. It's a big
help. If you didn't ask for it, because it's different when you ask for it. That's why we hired you to help. I
can't say it's because of everything.

Interviewer: How did you ensure that you can handle the money that you don't have?
Interviewee: We can see on the budget. Yes, you can see the rent, the electric bills, in that one month.
You can see the income. It's there. If the business is all about bonuses, don't continue it. It's not a
business anymore. It's just money, expenses.

Interviewer: What are your strategies to promote your business?

Interviewee: Social media. First, social media. Then, flyers. Then, free taste. That's what I learned from
my friends. Because you won't just give flyers. People want to see the product. Then, recommendations.

Interviewer: What about free taste? Is it like this? Or a small cup?

Interviewee: Small cup.

Interviewer: How do you maintain the quality of your coffee?

Interviewee: It depends on the right temperature, the product. Measurement. Then, the volume. The
volume should always be right in every mixing. That's what we're looking for. The taste.
Interviewer: What about sanitation and cleanliness?
Interviewee: We checked it. They inspected it. It's okay.

Interviewer: How do you ensure that your customers are happy and encourage them to return to the
business?
Interviewee: That's the situation when it comes to your relationship with your customers. If you can see
if they will return or not. You can't say if they will return or not. It's their budget. It's the students'
budget. We can't say if they will return or not. But if they will return, you can assure that they will
return. You can see them every day. You can tell them that you're just friends. There are many
customers who are just friends. They will return. That's why we're happy. You can see them coming here
daily. It's a good thing that we don't have time for that. There are so many of them. There are so many.
Here, everyone is welcome. They don't have to choose.

Interviewer: How do you motivate and support your employees, especially during busy or stressful
times?
Interviewee: It depends on how the team is managed. When there are a lot of customers, they
personally help their employees. They consider their employees as part of the family.

Interviewer: What technology or systems do you use to make your work easier and improve business
operations?
Interviewee: We are currently using manual processes, but we are willing to adopt technology once our
business expands.

Interviewer: What advice would you give to students who want to work in the hospitality industry or
become operations managers someday?
Interviewee: First is Mental strength, you need to be determined and truly passionate about what
you’re doing. Then you need Right mentors and teachers, pick the right people to guide you. Strive to be
an achiever, not just a follower. You also need a Capital, be financially ready, because starting a business
requires a big investment.