(pagpapatuloy)
GILDA-How do you handle complaints?
ILDA-We always handle it with a smile and an ear to listen. Somehow it erases hostilities and the customer would also repay you with an ear to listen to your explanation. A complaint would always be answered with an apology, mali man o tama ang punto ng kustumer.
GILDA-Can you recall the worst month or season of your business?
ILDA-There was a time when Reina and I were on review to take the Bar exams and that painful decision to leave it to a trusted crew. Hindi namin gustong gawin pero kailangan. You cannot complain and you will just have to be thankful for your crew’s hard work. But there are other crews that won’t cooperate and that is when problems happen.
Nang mangyari ang pandemya, tulad ng ibang food establishments, nag- shut down din kami temporarily due to government restrictions. But somehow COVID also made us work hard and think of other alternatives and other items to sell.
GILDA-Can you recall the worst day in your coffee shop?
ILDA-The worst day of the coffee shop was I guess when it was also on danger.
GILDA- Did you encounter danger in your coffee shop?
ILDA-On June 10, 2018, the coffee shop was robbed at gunpoint. Even though I was not there to experience it, as I was not able to catch my flight in Manila because of flooding, natakot ako sa naranasan ng aming crew sa araw na iyon. The day’s sales, the crews’ cellphones and some of their jewelries tinangay lahat ng mga holdapers.
GILDA-Enjoy kayo sa negosyong ito inspite of the challenges?
ILDA-Yes I am enjoying this business. And yes I am happy to be working with my sisters. We compliment well I guess. Pero natural na may pagtatalunan. May gusto ako na ayaw nila, may gusto sila na hindi ko gusto. But because we acknowledge our own strengths and weaknesses, at the end of the day, nagiging maayos pa rin ang lahat.
GILDA-Is the name of your business K Cafe has a special story?
ILDA-K actually stands for Konstantin, the name of Inger’s husband. We have an existing other venture with the name Konsta Store and we sell softdrinks and beer as wholesale and we decided to just make Konsta our brand. Naniniwala kami na positibo ang napili naming pangalan kasi madali ring tandaan.
GILDA-Who is very proud of this business? If you can dedicate this … kanino?
ILDA-I think we will dedicate this business to our Papa Dan (Nestor). Our father was very proud of this café. He held most of his meetings here in the café. Siya ang number one na nagpo-promote.Well, we are his daughters after all, so of course it is also his.
We will continue our hard work in his memory, and in whatever ventures we will have in the future we will dedicate to our parents for making us who we are today.
GILDA-What are the goals of this business.
ILDA-Well, it is always our mission to be able to provide good home-made and healthy food to our customers. We would like to be remembered as your neighborhood friendly café na ang sinumang kustumer ay masisiyahan at mararamdaman ang pagmamahal namin sa negosyong ito.
We also look forward to be able to work with local farmers and producers. Sa ngayon pa lang, alam naming nakakatulong na sa ating bansa ang pagtangkilik namin sa mga lokal na produkto dito sa Mindanao.
GILDA-If a diner complains of your employee and this is validated and the diner would ask you to fire this employee … paano ninyo haharapin ang sitwasyon?
ILDA-Hindi pa naman ito nangyari sa amin at dasal ko ay huwag namang mangyari. But if it does, I would determine first the gravity of the action and/or misconduct. I would like to weigh first if to fire him/her would equate to the offense made. At kung hindi naman, lesser punishment will do. Kailangan din kasing matuto ang employee ko kung talagang may mali siya.
GILDA-Are you ready to get big loans from the bank just to extend life to this business?
ILDA-I would really like to get a loan especially as of this moment of crisis. COVID has not been easy and having a loan would be able to help us run more smoothly, especially after the temporary closure that we experienced.
GILDA-Pero may takot ba kayo sa pangungutang sa bangko? Or you are prepared for this since this is part of the territory.
ILDA-Well I guess it is a part of the territory. We are a micro enterprise, and of course we dream of branching out and to be able to avail of those options would be good for us.
GILDA-Was there a time when you want to give up this business? Just in case, what made you hold on to it?
ILDA-Maraming pagkakataon na gusto na naming sumuko. But I guess I am the most stubborn. I always tell my sisters that there was not one success story that did not mention of failures. There was not one story that did not mention hardships and difficulties. And so I want to go on while my heart is still in it.
GILDA-Do you dream of making this business a legacy to the second generation of your family or clan?
ILDA-We do dream of making this a legacy. We dream of course of becoming more in this industry. With hard work I guess we will get there. Tibay ng loob din ang kailangan na kailangan para buhay ang negosyong ito hanggang sa kaapu-apuhan.
GILDA-Ano ang mga mahirap kalimutang kuwento sa kusina ng K Cafe?
ILDA-Unforgettable kitchen incidents are those times we get to share our life with our crews. When crews get to interact and share their own story and how they came to work with us. And I guess it would become more unforgettable when the time comes that those crews would step out in the kitchen and be who they want to be outside and bringing with them in their success those time when they learned a lot while they worked with us.
GILDA-Since in any coffee shop numerous stories could arise–love, family conflict, troubles with friends–and these could have effected some unusual scenes in your coffee shops, paano ninyo inayos?
ILDA-Meron ako noong dalawang miyembro ng crew na nag-away, palitan ng mga nakakasakit na salita. Kahit sinikap pa rin maging civilized, may tense atmosphere pa rin. And a tense atmosphere is not a good atmosphere in a kitchen, and so I talked to both of them and helped them resolve their conflict. Apologies were said, forgiveness were also given.
GILDA- Lastly, kindly give the complete address of K Cafe and schedule of operation.
ILDA-K Café is located at Ledesma cor. Cebedo Sts., Brgy. Aguada, Ozamiz City. Current hours of operation is 9:00 am to 6:00 pm (due to COVID). We are open daily.
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