Running Multiple Businesses As A Full-Time Mom

Zarah: Lahat ng small businesses ko, online lang siya. Kasi lahat ng tao nasa online na eh. Mag-scroll ka lang then makikita mo and then check out and then darating sayo ‘yung product. Easy, comfortable. Kapag wala sa online ‘yung business mo, talo ka.

Hi, I’m Zarah Mae Em, i’m an entrepreneur and a work from home mom. And today I’d like to share on how you build your small businesses while working from home and taking care of your children at the same time.

Philippe: Give us tips on how did you market your business para makilala ka?

Zarah: Actually, I do content creation. I do behind the scenes. So kapag meron akong orders ah vini-video ko siya like packing orders, creating orders, printing orders. That’s how I market my business.

Philippe: Pinakita mo lang yung process?

Zarah: Nagba-buy sila kasi nagustuhan nila yung story mo as paano ka nagsimula as small business owners while working from home, while taking care of your kid.

Philippe: As a working mom who is also an entrepreneur, give us some tips for the other working moms or work from home moms.

Zarah: Number one is find your niche and second is best time to start is..

Philippe: So interesting. So from electronics engineer and then now you’re work from home and ang galing. How did you how did ?
Zarah: Actually I work here sa dito sa Mindanao Avenue as sales engineer ng GMA naman. I handled the, I handled yung GMA. So yun yung client namin. Meron kaming product. We sell the cameras. ‘yung mga speakers ginagamit sa ginagamit sa ah like pag nagse-setup sila ng ng set yun yung mga equipment na binebenta namin.
So yung yung binigay sa akin na project ng company namin is to handle yung GMA. But that time nabuntis ako so hindi natuloy. So I thought that was my breaking point yung pagiging sales engineer kasi I was in sales na din before pa nung college ako. Kasi since college nagbi-build na talaga ako ng mga small businesses kahit nag-aaral ako.
Zarah: Ah doon nag-start na magkaroon ako ng clothing business tapos nadala ko siya hanggang ngayon and then dinagdagan ko na lang siya along the way habang nagtatrabaho ako sa bahay while taking care of my child.
Philippe: Interesting. Interesting. Super mom. Ang dami mong ginagawa no?
Zarah: Sabi nga nila, “How do you handle multiple businesses while working from home?” Tapos nag-aalaga pa ako ng bata. Lagi ko lang sinasabi sa mga friends ko kasi may ADHD ako eh. Kasi ‘ ba pag may ADHD ka, parang kaya mo siyang gawin in one at once.
Philippe: Yes
Zarah: Like ah nanonood ka tapos meron kang ginagawa dito. Actually kaya kong gawin yun eh. Nanonood ako ng YouTube tapos nagwo-work ako tapos nanonood ako ng TikTok. Kaya ko siyang gawin. So parang parang ang ginawa ko ini-strategize ko siya pero sa business ko siya ginawa.
Philippe: Nice. So I wouldn’t call you ADHD.
Zarah: ADHD person.
Philippe: I would I would probably describe you as someone na ang galing mong mag-multitask.
Zarah: I must say yes. Pero hindi ko alam na nagmu-multitask na pala ako kasi you’ll never know na parang kumbaga pag ikaw if you’re in my position
Philippe: Okay
Zarah: Ah hindi mo actually kahit ako naa-amaze ako sa sarili ko how I do it kasi yun nga, nung nabuntis ako I wasn’t prepared. So nung nagkaanak ako I wasn’t prepared kasi that time I was 25 only. So syempre yung nasa utak natin is ah I build my career. I build my career first before I get pregnant, before I get married.
So yun yung focus ko that time. And then siguro ah binigyan lang ako ni Lord ng sign na, you need to get pregnant na para magkaroon ka ng focus, para meron kang purpose. Kasi ‘ ba ah nung nung single pa ako, ang lagi ko lang iniisip, para saan ba? Bakit ako nagwo-work?
Philippe: Yes.
Zarah: Ba’t lagi akong eager magkaroon ng businesses? Ba’t gusto ko ng ganito? Gusto ko ng ganyan. Bakit lagi kong ini in-aim yung success for myself? Kasi parang wala kang clear na reason na bakit mo ginagawa lahat ng yun.
So siguro yun yung binigay saakin ng sign ni Lord kasi kailangan mo ng magkaanak para makita mo na yung clear reason mo bakit gusto mo ng ganyan. Gusto mong maging successful. gusto mong ah ma-build yung career mo, gusto mong magbuild ng mga multiple businesses.
Zarah: Tapos later on ko na lang na-realize na kaya ko pala siyang gawin while working from home. Kasi before hindi ko ma-imagine kung, nung nung nagkaanak na ako, hindi ko alam yung gagawin ko kung magre-resign ba ako o hindi.
Kasi ‘di ba some of the mommies lalo na yung mga first time moms nagre-resign sila kapag nabubuntis sila. Parang tinitigil nila yung career nila just to like you know take care of their child their children first, family first ganyan. Tapos nile-let na lang nila yung ah husband nila sa finances.
Zarah: So ako since lumaki ako as hindi like you know yung ayoko ng nawawalan ako ng pera. Since college kasi ganun ako. So ah my friends and my colleagues knows me na ayoko na nawawalan ako ng pera orung nasasagad yung finances ko. So siguro nadala ko siya until now na ah kailangan ano hindi ako magre-rely on one source of income.
Philippe: That’s very good. Let me let me guess. Are you a gen z?
Zarah: Uh quite I think I’m a millennial.
Philippe: Really? Uh
Zarah: 27
Philippe: 27
Zarah: Yeah. turning 28 this..
Philippe: You’re at the border.
Zarah: Yeah
Philippe: You’re sort of the border but you’re like the very very late millennial but you’re still a gen z I believe. Yeah. Sa sa itsura pa lang, I thought you were like 21 you know. I didn’t know.
Zarah: I’m 28 this July 21.
Philippe: Well, congrats to you and because it’s so rare, I’ve had a couple of guests previously. Syempre mga Gen Z and we were talking about how gen z’s not everyone, but the majority of gen z’s right now are very entitled. The funny there’s a funny part where naga-apply sila kung sila CEO position agad
Zarah: Talaga
Philippe: Na parang minimum minimum nasa 50,000 with flexible with flexible time and probably work from home and but we were talking about the majority how everyone’s not really entitled but very comfortable because na-baby sila ng mga millennial parents so masyadong naging komportable sila and it’s partly the fault of it’s it’s really the fault of the millennial generation.
Because right now there’s a lot of gen z’s who are jumping from job to job and they don’t have that type of mindset na katulad mo na college pa lang o dapat marami akong sources of income hindi pwede iyung iisa lang or hindi pwede iyung wala. I don’t think there’s anything wrong when with other first time moms who who wants to focus it really depends on their perspective.
Zarah: Yes.
Philippe: It depends on yung usapan nila with their their partner or their hobby. And it it really depends on their situation. In your case, it’s not even wrong na gusto mo pa din magtrabaho or gusto mo pa din kumita even when you’re pregnant. It’s possible naman eh.
Zarah: Yeah. Actually, nung nung pregnant ako, I’m still working and I’m still handling my business. Yung clothing business ko, hina-handle ko siya online kasi lahat ng small businesses ko online lang siya. So I don’t have any physical. Ah maliban doon sa printing business ko ngayon. Ah ‘yun pa lang yung ano ko yung may physical store. So pero yung clothing business ko lahat yun online kasi why?
Kasi lahat ng tao nasa online na eh. So hindi na hindi ko naman sinasabi na masama yung magkaroon ng ah physical physical store. But kasi most of the time yung mga tao they ah like nag-uubos sila ng oras para mag-scroll sa Facebook. So like you know nakakatipid sila ng time effort syempre pamasahe ganyan if they go to mall pa.
Zarah: Ah mas maganda na online na lang kasi like you know one stop shop mag-scroll ka lang then makikita mo and then check out and thenating na sayo yung product. So easy comfortable. Yun lang kasi yung gusto ng tao ngayon eh yung komportable sila eh. So sabi nga ni Chinkee Tan, “I’m a follower, and a silent believer. Silent like you know, silent fan of Chinkee Tan.” Sabi nga niya, “Ah, kapag wala sa online ‘yung business mo, talo ka.”
Philippe: 100% agree. I 100% agree. And let’s let’s rewind back. You told me that you were an electronics engineer.
Zarah: Yes.
Philippe: So, what made you want to take electronics engineer? How did you come up with that choice?
Zarah: Hindi ko siya choice. Hindi ko siya first choice.
Philippe: Okay. Ano iyung first choice mo?
Zarah: First choice ko was to be a teacher. Yeah. Kasi naging sped teacher na ako since, nung college I was a sped teacher. So yung NSTP teacher ko kinuha niya ako to be a teacher dun sa bini-build niyang school. So I was the first teacher at that time. So yun ah pero naka second year college na ako sa engineering. So yung engineering kasi choice yun ng family ko actually.
So choice yun ng family ko actually kasi yung ate ko accountancy siya. So ewan siguro they want lang na sumunod doon sa sa ano kasi I have I have a relative din na engineered, engineering students and that time ha engineering students sila but now they are engineer na and parang syempre diba may magun sa family na gusto nila sundan mo yung yapak ng ano mo relatives mo so okay sige kasi sila naman that time nagpapaaral sa akin so I took the engineering. And then later on na lang sabi ko. Uh hindi ko alam na magugustuhan ko pala ‘yung engineering that time.
Zarah: So ‘yun tinuloy ko siya hanggang 5 years. Pero while while studying, I’m still working kasi nag-work pa din ako as crew sa McDo that time. Fourth year fourth year college ako nagwo-work pa rin ako sa McDo. Tapos habang nagwo-work ako sa McDo, may business pa din ako. So parang yung puso ko nasa negosyo talaga. Kahit nung college pa ako, nasa negosyo talaga yung puso ko.
So sabi nga nung mga professor ko dati, ano yung magbo-boom ka talaga sa negosyo hindi sa profession mo. But syempre ayoko pa rin iwanan yung profession ko as engineer. Kaya ang ginawa ko sinabay ko na lang siya. Sinabay ko na lang siya. So while working I still I still pursue yung yung profession ko as engineer. I’m still working ‘di ba? Ah tapos at the same time entrepreneur din ako.
Philippe: Iba pa din yyung career mo as an engineer? Is this together with right now what you’re doing with Google?
Zarah: Yes.
Philippe: Wow.
Zarah: I’m work nga sa engineer sa Google and then at the same time I handled my small businesses. Pero ang ginagawa ko I managed my time. Hindi ko siya ginagawa at once kasi yun yung pinaka-challenging ko that time na I do everything at once.
Sobrang hindi ako focused kasi ah kapag ma’am ka hindi talaga balance yung time mo. So 80% work, 20% moms. Minsan naman 70% mom ka, 30% naman you do house chores, you do your work. So kailangan magkaroon ka ng time management. You know how to manage your time, block your time daily.
Zarah: Kung pwedeng gumamit ka ng Google calendar, pwedeng mag-alarm ka para lang ma-set mo siya. So in a in a day my work is 9 to 5 kasi before ah nagwo-work ako 12 a.m. until 9 a.m.
Philippe: Pang gabi. Night shift.
Zarah: Yes, kasi sinusunod ko yung US time zone pero nilipat na nila ako ng 9:00 a.m. to 5 5 p.m. Kasi I was ‘yun nga sabi ko sa manager namin that time, I need to resign na kasi I need to focus on my business na and ah I need to take care of my child kasi parang ah ano lang yan eh ah mamimili ka ano yung isa-sacrifice mo ‘ ba ah you want ano ba talaga yung gusto mo?
You want to be engineer by profession talaga or you want us you want you want to build your career as entrepreneur? So sabi ko yung puso ko kasi nasa entrepreneur eh. So ako yung nag-adjust. Sila yung nag-adjust. So sige huwag ka ng mag-resign. Lilipat na lang kita ng mas komportable kang oras. Kasi that time 12 a.m. 9 to 9 a.m. nagwo-work ako. Sinasabay ko yung business ko sa work. Yeah.
Zarah: I was I was doing the souvenirs. Kasi iyung printing business ko mostly focused on party souvenirs. Yeah. Party souvenirs, yung mga ref magnets, mugs yan. So kapag meron akong break time doon sa or hindi naman masyadong ah madami yung task na gagawin ko for a day, sinisingit ko siya doon.
Philippe: Ikaw mismong gumagawa?
Zarah: Yeah. Minsan minsan kahit may meeting, nagref magnet ako, nagpa-pack ako ng orders. And I also do content creations kasi yung marketing ko is on TikTok.
Philippe: Okay.
Zarah: Yeah. Sa TikTok ako nagma-market ng mga products ko and sa Facebook na. So at the same time habang ginagawa ko yung packaging ko, kailangan kasi vini-videohan ko din siya ba para magkaroon ako ng promotional videos. So I I do it at once at the same time. So hindi ko hindi ko actually hindi ko din ma-imagine paano ko siya nagagawa.
Pero sa akin lang is learn how to manage your time. Yes. Kapag kasi hindi mo minanage yung time mo, mame-mental block ka eh. Like mao-overwhelm ka ‘di ba na ah ang dami kong ginagawa, ang dami kong ginagawa tapos hindi yun pala hindi ka naman pala productive. Busy ka lang. So ayan pagod ka pa.
Philippe: Yeah. Pagod ka pa.
Zarah: Pagod ka pa, so ah tingnan mo kung ano ‘yung nagbibigay talaga sayo ng value. And lahat ng pagod happy pagod. Yung iba don ka lang talaga. Kasi ba may tinatawag tayo na happy pagod. Masaya ka pero it gives your revenue pero meron yung pagod na nabali wala lang pala. Yun. So tingnan mo, i-balance mo yung sarili mo. Ano talaga yung nagbibigay sayo ng value?
Yun yung unahin mo. And to build a small businesses, huwag kang mag-start ng five businesses at once. Huwag kang mag-start ng biglaan. Gawin mo siya maliit lang. Start small. Sabi nga nila, small progress is still a progress. So yung strategy na ginawa ko kasi that time is while working. So may mga spare time ako.
Zarah: I do research. Ano yung nish ko? Ano yung passion ko ba? Saan ako magaling? Ano yung gusto kong gawin? So since um gusto ko talaga yung I want to dress well. So I build up a clothing business. I’m creative. I want to like, you know, design cute have a cute designs. Yung gusto ko lagi yung may ginugupit, yung may tinitiklop. So I build a printing business.
I do, I do invitations like that. Tapos gusto ko kasi ah kasi ako kapag meron akong something na keepsakes na cute, I want to keep it eh ‘ ba kapag meron tayong na-receive na cute something in a celebration kini-ke talaga natin siya kasi cute siya. So gusto ko kasi gann ‘yung ma-feel ng ibang tao sa ginagawa ko.
Zarah: Kaya ano kasi ako eh ah parang since I’m a creative, nilalagay ko ‘yung sarili ko dun sa sa paa nung clients ko. So ano bang mafi-feel nila pag ni-receive nila tong product na to? So I made that I made that product that way.
So gusto ko ma-feel niya. Ay ang cute, ang cute, ang cute. Okay, I made it cute. So that that’s how the sprinting business started. And actually, it started lang sa idea. It started as a hobby lang. It wasn’t planned actually. Tapos naging passion na lang siya eventually.
Philippe: So itong physical store mo, I’m sure you may tao ka na doon nagpi-print na din and doing the stuff you do.
Zarah: Yeah
Philippe: Because many many entrepreneurs these days are takot nga sila doon having a physical store. There’s rent, there’s electricity and there’s deposits, hiring the team and everything. What have you learned all through that lesson in business? Is this something that everyone needs to do to have a physical store or can they just rely on online?
Zarah: No, actually hindi naman talaga dapat mag-start kaagad na may physical store eh. I started with one small space sa kwarto ko lang. Yung working space ko doom lang ako nag-start. So syempre palaki na ng palaki yung business mo eh. You have to elevate your business. Diba kailangan mong lumipat?
Hindi pwedeng ma-stock ka lang sa ganito kaliit na kwarto tapos ang dami mong pa-orders lahat nandoon. May stuff ka na gumagawa para sa’yo. Kailangan komportable din yung staff mo. Diba? So for them to work na kasi sila yung magiging bread and butter nung business mo. Sila ‘yung tutulong sa’yo. So paano sila makakapagtrabaho ng maayos kung hindi mo sila bibigyan nag maayos na lugar?
Zarah: Diba? Saka ah kasi kapag hindi mo nakikita, kapag for me kasi ay ang perspective ko kasi sa business kapag hindi mo siya napalaki ng kapag hindi ka nagkaroon ng, I mean hindi mo siya na-elevate into next like you know next step ng business na ‘yon parang It’s a failure. Parang for me it’s a failure kasi ah isipin mo ang tagal mo na ang tagal mo na ah kumita ka naman.
Bakit hindi mo siya na-move into this kind of business? ‘Di ba? Like nandito ka pa din, nasa sa maliit na kwarto ka pa din, hindi ka man lang bumili ng table na malaki or hindi ka man lang nakabili ng monitor, hindi ka man lang nakapagpatayo ng ganito. So for me, it’s a failure kasi ibig sabihin hindi mo na-handle ng maayos yung business mo.
Philippe: Kaya ayaw nila mag-reinvest doon.
Zarah: Yes.Dapat ang akin kasi ang perspective ko kapag kumita yung business mo, ibabalik mo siya sa business mo. Lagi mo siyang ibabalik. Hindi ka doon kukuha ng lahat. Di mo kukuhanin lahat doon yung pang-expenses mo. That’s why lagi nilang sinasabi na huwag kang mag-start ng business kapag wala kang work. Work, work for yourself.
Tapos habang nagtatrabaho ka ah buuin mo ‘yung business na gusto mo. Kapag nabuo mo na ‘yung business na gusto mo, stable na ‘yun. Saka ka mag-resign. ‘Yun ‘yung sinasabi lagi ni Chinkee Tan, diba? Na huwag na huwag kang ah magre-resign sa trabaho mo hangga’t hindi pa stable yung binubuo mong negosyo. Kapag stable na yun, that’s the time na pwede ka ng mag-resign.
Philippe: Yan ang problema sa mga ibang naghahanap ng trabaho ngayon because sometimes especially the gen z’s, may trabaho nga sila they they don’t appreciate it and resign na lang ako. Hanap na lang ako iba not knowing in the next hindi naman sila na-hire agad mga after 2 months, 1 month and then magsisisi sila na start from scratch again.
So I think yung mindset lang siguro generally gen z’s these days, iba direction. They want immediate satisfaction. And wala silang patience.
Zarah: Yes.
Philippe: From what we realize syempre hindi naman lahat. There are a couple of gen z’s that I’ve interviewed previously na talagang they’re pretty much like you and ayaw nila mabakante. I think maiba naman tayo because you did mention that you work for Google.
And not directly with Google hindi siya through a company so the siguro the magic question there is how did you learn a job with Google na direct pa hindi through a company through the Philippines? How did that happen?
Zarah: Ah way back before I nung sales engineer pa ako dito so yun nga nag-resign ako kasi nga nabuntis ako kasi ano ah medyo critical ‘yung pagbubuntis ko. that time. So nag-rest ako for month, one month lang. Tapos habang nasa bahay ako, I was thinking na parang hindi ito yung gusto ko. Parang gusto ko lagi akong may ginagawa.
Parang nasanay na ako kasi as a corporate girly ba, nasanay ka na gumising ng maaga papasok, uuwi tapos gigising ulit ng maaga. Parang ganoon yung gusto kong routine ko gawin daily. Tapos nag-apply ako through LinkedIn. Yes. Yun yung binuild ko na ‘yun ‘yung binuikd ko talaga na career sa built-in tal sa LinkedIn talaga.
Zarah: So I was sometimes I was scrolling to JobStreet pero kasi sa JobStreet kasi hindi lahat nakukuha eh. So sabi kasi nila, I was dun sa research na nakuha ko LinkedIn yung parang uh best way to get the best job that you want lalo na kapag working from home.
So I build my profile. Minsan nag-aano pa ako, nagte-take pa ako ng mga certificates para lang may malagay ako doon sa sa ano ko, LinkedIn ko. Like I make it talaga na parang website. Tapos gusto ko nakikita ng clients doon yung credib yung credibility mo yung ah like you know yung mga certificates mo para ano credible ka pagdating sa mga ah clients ‘di ba? So yun siguro yun yung naging ano steping stone ko para makita makita ako ng HR.
Zarah: Actually they reach me. Hindi ako yung nag-reach sa kanila. Yeah, they they message me lang sa LinkedIn na saying that they have a offer ganyan. It’s a fully fully work from home, fully remote then ganito yung sahod ganyan ganyan ganito yung responsibility. So nag-a-align naman siya doon sa experience ko before nung nasa corporate pa ako.
So okay why not kunin ko ‘to. Try ko lang. Kasi ‘ ba hindi naman natin masusubukan kung hindi natin ita-try. I mean hindi natin malalaman kung hindi natin susubukan. So I took the leap. I risk kahit nabuntis ako that time. Tapos until now nagwo-work pa rin ako sa kanila. Ang maganda kasi doon hindi toxic yung management nila.
Zarah: Actually yung Google management is very very like professional. So ano sila they focus on moms, working moms. So kahit na like sinabi ko na I have to go to a hospital because my daughter, have a sick ganyan. So sobrang very
Philippe: Flexible
Zarah: Flexible. Yeah. Flexible na hindi mo kailangan isipin na paano yung trabaho ko? Baka magalit yung manager ko. Ganito ganyan na baka mamaya pag-uwi ko wala na akong work. Hindi hindi gann ‘yung magiging ano mo eh thinking mo kapag nag-work ka sa kanila. So sobrang that’s that’s the realizations I make nung nag-work ako ng work from home.
Kasi sabi ko hindi kasi lahat ng management ganito. Kasi na-experience ko na dito sa Pilipinas na, I working as a corporate and then like 12 a.m. na you have to submit the report kasi kinabukasan meron siyang meron siyang manager’s meeting. So ikaw gagawin mo siya ah at 12 midnight tapos papasok ka ng early in the morning just to like you know tapos kapag mali ikaw pa yung sisisihin.
Zarah: So sabi ko ah ayoko nung ganitong environment. Gusto ko ‘yung masaya lang ‘yung hindi mo kailangan isipin na parang nahihirapan ka. Kasi diba hindi naman natin kailangan dapat ma-experience ‘yung ganon lalo na kapag lalo na sa atin na meron naman tayong degree na pinag-aralan. So bakit kailangan nating pahirapan yung sarili natin?
We are working hard naman. Diba? Hindi naman tayo tamad. We we know our work actually. So ‘yun lang. So sabi ko actually simula nung nagtrabaho ako sa US, yung ganito yung US na time zone doon ko na-realize na yung international yung mga international people are more like they are more they give more flexible time sa mga Filipino people.
Zarah: So sila pa yung nagkakaroon ng malasakit sa atin instead na Filipino to Filipino. So sila kasi ang lahi nila like Singaporean, Malaysian. So hindi naman nila tayo nami-meet like personally like this diba na everyday nasa one room tayo nagmi-meeting so hindi naman din nila nakikita kung ano yung ginagawa natin. So wala tayong personal interaction sa kanila pero bakit ganun sila magmalasakit?
Kasi yung mga Filipino na employee they give their best to their work. Nakikita nila yun. Nakikita ng mga international people ‘yun. So kaya hindi ko rin masisi yung ibang mga tao, yung mga ibang employee na they wanted to have a career na working from home like the VA ba yung virtual assistance.
Zarah: Gustong-gusto nila ‘yun kasi nakita na nila ‘yung ugali nung mga international people na ganoon sila ka generous like sa ‘yung iba pa nga napapanood ko nagpapadala pa sila ng personal items like laptop diba to work better. Yung iba pinapadalan pa sila ng mga tablets, phones just to like you know give back dun sa mga Filipino people na nagtatrabaho for din.
Philippe: Can you give us a couple of tips because ang daming interested dito nung nabanggit mo na you open the LinkedIn account, inayos mo and then you took certif certifications. Can you give us your top three tips on how to build a great LinkedIn profile para lang ma-attract iyung mga nagha-hire na katulad ni Google?
Zarah: Actually, yung mabibigay ko lang na tips is number one, get verified on LinkedIn. If you can get verified.
Philippe: Yan ba iyung may bayad?
Zarah: Yeah. Yung may badge. If you can kasi mas na mas mabilis nakikita ng mga employers yun and you’re credible enough, ibig sabihin credible, credible enough ka to hire for their company.
Philippe: Magkano yun? I’m curious.
Zarah: I don’t think pero hindi ako ano badge. Hindi ako wala akong badge. Hindi ako verified sa ano sa LinkedIn. I just I just set up my profile cleanly. So ang maganda kasi doon dapat kapag may Link profile ka ah nilalagyay mo lahat ng experience mo doon.
Philippe: Walang experience halimbawa fresh grad?
Zarah: You have to take, you take like some like some trainings. Yun yung magandang experience din. So at least nakikita nila na, oh, she’s taking this trainings, this certificates. Kung wala kang masyadong experience at least meron kang mga certificates or trainings attended na mapapakita sa kanila.
Philippe: And itong certificate trainings, is it through LinkedIn or naghanap ka ng?
Zarah: Yeah. Outside, meron mga free trainings naman na ino-offer online sa Google, sa Corsera.
Philippe: Coursera, okay.
Zarah: Coursera. Tapos sometimes yung iba, I paid for one of the trainings that I have yung Coursiv. So yun yung AI mastery. Yeah. So matututunan mo doon yung chat GPT. Hindi lang hindi lang basic. Basic on how to use the chat GPT ‘yung claude, yan yung ah Grok yun yung mga tinuturo doon yung sa AI.
Tapos, ah kasi ah one of the yung pinakamalaking like credentials na mao-offer mo is having a AI certificate for sa ano natin ngayon ha kasi diba more on, more on AI na tayo ngayon so kailangan yun yung one of the certificates that you have.
Philippe: So very important na yon.
Zarah: Yes. Very very important. I think for me very important na meron kang at least alam mo na alam mo yung AI.
Philippe: Okay.
Zarah: Or may alam ka sa AI or ah like kahit isa lang doon kahit chat GPT lang or cloud lang ganun. And sa project management naman since project management yung field ko, so dapat alam mo rin ‘yung mga project management tools na meron ka. So ano ba yung mga project management tools na ginagamit natin? So ‘ ba meron tayong mga money.com, yun.
So yung notion yung ah meron pa like marami eh. Pwede mong i-search, pwede mo siyang i-search sa Google lalabas doon lahat ng mga ah systems or ah pwede mong gamitin as project management tools. And also importante din yung project management certificate.
Zarah: So for me, I took the Procore yung project management um trainings way back nung nasa corporate pa ako. So gladly na nakapagtook ako non. And some of them are onlines na.
Philippe: For someone na sabihin natin nag-drop out from school, let’s say because of financial issues, family and stuff. For example, hanggang high school lang siya. Do you think someone like that has the capability of getting these certifications kahit high school lang?
Zarah: Yeah. Certificates are wala naman siyang wala naman hindi naman siya limited lang to ah degree persons. So everyone can can take that can take the certificates kasi nasa online lang naman siya eh. So all you have to do kung meron siyang bayad then you have to paid for it.
Kasi some of the certificates lalo na yung mga yung mga matataas na credentials na like PMP for example sa project management PMP you have to paid for it kasi kasi 8 months mo yun ite-take eh yung courses na yon. So kapag project manager yung kukuhanin mo one of the credentials they ah ask for it is yung PMP talaga.
Zarah: So pero kapag if you’re a dropout, I don’t think na you will hired as project manager kapag dropout ka. I’m not sure kasi wala pa akong masyadong na-experience na ganon. But ang mabibigay ko lang na tips is kahit nasa like nasa mababang posisyon ka pa lang you can take a PMP na. If you want to be a manager soon. So kung gusto mo talagang i-pursue yung project management na field yun yung kailangan mong kunin talaga na course yung PMP.
Philippe: So great tips for LinkedIn. So dapat my badge, certifications.
Zarah: Yeah
Philippe: And you have to be AI knowledge at least. So great three things. As a working mom with us who is also an entrepreneur. What’s your give us some tips for the other working moms or work from home moms or work from outside moms? Kasi may mga moms na ganon, right? What would your tips be for them?
Zarah: So number one is find your niche. Ano yung passion mo? Ano yung gustong gusto mo laging gawin? So if you’re working work from home mom and you want also to build the small businesses before that find your niche first. Huwag kang mag-start ng business dahil trend. Yeah. Kasi hindi lahat ng trend ay bagay sa’yo.
Hindi lahat ng business ay bagay sa’yo. Hindi lang kung, ay gusto ko nito. Gusto ko ng ganyan. Gusto ko ng ganitong business, gusto ko ng ganyan. Ang tanong, you fit well ba to that business? Kaya mo ba siyang i-handle while you’re working from home? While you’re taking care of your kids?
Zarah: Huwag ka munang mag-aim ng isang bagay na hindi mo na sa tingin mo hindi mo kayang i-handle, diba? So first, find your niche. Ano yung passion mo? Saan ka magaling? Ano yung kaya yung services na kaya mong i-offer? And second is siguro yung, take the risk. Huwag kang matakot na mag-take ng risk.
Kapag gusto mo yung isang bagay, grab mo lang siya. Grab the opportunity nga ika nga. Diba ‘yung sinasabi nila kasi, kapag hindi mo siya inumpisahan ngayon then when. Kailan ka pa mag-start kapag malaki na ‘yung anak mo ‘yung kapag ‘yung dadating na ‘yung time na hindi mo na kaya.
Zarah: Yung marami ka ng ginagawa hindi mo na masingit yung business mo. So while now, na nagwo-work ka pa lang na hindi pa masyadong, hindi ka pa masyadong like you know yung hindi pa yung time mo hindi pa masyadong critical, build the business na. At least kahit papaano nakapag-start ka na, may naisimulan ka na.
Then eventually mapapalaki mo naman yan along the process eh ‘di ba? You have you don’t have to be perfect to start. So actually yung best time to start is, you have to start imperfectly. Yun lang siguro yung maa-advice ko sa mga mommies na gusto din mag-start ng ganitong business. The best time to start is now. Then eventually ma aano mo na lang siya. Mabi-build mo na lang siya along the way.
Philippe: Anak mo yan?
Zarah: Yeah. She’s 2 years old and husband.
Philippe: Big girl na. Ang cute.
Zarah: Yeah. When I started my business, she’s only like 3 months old. Kasi that time meron akong natirang ref magnet sheet. Yeah, ref magnet sheet sa bahay namin kasi nung kinasal kami ng husband ko, ako din yung gumawa nung invitations namin and all. Yes.
Philippe: Galing.
Zarah: So I bought I bought a second hand printer. Yung reason lang naman kasi kung bakit gusto ko ng second hand printer is yung lola ko pag nagpapa-xerox siya, kailangan niya pang maglakad ng malayo para lang makapagpa-xerox siya or print. So sabi ko, So ako naawa ako sa kanya. Sabi ko, “Sige bibili na ako ng printer para hindi ka na mahirapan. ” ‘Yun yung reason lang kung bakit meron kaming printer.
Philippe: Galing
Zarah: Yes, and then that time nung kinasal kami ng asawa ko, since mahilig nga akong mag-decorate, mag ah mag-create ng mga cute designs. So I tried to create our online invitation. So I made it on site, website invitation and then I yeah I printed it. So yung mga ninong and ninang namin yun lang yung mga may printed invitations and then yung mga guest namin sila yung sinendan namin ng website invitation.
Philippe: Ang galing.
Zarah: Yeah. That that started yung aming digital digital product businesses. Pero yung nagha-handle naman non is yung kapatid ko, yung sister ko. She do the video invitation. Yung digital products. We sell templates online. So binigay ko na yun sa kanya kasi ah she’s already in a college. So gusto ko gusto ko kung ano yung ah ano yung ginawa ko nung college ako.
Yun yung matutunan niya. Kasi sabi ko kapag hindi mo natutunan yan mahihirapan ka. Kasi kapag puro komportable lang yung nararanasan mo ngayon, pagdating mo sa time na mahihirapan ka na, hindi mo kayang mag like ah hindi mo kayang makabawi eh diba? Kapag wala akong masyadong experience kapag puro comfort, comfort, comfort kasi lagi niyang iisipin nandito naman si ate, nandito naman si mommy, nandito naman si daddy. So paano ka as a person?
Zarah: Ano iyung growth na na-build mo yourself? So dapat maranasan mo yung hirap. Hindi lang puro sarap, ‘diba? Kasi that’s ah doon magsisimula ah maging better person ka kapag naranasan mo ng mahirapan kasi makakaisip ka na ng way, okay kaya kong makabawi ulit eh kasi nakarating na ako I mean ah naranasan ko na to, nadaanan ko na to.
So that’s sa kapag naranasan mo ng mahirapan, kapag sanay ka sa hirap, kapag sanay ka dun sa like dumating ka sa point na lugmok ka na and then maiisip mo kaya ko naman makabawi ulit eh. Kasi nagawa mo na nga dati eh so magagawa mo pa rin ngayon.
Philippe: Great wisdom for working moms. So ngayon si working mom, may business na, nakapag ipon na siya. Give us tips on how did you market your business para makilala ka.
Zarah: So I market my business through TikTok and Facebook. So actually I do content creation. I do behind the scenes. So kapag meron akong orders, vini-video ko siya like packing orders, creating orders, printing orders. That’s how I market my business. And also I paid ads for Facebook to market my products online.
Philippe: So hindi pala kailangan traditional videos like oh this ito baso, ganito ganyan yung features. So what you did is pinakita mo lang yung process
Zarah: Yeah
Philippe: Yung habang nagpi-print ka lang.
Zarah: Kasi ang tao gusto nila yung process eh. Hindi yung product.
Philippe: Ang galing.
Zarah: So ang sine-sell mo, you sell motivation. you sell behind the scenes. Hindi yung mismong product yung pinapakita mo kasi people yung gusto nila yung namo-motivate sila when you share your story behind that printing business. Yun yung gusto ng tao.
That’s why they buy. Hindi sila nag babuy kasi maganda yung product mo. Nag bubuy sila kasi nagustuhan nila yung story mo kung paano ka nagsimula as small business owner while working from home and while you are taking care of your kid.
Philippe: I love your strategy because even I never thought about that na pinapakita mo paano nagagawa or stuff. That’s so that’s so interesting. Ha? So it would be wiser just do you present? Do you say na ganito ang ginagawa or you just show yung process?
Zarah: Yeah, I just show the process and then I also do like time-lapse and then I put it like a quotes on it tapos pino-post ko siya sa TikTok and then sometimes I do voiceover. I share how uh I started with my printing business.
Saan ako nag-start? I shared na-share ko din doon na I started with the small space lang. Tapos I started with the a secondhand printer. Paano ko siya napalaki? Paano ako nagkaroon ng another printer?
Philippe: So yung mga mga sorry yung mga bumibili they’re the they’re the ones watching your content.
Zarah: Yeah
Philippe: So not necessarily na ah gusto ko siyang gayahin. Nagiging napco-convert mo sila.

Zarah: Yeah.

Philippe: Wow.

Zarah: Nako-convert some of my clients ang lagi nilang sinasabi kasi na-motivate sila na like alam mo ‘yun na-inspire sila dun sa kwento mo. That’s why they buy. Hindi dahil nagustuhan nil kumbaga parang another plus na plus points na lang na maganda yung product mo.

Syempre you you are a small business ‘di ba? You make your product presentable.Hindi lang syempre dapat nagshe-share ka lang ng inspirational or motivational.

Philippe: Paano kung pangit yung product?

Zarah: Diba, siyempre dapat yung product mo quality din. So yun yung sine-sell ko. Hindi lang sometimes I sell the quality of the product pero kasi most of the time I sell talaga iyung inspirational stories behind that printing business and floating business.

Philippe: That’s such a great strategy. Gawin kaya natin yun behind the scenes.

Zarah: Yeah.

Philippe: Because, I see a lot of mom, how do you call them? Mom entrepreneurs or momprenuers. Diba ang daming they’re so shy. Ayaw nilang humarap you know and they’re afraid na oh baka ma-bash ako or anything like that.

So tapos when every time someone thinks about content creation, iniisip nila is they have to present maayos ako. Dapat ito maayos iyung background and everything. It’s so hard you know just to create that piece of content. Tapos syempre lahat tayo we want to be we want the content to be perfect.

Zarah: Yeah.

Philippe: Right. So pwede pala kahit voiceover.

Zarah: Actually, I do I do Faceless video presentations. So, I hindi ako nagsho-show ng face ah sa video. Pero some of my videos naman merong face pero mostly of my videos are faceless. Just the product itself. And then I just put a voiceover on it. Shine-share ko na okay ito another day another ref magnets or another souvenir.

Philippe: Ang galing.

Zarah: Another day another magnet. Another souvenirs party needs and then okay ito yung product na to is from, from TikTok ganyan ganyan and then it’s from the ganitong lugar. So ah shine-share ko din doon ano iyung mga materials na ginamit ko for to make that product.

Philippe: Galing.

Zarah: Yeah. For example the ref magnet. So I’m I the products the products I use for this, the materials I use for this product is um the 200 GSM photo paper. I used the I used the um cold laminating film yan tapos shino-show ko how I do it how I cut it ganyan. How I pack it.

Philippe: Galing galing. You have a really unique strategy and I’m pretty sure a lot of people are doing it pero normally kasi when you say oh meron tayong negosyo, market natin o mag-ads tayo and then we just showcase the product. I never thought that showing the process would really get to the clients. Pero,

Zarah: Actually some of the, some of my colleagues kasi we have a community yung pending community sa TikTok some of them are doing it. So ah ang kailangan mo lang kasi kapag ah nag-start ka ng online business is you have to adopt sa trends. That’s the trends eh.

Kasi kapag hindi ka sumunod or hindi ka nag-adapt sa latest na trends, you will left behind eh. So if you’re do if you’re still doing the traditional way of promoting your products, then you will get left behind. Diba? Yung iba nga like even if it’s a signage maker ginagawan talaga nila ng mga promotional videos yan just to promote their products just to market it.

Zarah: So some of them yung mga yung mga ah printing business din ng mga fino-follow ko ganun din yung ginagawa nila they show the process kung paano nila ginagawa yung products even if it’s faceless, it doesn’t matter to people ang mahalaga na-inspire sila doun sa content mo.

Philippe: And hindi naman kailangang high quality content, in terms of the video quality hindi naman kailangan ganon ka

Zarah: It matters

Philippe: It matters also, okay okay.

Zarah: It matters syempre, kahit ikaw naman diba ayaw mo rin manood ng malabo yung camera

Philippe: Of course of course.

Zarah: So kailangan mo din syempre mag-invest doon sa quality na gagamitin mong camera kahit phone lang basta it has a quality video.

Philippe: Okay yun.

Zarah: Kahit ‘yun lang simple lang. Mag-start ka lang don muna and then ah eventually saka ka na lang mag-upgrade kapag medyo may enough fund ka na. that that’s the tip I need, I will give to uh people or moms na gusto din mag-start ng content creation to promote their products.

Philippe: We talked about AI earlier. Can you share with us how you utilize AI and how you use it in your business?

Zarah: I use AI to create a like posters. So like for example I have a order like ref magnet and I don’t have an idea for the theme they choose. So ang gagawin ko ise-search ko siya sa chat GPT. I use mostly chat GPT. Yun yung yun yung ah ginagamit ko madalas sa business ko ngayon. Tapos I also ask for the content post, Facebook post. So ge generate naman yung mga um topics na ishe-share mo dun sa contents mo.

So I also do like um yung yung capcat to create a video naman tapos nag I I do also yung I add the voiceover doon sa video na ginagawa ko para lang medyo clear kasi kapag videos lang, kapag ano lang commercial sounds lang sometimes hindi siya masyadong nire-read ni TikTok eh so kailangan may voiceover magshe-share ka din.

Philippe: So may hack pala dun para lang ma..

Zarah: Kasi ‘yung dapat ang gagamitin mo is commercial song para makita siya para ma-generate siya ni TikTok tapos mag lumabas siya sa fyp. Some of it kasi naba-band kapag hindi original songs yung ginamit mo.

Philippe: Ah so dapat TikTok ano ba siya?

Zarah: TikTok song siya.

Philippe: Tiktok song.

Zarah : Yes. Dapat TikTok song siya. From TikTok siya. Pero some of it naman yung iba basta hindi lang siya copyright.

Philippe: Yeah.

Zarah: Naaano naman siya, nap-post naman siya sa TikTok.

Philippe: Interesting. So may mga technicalities pa.

Zarah: Yeah

Philippe: People have to know about the platform, you know.

Zarah: And hindi lahat alam yun. So that’s why research is very important. Hindi lang basta you do the business, you do research din. Diba? Ano yung magandang strategy to market your products? Ano yung mag ano ba yung trends ngayon?
So hindi na, pero hindi naman lahat ng trends dapat sasabayan mo. You have to choose lang one product or one niche na papatok sayo. Parang ako hindi ako sumasabay sa trend sa printing business. Okay? Ah for example school year. So uso yan yung mga name tags ‘di ba?

Philippe: Yeah.

Zarah: Yung tracing pad. Hindi ako sumusunod don kasi I focus on souvenirs. So kasi ‘yung friends ano lang ‘yan eh. One day, 2 days, 3 days. Nagla-last lang ‘yan. Like Father’s Day, yes, makakabenta ka. Pero mas marami pa din ‘yung people na nagce-celebrate ng birthdays, ng weddings, ng Christening, ‘di ba? So yun yung yun yung tina-target ko. I have the target market talaga.

Hindi lang one. Hindi lang ako nagfo-focus na every event lang, every trends lang. Hindi lang ako doon nagfo-focus. I have a target market talaga. So okay lang. Okay lang saakin kahit hindi ako makasabay sa trends na hindi ako nakapag-release ng product sa father’s day, Mother’s Day, yung school year. Okay lang yun kasi I still have the the pending orders to make kasi meron namang nagbe-birthdays pa eh.

Zarah: Bukas may magbe-birthday pa ulit. Bukas may magbe-birthday, may wedding. So marami kang market, marami kang pwedeng makuha. So ang tips don, huwag ka masyadong magfo-focus to trends lang.

Create your own um gumawa ka or humanap ka ng sarili mong ah target market niche na pwede mong or services na pwede mong i-offer na magla-last ah magla-last siya ng matagal. Hindi yung dahil seasonal lang. Dahil trends lang siya, dahil celebrations lang siya.

Philippe: And when it comes to printing kasi ang daming nagsasabi o nagiging absolute na sorry nagiging obsolete na ang printing pero when it comes to souvenirs kasi it’s right now it’s much more in demand because everyone lahat sanay na sa digital right?

So syempre when you receive something cute, I mean yun nga tendency can you give us examples of what types of things you print out or things that pag sinabi mong souvenir anong what different types of products. Give us a few examples.

Zarah: Ah, ang best alert ko is yung ref magnets kasih, okay. Yeah. So, ah ang technique ko kasi doon is you have to create a cute ref magnets. Kasi people want cutes diba. They want it personalized. So if they saw it cute, mas gusto nila na dini-display ‘yun. Tama. Tama.

So ang ano ko doon ang technique ko hindi I make it cute lang talaga kasi yun yung ano ko eh yun iyung passion ko yung yung maging cute yung I mean I create cute items na like sabi ko nga sabi ko nga sa mga printing business owners ko ah OA kasi ako eh. OA kasi ako kasi over over ka na sa designs like that pero for me for me oa yung designs pero for them pala hindi pala So sabi ko, “Oh, okay.”
Zarah: So don’ ko na-realize na iba pala ‘yung tingin ng clients sa crafter. Kasi VAS ang tawag namin sa sarili namin sa printing business, crafters. So sabi ko okay iba pala ‘yung tingin ng crafters sa product. Sa tingin ng client sa product. So sa tingin nila cute yun pero para sa akin OA siya.

Philippe: Yes. Yes. Interesting.

Zarah: So ang ginagawa ko lang I make it OA para sa tingin ng iba cute siya.

Philippe: Cute siya. Okay.

Zarah: I make it put like I put some of the cute stickers doun sa layouts ko. Yun kasi yung laging napupuna sa akin eh na ang cute, ang ganda ko na gumawa ng layouts. Pero I offer it free layout lang sa mga clients ko.

Philippe: May dala kang sample?

Zarah: Ay no!

Philippe: Ay sayang.

Zarah: But I have photos on my phone.

Philippe: We share it na through the podcast. Apart from ref magnet kasi sa amin sa bahay puno eh and we love it pag buong family yung nasa yung picture namin and we always see it so it’s it’s a great thing tapos hindi siya sagabal sa minsan.

Kasi pag yung mga traditional na family frame lalagay mo medyo sagabal sa wall mag magbubutas ka pa ng whatever but for the ref magnet iyan lagi iyung hinahanap namin in occasions like binyag and all that. Kasi we like it. It’s very simple. Kakabit mo lang. Tapos meron kaming collection na.

Zarah: Yes.

Philippe: So apart from that, what else do you offer as a cute souvenir item?

Zarah: I also offer mugs, personalized mugs, in tote bags also. So, marami akong product na ino-offer. I offer personalized candles for baptism, christening. Yeah. Yung mga for ninong and ninangs. I also create pocket mirrors. Yeah. Yung pocket mirrors, actually bestseller sain yung pocket mirrors.

Philippe: Really?

Zarah: Yeah, yung pocket mirrors with the keychain tapos ilalagay mo lang sa bag. Gustong-gusto yun ng mga ano ng mga client ko kasi very handy, very cutesy tapos ah lalo kapag cute yung design. So hindi nakakahiya ilabas.

Yun kasi yung gusto nila yung cute yung design para kahit saan mo dalhin marami rin macucute’an. That’s that that’s the strategy I made for my business. I make I make it cute lang talaga.

Philippe: Dapat overkill yung cuteness.

Zarah: Yeah, dapat very cute.

Philippe: Itong pocket mirror pambabae lang naman ‘ ba so yung mga nilalagay sa pouch ba yan

Zarah: Yeah.

Philippe: For makeup?

Zarah: No. I also have clients na ginagawa nila yung seventh birthday seventh ah seventh birthday nung anak nilang lalaki. So I I created yung sa Jolly Race.

Philippe: Okay.

Zarah: I already created that na pocket mirror. So siguro yung guest nila is babae ganyan or pwede din kasi siya sa lalaki. Meron din akong clients na ginawa ang ang bigay niya doon sa ninong ng anak niya is pocket mirror na with the name on it.

Philippe: Interesting.

Zarah: Like yeah for example the pocket mirror you have the name of Philippe, ganyan tapos yun yung regalo niya sayo. As a keepsake.

Philippe: Gaano siya kalaki? Is it?

Zarah: Ah 58 mm.

Philippe: So So maliit lang siya talaga. It’ small.

Zarah: it’s a pocket ano lang pocket mirror lang talaga na you have to it’s handy na pwede mo siyang dalhin every sa kahit saan talaga. Sa bag ganyan. Sa pouch pwede siya. Kasya siya .

Philippe: Galing.I never thought a po would be the best seller. Ha? I mean ang dami.

Zarah: Parang it’s like it’s like size of a badge yung pin badge yun pero yung back non mirror. So instead na pin yung back niya mirror.

Philippe: So hindi siya ino-open pero ano lang.

Zarah: Yeah. Flip. Flip mo lang.

Philippe: Galing nga. Interesting. Where can we use that? Kasi from what I know very very useful yung mga ganon. Especially when you’re using the backside camera of a phone.

Zarah: Yes

Philippe: Pwede mo siya idikit. Kasi minsan yung selfie cam is not as And plus wala siyang ultra wide view kaya ginagamit nila. And sometimes ay anong itsura ba natin? We don’t know.

Zarah: Pwede sa yan sa office ah yung ibang mga client ko yung mga guest nila like nag-o-office ganyan doun daw nila binibigay.

Philippe: Okay. So, mayron tayong ref magnet, pocket mirror. Ano pa?

Zarah: Ah, I do the mouse pads also. Uh, personalized mouse pads with the name on it and then coasters and then tote bugs. Ah, ano pa ba? Ang damin..

Philippe: In tote bags. Is it yan ba iyung how big is it? Is it or all sizes?

Zarah: 12x 14 yung um yung mina-market ko ngayon. But I also have different sizes din naman. But it depends on the client who wants to avail to bag.

Philippe: So bale, so bale package na iyun everything like the ref magnet nasa to bag na

Zarah: I don’t have the package yet I sell it

Philippe: Separately

Zarah: Separately. Yeah. Okay. So kasi yung iba hindi nila gusto yung ah if when you have the package already na ah meron kang ah ganito to bag, meron kang magneton kang ganito. But some of it work works it ah nagwo-work ‘yun sa ibang businesses pero sa akin kasi separately.
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So kasi ang ideal ko naman doon mas malaki yung kita mo kasi kapag separate like unlike kapag package diba but the package kasi mas mabilis siyang ibenta, mas mabilis siyang i-market kasi naka-package na siya. But for me kasi ang ginagawa ko ay upsell.

Zarah: I do upsell. Well, chatting with the customers I do upselling. So ang inquiry for example ang nag in-inquire lang nila is ref magnets. Hi ma’am. I also have this. I also have pocket mirrors mirrors. I also have to bags. I send the pictures. Oh, meron ka pala niyan ganyan ganyan. Okay sige add mo ako ganyan.

Philippe: Actually yan ang kulang sa mga nagbi-business they always fail to upsellAnd it’s a good thing na kasi part of marketing na din ‘yun and sales. SoI think most ang dami ko ininquire for things that I want to buy.

And then rarely siguro only one out of 10 na mag-o-offer na sir baka baka gusto niyo ng additional may ibang products kami. Hindi nila from you know what I call that iyong upselling I call it fast food type of selling.

Zarag: Yeah. Kasi I learned that sa McDo

Philippe: McDo. Yeah, kasi I go large or a what is it meal.

Zarah: You want it medium large? Yeah.

Philipe: Yeah. So I think it’s very important. It doesn’t matter if it’s souvenirs or food, but I think upsell is one of the most power thing that people don’t utilize when it comes to selling. Let’s talk about pricing. Okay.

You said kasi you have a target market, you have a you have certain products for that market. When it comes to pricing, how’s your pricing at? Is it nandoon ba tayo sa is it A B C pricing? What type of

Zarah: Actually my pricing in ref magnet is Php25 only for that 2×4 yung ATM size.

Philippe: So pwede siya pang masa yung business.

Zarah: Yes. Actually sabi nga nila mababa yung Php25 for a ref magnet kasi 1 mm siya. Yung gamit ko doon na magnetic sheet yung pinakamakapal na magnet. And it cost Php20 per sheet. So sa printing business, kapag nag-printing business ka, medyo mahal na yung Php20 per sheet.

Kasi sa isang pack, 10 pieces lang siya. So how much yun? 200. Ilan lang yung magagawa mo doon? So Php25. But sabi ko kasi ang mindset ko kasi okay lang na medyo mababa yung price ko basta madami. Kesa naman yung madami, yung ang taas nga ng price mo almost hindi na kayang ma-avail nung lahat na namamahalan na.

Zarah: Pero kasi I do it , I make it quality product din eh. So I think yung Php25 ang ginagawa ko na lang bumabawi ako sa minimum orders. Yes, I have a Php25 na ref magnet pero yung minimum orders niya is 50 pieces. When they avail below 50 pieces, I make it Php30.

Philippe: Sa mga ganyang negosyo, I mean, what’s the range sa margins ng profit where I’m curious, is it 50%, 25?

Zarah: Actually sa printing business sinasabi nila tubong lugaw daw.

Philippe: Really?

Zarah: Yes. Tubong lugaw lang

Philippe: Kahit madaming materials?

Zarah: Yeah. Tubong lugaw daw. Ang ang maganda kasi sa ah maganda kasi sa printing business people hindi naman, people don’t know the materials you use eh. There are different types of papers in printing businesses. They don’t know that kung ano bang ginamit mong GSM doon. 200 GSM 180 GSM.

If you look at it, makikita mo parang pare-parehas lang siya pero they are different. Hindi yun alam ng clients. So syempre even, you’re even you’re prioritizing the quality products, syempre gagamit ka din ng ano ba yung medyo mababang product na pwedeng pampalit dito.

Zarah: Like instead of using 80 180 gsm I use like 130 gsm kasi hindi naman siya ganon kalambot na pwede pa rin siyang, pwede pa rin siyang maging kapalit ng 180 gsm na paper.

Philippe: Meron bang mga ibang clients na medyo specific sa specification?

Zarah: No. No. Wala. Sa sa akin in my experience wala akong naging clients na sinabi nila na masyadong malambot yung ginamit mong photo paper ganito ganyan. Wala wala akong nakitang ganoon kasi ah I always use the nasa ano yan eh nasa brand may meron kasing brand na I don’t know kung pwedeng lang sabihin dito.

But I use the quaff yun yung yun kasi yung for me it works the quality ng sa product talaga yung quaff but some of my co-crafters they use yasen yun yung ginagamit nila kasi maganda daw so but I haven’t tried the yasen yet I use the quaff lang.

Philippe: And I think what’s important with the with your clients is that oat mukhang okay naman. It has to be cute. They don’t care they don’t care what GSM thickness and what material.

Zarah: Actually hindi nga nila alam kung ano yung 1 mm eh and different ng 0.5 mm sa 1 mm magnetic sheet. So pero lagi ko lang sinasabi na if they want to have a discount kapag like for example sinasabi nila 50 pieces naman baka pwedeng you make it 20 na lang. Sabi ko, “Hindi na po talaga kaya kasi ah 1 mm na ‘yung ginamit kong magnetic sheet dito.

Hindi ko na kayang ibaba pa. Actually, that’s the yung makapal na ano na eh na magnetic sheet eh. So sa market sa market kapag tinry mo pa yun sa iba it’s more than Php25 pa.

Philippe: Wow.

Zarah: Kasi, they relay on the product, the materials they use. Eh ako kasi I relay on the um I relay on the like kung ano ba yung kaya talaga nung ano nung ah nung masa nung nung tao na maga-avail but make it cute pa din ganon.

Philippe: Yan yung tagline mo no? Cuteness overkill. Wow, lots of lots of great ideas, lots of insights about your printing business. I think I’ learned so much more than my friends that has printing businesses because they have printing businesses as well.

Zarah: But there are different types of kasi printing business. Hindi. Sinasabi kasi nila kapag pinting business dapat lagi ka lang nag-o-offer ng t-shirt, lagi ka lang nag-o-offer ng tarpaulins.

Philippe: Yes.

Zarah: Kasi I have I have co business owners na printing business din na they have their niche lang, specific product lang na binebenta. Like for example, Tarpaulins lang ako, lanyards lang ako, sublimation lang ako, I’m purely souvenirs. Ganun lang. Then ako kasi I started with the ref magnet talaga. Yun lang talaga yung product na ino-offer ko when I started the business.

Philippe: And it’s good kasi kung nakilala ka na ng ref magnet.

Zarah: Yes. I mean ref magnet queen nga daw ako.

Philippe: Which which is good because there are companies with so many products hindi mo na alam kung if there

Zarah: Ano yung io-offer

Philippe: Kung yun yung na-master nila. It’s it’s great advice. Dapat talagang focus on one and then expand.

Zarah: Yes, and I added lang the sublimation para if ever lang meron maginquire like meron ba kayong you offer t-shirts ba yes pwede mo at least naki-cater mo pa din sila and then sometimes I do my daughter’s t-shirt lang yung mga pambahay lang like I make it like sample lang sa sublimation ganun lang yung ginagawa kong sample

Philippe: So malalaki na yung mga printers mo no because doing sublimation alam mo it’s

Zarah: I have the Supplimation yung 4×4 yung four t-shirt lang. Yung kasya yung t-shirt and then yung tote bags. Pero kasi marami ka ng maki-cater doon eh. Pwede ka na doon gumawa ng mousepad, ng poster. May mugs, tumblers, cups. Yung plate meron din ako non. Tapos ah yung foldable fan, fan. Yan.

Philippe: Yung

Zarah: Yung finofold

Philippe: Yung ano parang Yeah. fin-fold tapos ganyan kaliit.

Zarah: Yes. Ganun.

Philippe: Pwede pala sa mga ano eh eleksyon eh.

Zarah: Oo.

Philippe: Actually mabenta ‘yun yung dati kasi t-shirt mabenta pero because it’s always hot sa mga campaign na. Ang galing. That’s so good.

Zarah: Ganun pa nga yung I can personalize yung rechargeable fan.

Philippe: Really?

Zarah: Like the yung Jisu life.

Philippe: Yes, yes.

Zarah: Jisu Life yun na-personalize ko siya.

Philippe: Ano yan? Pini-print.

Zarah: UV DTF, Ah it’s like the stickers na ta-transfer vinyl ganon.

Philippe: Pero yung fan mismo

Zarah: You bought sa supplier syempre

Philippe: Ikaw din kukuha sa supplier?

Zarah: Oo bumibili ako sa supplier and then kapag merong nagpapagawa sa akin ng personalized ah nilalagyan ko siya ng name and then mga tumblers yan.

Philippe: So we have ano i-connect natin siya sa mga ano politicians. That’s great. It’s really good to know that.

Zarah: And yung newest sorry newest na product namin yung photobook. The photobook.

Philippe: Tell me more. How does this photobook look like?

Zarah: Ah, kasi ba sa atin we often like pag may mga celebrations, gusto natin digital and then when the time na nanako yung phone mo wala ka ng copy. So ah yung yung strategy na ginawa ko kasi I experience na manakaw yung phone ko that time. So ngayon I keep it all my daughter’s photos.

Yung first birthday niya and christening, even our wedding. Ah pinost ko siya sa Facebook and then nilagay ko lang siya sa isang album. But we don’t know where Facebook ends eh. Baka mamaya, kapag malaki na siya wala na yung Facebook.

Zarah: Eh doon ko pa naman nilagay lahat. So I nag-isip ako nung paraan na paano ko siya maki-keep na makikita niya pa rin to paglaki niya. So I download it. I make it a photobook on my own.

Philippe: This photo book it’s made from what is it made from?

Zarah: Uh it’s made from a hardbound cover. So I cover it with a glittery um uh laminating film and then I use the 200 gsm photo paper and I laminate the photo the photo paper para hindi siya magfade away on the long run.

Philippe: So mukha siyang book talaga.

Zarah: It’s a book talaga. And then I have a wire binding machine yung ginagamit sa mga notebooks. I binded it. Tapos I cover it with the hard bound din sa likod. So yung harap likod niya hard bound siya tapos meron siyang metal corner para yung corners niya hindi mag-open and then in the long run secured pa din siya.

Philippe: Can you do it without the binders? Can you do it yung parang hard bound siya as buo siya or

Zarah: Yes. Yes, I can do it naman depende. Pero kasi sa akin kasi medyo nacucute-an ako sa may sa wire bound kasi yung bound ah yung wire niya is gold. So ano kasi siya bagay siya doon sa team nung birthday ng anak ko so I make it like gold tapos lahat gold siya.

Yung corners gold ‘yung wire gold din siya. And then sa tingin ko kasi ah marami na yung gumagawa nung hard bound talaga na parang book. So ang rarely lang nung nag-o-offer nung photobook na wiredbound. So I make it wired bound para hindi naman masyadong gayang gayanggaya sa iba.

Philippe: Sa isang book, how many pictures can you add there?

Zarah: Ah I have 20 pages back to back. So 40 pages can fit doon sa isang photobook. Yung iba pwede mo siya i-collage.

Philippe: Wow.

Zarah: But it but it depends sa client na magpapagawa. Pwedeng more than 20 pieces ah more than 20 pages. It depends on them.

Philippe: Okay, great. That’s I think that’s going to be a best seller.

Zarah: Yeah

Philippe: It is because memories yan eh.

Zarah: Yes, memories. And also iyung mga travels, yun yung mga gusto nila yung kini-keep nila yung mga travel photos nila.

Philippe: Sa mga 20, 40 pages na, how much usually ‘yung let’s say uh when you sell it to a client, what’s the minimum order usually and magkano per piece?

Zarah: Uh per piece I sell it like Php450 kapag laminated yung feel yung sheets niya.
But if it’s not laminated, Php350, I sell Php350

Philippe: Per per book

Zarah: Per book.

Philippe: Yes. Yes.

Zarah: Yes. And then ako na din yung nagco-collage ng ibang photos ah while printing it.

Philippe: Is there is there a minimum for the booklet or kahit isa lang if I order?

Zarah: Isa lang. Yes. One is enough.

Philippe: Okay. Okay.

Zarah: Ang maganda kasi doon ano siya glittery yung cover niya and hindi kasi lahat glitter. Hindi kasi lahat ng gumagawa ng photobook is ginaga ginagawa siyang glittered kasi mahal nga yung glittered na film. Yes. Mahal yung glittered na film.

So they make it glossy lang. So sa akin kasi gusto ko kasi yung satisfaction pa rin ng client. Ang important kasi sa akin talaga satisfaction ng client. Kasi when you satisfy your client ah they refer you to others eh.

Philippe: That’s true. That’s true.

Zarah: So sila yung magdadala ng mga clients sa’yo ah yung friends nila. Ire-refer ka nila sa friends. And I experience that that many times na. Actually yung mga clients ko, repeat clients ko na lang talaga ‘yan sila. And then mga friends nila yan. So doon nabubuhay ‘yung printing business ko. Referals.

Philippe: So your main business is the print printing business, right? And you did mention na you also do you have a clothing business.

Zarah: Yes.

Philippe: So tell us more about this clothing business.

Zarah: I have three more small businesses pa. Clothing business. I have travel and tours. And then I have rental business. And meron pa kaming pinap-plan na i-open pero I don’t want to close it pa muna.

Philippe: Ibang klase to si ano

Zarah: Baka maano baka ma-jinx eh.

Philippe: Madam. So my travel in tours, my travel agency and it’s connected to the printing kasi halimbawa yung mga nagta-travel o amin na yung mga pictures niyo pa-print na kayo. Ang galing.

Zarah: Lahat connected siya. Lahat connected siya sa isang businesses lang. sa isang income, stream of income kinonnectr ko lang siya doon kasi kapag different siya mas mahihirapan ako i-handle siya even if it’s multiple.

Philippe: Kasi imagine you have the printing business you have the travel agency memories nila ipi-print mo. Syempre hindi lang memories nila since nagiging customers mo sila o birthday nila o gawa mo sila, offer mo. That’s good.

Zarah: And I created this the travel and tour business kasi mahilig kaming mag-travel nung asawa ko nung first travel namin bago kami ikasal is yung sa Malaysia. So that time naisip ko na na mag-travel and tour business kami kasi meron na akong experience on how to like book a flight ganyan.

Tapos I know how to create a itinerary ganyan. So sabi ko, “Why not mag-create kaya magbusiness tayo ng travel and tour since mahilig naman tayong mag-ano.”

Philippe: So the main question here, how do you manage all of this?

Zarah: Ang good thing about it is because it’s online. So when you kapag nakaupo ka lang if you’re laying down in bed kaya mo siyang gawin eh diba? You can kahit nakaupo ka lang na ganyan take your coffee, answer answer answer your inquiries pwede mo siyang gawin kasi online lang siya it’s all it’s all online.

So kapag may nagpa-book sao you do it online lang din at the same time habang may nag-inquiry okay book mo na siya habang nakaupo ka lang din that’s how I manage it. Pero kung meron, pero kung ang businesses ko is like may physical business, syempre mahirap yun as a work from home mom na meron kang kids tapos ima-manage mo siya at the same time.

Zarah: Kasi nung unahin mo, pupunta ka sa ganito, ka sa ganito. Kaya I made it online lang talaga in one space.

Philippe: And yung printing nandun lang sa

Zarah: Yes andun lang din sa yung ah yung shop ko is parang extension ng bahay namin. Yun yung ginawa kong shop namin. So people are, ang maganda kasi doon since barrio kami ako lang yung unang-unang printing business na meron doon.

Philippe: Wow

Zarah: Sa amin.

Philippe: And take note to everyone listening, from Bulacan ka pa, right you? say nasa nasa barrio it’s away from the city. Yes. But because of the internet, because of Tiktok, naka-connect ka. Galing.

Zarah: TikTok really gave a big opportunity to all small businesses owners. Kasi kung siguro kung wala yung TikTok or yung content creations na nauso yung content creation siguro ah we do traditional way of marketing our businesses lang talaga like paying ads

Philippe: Flyering

Zarah: Flyering

Philippe: Mga tinatapon lang no.

Zarah: Yes. So sobrang laking tulong nung ah content creation talaga sa mga business owners.

Philippe: Thank you for all your insights, all the information and all. If we want to if any of our listeners and viewers want to contact you, how do we contact you? What’s your TikTok hand?

Zarah: So I have a TikTok. You can message me at MM Printing Services or on Facebook MM Printing Services. And my TikTok is @mmprintingservices.

Philippe: MM Printing services. Yun. So anyone who’s interested with birthday invitations, traveling, by the way, doon sa travel of course ano you give us the best rates, you know.

Zarah: Yes

Philippe: Like if we want to go international, best rates.

Zarah: It depends on the kung ano yung pinakamababang rates talaga papunta sa

Philippe: Hindi ba tumaas iyung rates ngayon dahil sa pagtaas ng gas yung gyera

Zarah: Actually, hindi ah actually na-off yung travel andentour business ko nung nagkaroon ng issue with the gas kasi ‘ ba even the flights are canceled. So I don’t want naman na ma-hassle ako sa pagka-cancel ng flight just because that kasi meron pa naman akong businesses na pwedeng i-handle eh.

So ah okay lang kahit na hindi ko siya mai-focus for that. Yun yung maganda kapag meron kang multiple source of income or multiple streams of income. Kasi kapag yung isa nawala meron ka pang-buffer. O kapag yung isa hindi napatok at least you have you still have one business to manage.

Philippe: Great advice coming from Mom Entrepreneur.

Zarah: And ‘yung clothing business ko is ‘yung Zara PH on Facebook.

Philippe: Ano ba ‘yan? Ano? RTW is it?

Zarah: Yeah, actually it’s an ukay-ukay.

Philippe: Oh, nice.

Zarah: I started with I started it nung pandemic. Sobrang nag-boom ang ukay business.

Philippe: Ito ba yung ano for example bibili ka ng isang sako?

Zarah: Yes, yung bail.

Philippe: Alam ko very ano yan ah. Very tubong lugaw din.

Zarah: Yes. Sobra.

Philippe: And fast moving daw from what I’ve heard from others.

Zarah: It depends on how you market it.

Philippe: Ah, how do you market it?

Zarah: Ah, I bought one bail. Okay. Pinipili ko siya. Ano yung pangit? Pinipili ko lang yung magaganda. So siguro sa isang bale 200 pieces ‘yun. Hindi ‘yun lahat maganda. Ang makukuha ko lang doon 100 pieces na maganda.

Philippe: Paano yung mga pangit? Anong ginagawa don?

Zarah: Ah ‘yung iba doon ginagawa ko siyang freebies. Kunwari medyo okay pa naman like sa polo ah plain polo. Pag plain polo kasi hindi ko na siya inaano eh. Hindi ko na siya sinasama sa collection. Sinasama ko lang yung mga may medyo cutesy nga

Philippe: Cutesy

Zarah: Cutesy nga and yung patok talaga sa mga kasi ang market ko doon is yung mga corporate girlies. Yung mga pumapasok sa office kasi sila yung laging nara-run out of clothes eh ‘di ba?

Sila lang ‘yung gusto laging bago ‘yung damit. Yun kasi ganun ako nung nagtatrabaho ako. Gusto ko lagi ah every week bago yung suot ko, bago yung dress ko, bago yung damit ko. Ganun ako. So doon doon ko naisip buohin yung clothing business na yon.

Philippe: What about ano yung status? Is it fast moving? Is it big?

Zarah: Yes. It’s fast moving. Ang ginagawa ko sa kanya pag bumili ako ng bail yun nga ah hinihiwalay ko yung maganda sa pangit. So 100 out of 200 pieces yung magaganda ginagawa ko. Nilalaban ko muna siya.

Ah nilalaban tapos ini-steam pinaplansya and then wine when worn ko, pini-picturan ko after ko i-when worn, ako yung nagsusuot ako yung nagmo-model tapos pi-picturan ko siya and then saka ko siya ipo-promote online.

Philippe: Anong ginagawa sa mga pangit? Ginagawang basahan na lang po yung mga pangit na clothes.

Zarah: Yeah. Minsan dino-donate ko siya sa mga, yung ah kasi ah ‘yung mga na sa bagyo ‘yun dino-donate ko siya. Iniipon ko. Yung iba naman I give it free sa mga gustong mag-start din na walang pang puhunan.

Binibig, kasi online yung mga naghahanap non na baka meron kayo diyang ah natirang bill or free bill binibigay ko yun sa kanila then yung shipping fee sila na lang magsho-sholder.

Philippe: Ang galing galing. So may donation pa ano, ang dami ano

Zarah: Kasi nga sayang instead na gawin mo siyang basahan why we donate it na lang ‘ ba. At least at least sila napakinabangan pa nila yung damit. Kahit na even if pangit at least they have the clothes na.

Philippe: It’s not enough being an entrepreneur, dapat nakakatulong ka sa community mo, sa mga kaibigan mo. Galing. Thank you very much for making the time here. It is so insightful. kahit small business siya, it’s it gives us a different perspective of someone coming from you, especially you’re a mom or from home and you’re as young.

Zarah: Thank you.

Philippe: Because not so many people watch TikTok all day. But they don’t take any action.

Zarah: Yes.

Philippe: Oo nga. na-inspire nila para mag-start ng business but they don’t know how to start, you know. So, thank you for sharing your experience, your insights, and hopefully that you’ll gain more clients.

Zarah: Thank you

Philippe: Through this podcast. I ano natin because I know it’s very even I myself, you know, I might be a customer because there’s so many things that we want to print, we want to create and stuff. So, as a fellow content creator, thank you for

Zarah: Thank you so much.

Philippe: Joining our podcast and hopefully we can invite you again pag nagkaroon ng 10 more businesses.

Zarah: Hopefully, ma-manage ko pa yung 10 more businesses na yun. Baka ipamana ko na lang sa iba.

Philippe: Pag may sobra sa donation mo sa ano pang pangit na items donate na lang natin no

Zarah: Why not.