Maria Cecilia Latif juggles a couple of roles. Besides working as a Financial Advisor, she has a soft spot for Japanese cuisine, thanks to her dad's job on a Japanese Cruise Ship. She fell in love with the simple and elegant way food is served in Japan, called “Shokudo”. That inspired her to bring that style to the Philippines.
In 2019, Maria opened Ukemochi Food House in Imus, Cavite, hoping people would enjoy its fancy Japanese food.
Since then, Ukemochi Food House has been part of big events and has lots of different customers, from office workers to locals. They also get plenty of orders from Facebook for meals and snacks for meetings and gatherings.
No business starts successful, and not all beginner business owners have the courage to continue despite the struggles of being an unknown entity in the market. But Tifanny Gonzales Uyco, the owner of Wei Ming Dian, a store specializing in Chinese and Asian delicacies, proved to be one of those real entrepreneurs at heart who braved through the discouraging path of starting a business regardless of the challenges that may come her way.
For Tifanny, starting out was anything but easy. She had to wake up early — setting up her stall at the break of dawn and contending with initial indifference from potential customers. Despite the efforts, it seemed like no one noticed her stall. It was understandable given that the market was crowded with competitors and her products were perceived to have a higher price point compared to others, but it was still heartbreaking. Many days were spent watching customers pass by with their attention diverted elsewhere.
But Tifanny didn’t falter. She knew that... More
Nanay Maricar Lee started her business in 2016. The name of her business, Zappuro Food Products, comes from the initials of her children's names, Zyra Angel and Princess, and "Puro," derived from the word "pure." Her husband was once an OFW. They decided to venture into business for good, also aiming to provide assistance to working students, which became their advocacy.