Bill H 6,575 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 here is our little sari we have here it is inside the house with siting outside and 4 pc for a cafe IMG_0900.JPGIMG_0904.JPG was going to add more but to big I see all those items outside the building and I cringe. The people will steal from you the moment your back is turned. They will know your wife is married to a foreigner and there for "rich" so they don't feel too bad about stealing since, after all, you are rich and can afford it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
mpt1947 956 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Competition is the big factor in my neighborhood - looking out my window I can see 5 Sari Sari stores two are good sized, can't walk inside, but still will sell that Kilo of Rice if your in need or LPG - but it is going to be more expensive then going to the Wet Market or the Gas Station - so they encourage you to plan ahead. Most small businesses are run by people who are not concerned with making a profit - gives them something to do and if they can break even then ok - My wife has a Public Laundry/Bath. And people come in to buy water from her - we have a 180 foot Fresh Water Well. She charges 1 peso/about 4 gallons of water (a standard pail). We also sell our water to a Refill Station that leases space from us - we sell that water by the square meter. From the Bath, Laundry and Fresh Water Sales we take in about 400 pesos a day. Not sure how much we make off the Refill Station, but we get free water from them - with a household of 10 it comes in handy. My wife also has an Internet Cafe - You get 8 minutes of use for 1 Peso - most users are on the machines for an hour - the young men come in about 5 PM and are on the machines until 11 PM Sunday through Thursday and Midnight on Friday and Saturdays - Playing all the current and popular games. Six of the Computers are owned my wife outright. The other six are owned by relatives - we charge them 35% off the top and then they pay a portion of the Internet Fees and Power - At the end of day I have gotten my Internet Service for Free - we have two DSL lines, we got the use of two LCD TV for free, our refrigerator/Freeze and our stand alone freezer is free - the running of the Water Pumps have been free and the operation of our own PC's and other electronic devices has been free - maybe there is a few pesos left over - maybe not. Some days we don't make as much as others - but at the end of the month we usually break even. Two of the principal witnesses to our wedding are very successful Large Business owners, and their attitude is not one of breaking even. But most of the neighborhood Internet Cafe and Sari Sari Operators do have that attitude and that is why it is so difficult for a "westerner" to compete with Filipinos. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Davaoeno 37,494 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Oh that is easy, England is packed with Perverted Britannica Misers who simply must have some sort of mental diversion to make it through the day while tending the ice cream truck route. Making up Whippy statements gives them something to do besides ogle the underage girls. That said, isn't wonderful that England has such a surplus of talent that even their ice cream truck drivers are business experts? i'm counting the minutes until you get banned !! [Oh, and i think Gohuks post is fabulous re doing business here ] 1 Link to post Share on other sites
JohnSurrey 544 Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 Thanks guys... there's some great posts here on a diverse range of topics. Link to post Share on other sites
JamesMusslewhite 14,317 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) LOL. Math is not your strong suit is it. They cannot charge more than 10 pesos or at most 15 pesos per hour. Calculate the revenue yourself, even if they are each occupied 24 hours a day, which they won't be. Probably more like 5 hours, out of every 24, if you are lucky. And then you have maintenance and electricity to pay on top. Now I am not trying to be cute or flame, this is a serious question. Why not softserve in either cone or cup?. After all Jollibee started as only one Ice Cream parlor 45 years ago... Seems used machines could be boxed and ship here Via Balikbayan box and shipped to interested expats wanting them for their storefronts. It could be a good sideline business for you as you are in the business. You could supply the mix and could probably find an expat willing to be an investor/middleman/supplier. Slushie, slurppy, and frostie machines would do well here. Just a thought.... Edited June 17, 2013 by JamesMusslewhite 3 Link to post Share on other sites
toshi 750 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) one of the things to consider when opening a store is what the locals do. especially the small sari sari, initially if they make a profit thats great, but it's not always the the main goal. the main goal is making some money to pay for their daily needs...if anything left over, that would be great, (they wil spend that as well @ jollibee) in our western mind, we want to make a business and make profit , thats our main goal. Edited June 17, 2013 by toshi 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Davaoeno 37,494 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 one of the things to consider when opening a store is what the locals do. especially the small sari sari, initially if they make a profit thats great, but it's not always the the main goal. the main goal is making some money to pay for their daily needs...if anything left over, that would be great, (they wil spend that as well @ jollibee) in our western mind, we want to make a business and make profit , thats our main goal. your post really confuses me, since the "money to pay for their daily needs" has to be profit, otherwise when all the stock is gone they will be unable to buy more stock 2 Link to post Share on other sites
no one 112 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 I see all those items outside the building and I cringe. The people will steal from you the moment your back is turned. They will know your wife is married to a foreigner and there for "rich" so they don't feel too bad about stealing since, after all, you are rich and can afford it. all that is inside the house outside is only siting area and fire wood stealing is a problem so we try to have some one in store at all times credit is big in ph problem for us is we are foreign and they wil most likely not pay them not paying there 50 or 100 credit is not the problem problem is they will stop going to your store so they dont have to pay and you loose a customer so best is not to do credit at all no mater the size we did have few avoid us for a long time for a 50 or 100 credit 1 girl used to come here every day until she got 200 credit that was a year a go and she lives just around the corner Link to post Share on other sites
no one 112 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 most little sari the profit is so small for me i wouldn't do it at all happy peanuts for a 1 pack of 20 its 18 peso they sell it 1 for 1 peso so on the pack of 20 they make 2 peso profit most are run by old people or moms at home so it is mostly just something to do and profit is secondary Link to post Share on other sites
Raven 629 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 most little sari the profit is so small for me i wouldn't do it at all happy peanuts for a 1 pack of 20 its 18 peso they sell it 1 for 1 peso so on the pack of 20 they make 2 peso profit most are run by old people or moms at home so it is mostly just something to do and profit is secondary There is a lot of that..nearly no profit, but the softdrink and cigarettes they buy at the same time, are where the profit is. Link to post Share on other sites
udonthani 2,027 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 i don't know if people are noticing but there are at least thirty 7-11 stores that opened in cebu in last 12 months if not more. there prices are about 10% higher then grocery store yes somebody said on another thread that 24 hour type convenience stores are cheaper than saris however that is not what I have observed, at all They are in fact more expensive, sometimes a lot more expensive - not surprising when you consider how expensive their overheads must be. There was one 24 hour store in Iligan that while I was glad it was there and was convenient, I seldom used it. I usually stay away from them in fact, and don't buy anything from them except when it's like ice or something at 1am when they are the only game around. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
toshi 750 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 @davauoeno, yes your right, sorry to confuse u..., they will have little profit, but thats then for them to live off, but even if there is not much profit, they stil have money going around....they do have just enough to pay the bills, pay new stocks and have little left over for daily needs...and thats to goal...little left over (( and yes they hope it takes off and they become rich, like we all do) Link to post Share on other sites
GoHuk 369 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 The concept of a sari sari store is usually as follows: Operated in (or as part of) the residence. Therefore there is no rent to be considered. Run by resident family members. Therefore there are no salaries to be considered. It is not surprising therefore that many sari sari store operators are content with miniscule profit margins. I doubt that many sari sari stores have any form of accounting; money in the till is split between family/household needs and stock replenishment. However, contrary to the claim in this thread, most sari sari stores are not operated as a hobby or out of boredom but from a real need to earn income. If you apply formal business rules and metrics to sari sari stores then they are impossible earners. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
toshi 750 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 @gohuk you explained it better then me... but we mend the same haha, the notion that a bored Philippino will open a store so he has something to do is about the dumbest thing that i heard today.....or the funniest...not sure.. Link to post Share on other sites
ThomsonJr 275 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) 7-11 Franchises are quite expensive, all you need to do is to rent a shop at a good location where people can walk in and sell the same products as you did in the sari-sari with some extras and that's it, you just saved yourself a few million pesos. Edited June 17, 2013 by ThomsonJr Link to post Share on other sites
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