GILDA OLVIDADO MARCELINO-Ano ang inspirasyon ng inyong coffee shop business?
ILDA MAE MONTEMOR-The inspiration for the establishment of K Café is actually our love for coffee, food and bonding. K café is a product of the ideas of me and my other two sisters that when we are together we would enjoy time having coffee, eating good food and of course a lot of chika. Kaya K Café was born.
GILDA-Family decision ba ito o there was someone who thought of the idea and did everything to come up with the capital?
ILDA-Nagsimula with the sharing of ideas of us, the three sisters ILDA MAE MONTEMOR, INGER MARIE MONTEMOR and REINA MONTEMOR LLANOS. Just day dreaming, exchanging pictures from Pinterest on interior designs of a coffee shop. Then day dreaming eventually gone serious at napunta na sa costings and some serious stuffs. And then Inger who is in Germany proposed to finance the project and then Reina and I scouted for locations,equipments and other stuff. Parang ang bilis na naging makatotohanan na ang nagsimula sa pangarap lamang.
GILDA-Madali ba o nahirapan kayong maghanap ng good locationfor this business? Was it so affordable or quite expensive that you had to do everything to get it with a price you can afford?
ILDA-Hindi madali ang scouting for location since Ozamiz City is a small city and rent is expensive. Actually the café’s location was not the original option that we had. Ang original choice talaga ay mas maliit at mas mura. But when all plans for the renovation was already in place, and lease contract was ready to be signed, bigla na lang ayaw na ng space owner.
And since equipments were already purchased, kailangang ituloy na namin ang negosyo and look for a new location of which is the location right now of the café. It is a much bigger space and of course mas mahal. But we were so determined on putting up the business and thus we just gambled.
GILDA-The first time that you have a business like this? Nag-alangan ba kayo?
ILDA-Yes, ito ang unang-una naming negosyo na coffee shop. When Inger said she would back the finances, I was really very confident on pursuing it, thus there was no hesitation on my part. But ang daming hirap talaga, but when you already put your heart into it, you get to be stubborn.
GILDA-A classy coffee shop means a big capital, how long do you think you can go on if you are still not earning enough?
ILDA-It was really not intended to be a classy coffee shop, but more of a modern minimalist vibe. When you get to a lot of pinterest-scouting for interior, there is an ocean of ideas, pero ang practical consideration ay ang easy access to the materials na gagamitin namin sa aming coffee shop. And so, we just did with materials we can source within the city and Cagayan de Oro. And then it turned to be classy like this. And so, our motto upon creating the interior became “Go big or go home!” It got classy along the way.
Kaya siguro habang kaya, tuloy ang laban.
GILDA-Ano ang mga personal sacrifices of those involved in this business?
ILDA-To be honest, marami at may mabigat akong pinagdaananwhen I was working on this business. But I would not say that they were personal sacrifices. I think it was just a coincidence in a good way.
Ang marriage ko ay tuluyang natapos while I was working on the renovation of the café. But actually I was thankful for being busy when that happened dahil nakatulong para hindi ako malugmok emotionally. In fact it gave me focus and determination. To be honest again, I somehow feel guilty that I am more relieved and thankful that my marriage ended. I’m sorry for not being sorry pero kung minsan talaga, nangyayari iyan sa buhay ng tao.
On a lighter note, our parents were very supportive of us in this venture. Pero siyempre, ang daming payo at paalala. Natural na meron silang worry as we are newbies in the world of business, especially me who is a political science graduate and no business background but more on community organizing.
GILDA-Did you experience frustrations in handling your employees? Sabi nila kasi, isa sa mga mahirap sa pagnenegosyo ay ang pagdadala ng mga empleyado.
ILDA-There were a lot of frustrations, actually. I started with half of my crew to be part-time workers. They were students and of course their studies would be their priority. Kaya pag may exams and school activities sila, ako halos ang gumagawa.
There are also times when instructions are not followed properly kaya dapat mong bantayan at pagsabihan sila. And of course individual differences amongst them and conflict would arise. So you have no choice but to intervene, mediate para makahanap ng solusyon sa kanilang problema na nakakaapekto sa negosyo.
But somehow these burdens are shared with my sister Reina, as she is the one helping me with operations and specially with financial management.
GILDA-Did you have bad experiences with customers?
ILDA-Yes, there were a couple of times. One customer was angry and complaining because service was very slow. Nangyari ito noongfirst week of opening and people were so crazy trying out a new place thus we had a lot of customers.
There was also a time when a customer complained that her coffee was not right and was like dissecting the whole coffee and inspecting if they were in the right proportions. Kaya nalaman namin na may ganoon palang coffee lover, bibilangin ang ilang butil ng kape at asukal na ilalagay sa kanyang iinumin.
GILDA-Most saleable cake, sandwiches and most ordered coffee and other drinks?
ILDA-Our most saleable coffee is our Specialty Coffee which is served in a coffee press. It is coffee from robusta beans na local ang pinaggalingan. Mula sa South Cotabato.
We also have our Tablea Cake. Dark chocolate moist cake gawa sa Tablea na ang pinagmulan naman ay isa pang kalapit na munisipalidad, ang Molave, Zamboanga del Sur.
And then we have our Grilled Chicken Salad which is made mostly of Leafy Green Lettuce which is grown organically in an urban garden of a local community located in Ozamiz. It comes with our home made Asian Dressing
GILDA-Is it annoying to have a client who orders very minimally but stays so long for the internet or a talk with friends?
ILDA-Well this is hard to believe, but we do tolerate some, especially those who come to work on something or students who study.
Pero may isa kaming regular guest na ang oorderin lang ay 70 pesosna tea pot and then calls 5 of her friends to come and just share that one small pot while they are occupying much space and being too loud. (ITUTULOY)
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