CELINE MONINA E. TABIA CEO and Founder CHIQUITO’S RESTAURANT

Students do not realize that they can really start a business by taking advantage of their thesis projects. Thesis can be a very good way to test a business concept, but the problem is no matter how successful the project maybe if the student does not look at it as his or her springboard to entrepreneurship after college, it will just naturally collapse after graduation.

Because the main role of a thesis is mostly for school requirement compliance, only very few have the intention to proceed from there.

One of these very few students who persevered is Celine Monina E. Tabia, who finished a degree in commerce, major in entrepreneurship at the University of Sto. Tomas.

THESIS

According to Celine, her professor rejected her first thesis proposal and she was given only a week to come up with a replacement otherwise she cannot graduate on time.

Pressed for time and fueled by her frustration of eating the same food over and over again at eateries near UST, she decided to go into the food business as a thesis project.

Her thesis envisioned to offer good food and good value chicken dishes. She came up with a simple concept of an eatery serving freshly cooked chicken catering to a largely student market primarily from UST.

She thought of a catchy name with a good recall. Her grandfather Quito, who just died, came to mind easily that she coined the name Chiquito for Celine, who is also called Chi at home, and Quito for his grandfather. Chiquito’s became the food brand for her thesis project.

Chiquito’s would be differentiated by the kind of sauces that comes with each serving. Celine herself concocts the Chiquito’s sauces.

She rented a place the Asturias Street, which is perpendicular to Dapitan St., with a seating capacity of 10 persons for R7,000 a month. It was a simple student canteen with monoblock chairs.

Using her father’s credit card, she charged R35,000 for everything just to get the project going.

With Chiquito’s, Celine was able to graduate on time earning the degree in commerce major in entrepreneurship.

All the thesis projects of their class were registered as single proprietorship because it is unlikely for students to go for joint venture and form a corporation as they are expected to eventually go their different paths after graduation.

True enough, only two out of the 80 entrepreneurship students continued their thesis projects after college. One was Celine’s Chiquito’s.

CHIQUITO’S Originally, Chiquito’s was just selling chicken dishes. Chiquito’s main products are chicken chops that are delivered daily by a supplier. Celine says chicken delivery is on a daily basis to ensure they only serve chicken as fresh as possible.

According to Celine, the cooking process is easy and does not require special skill, all they need is a good sauce. The kitchen set up is also simple with a deep fryer as main equipment.

On opening day, she harnessed her household resources. Her mother took a leave from work so she can take orders, her father was the dishwasher and their house helper became the cook.

On that first day, she recalled vividly, they opened at 10 a.m. and by 2 p.m. all their products had been sold out already. She was so happy to know that sales reached R3,000 on opening day. Before the due date of her father’s credit card payment, Celine already paid the R35,000 she charged for Chiquito’s.

According to Celine, location is crucial in any business. Celine for her part was asked to vacate the Asturias area after a few months. She found a bigger place with sitting capacity of 50 persons in Laong Laan.

Last year, Celine expanded into another area in N. Tolentino in P. Noval in Dapitan with 60-seating capacity. This branch now caters to a larger student population including FEU and the review centers around that area.

“From a 10-seater kiosk, we now expanded to 2 stand-alone restaurants near UST,” says Celine, proudly.

Celine has been earning at peak R25,000 a day for each branch. This means serving 250 to 300 people a day. A cousin who loves to cook now helps with the recipes.

“We are selling all value meals for student at R60 to R79 per order, no more than R100,” she adds.

She now employs 5 people for each branch. They open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The only problem with school location is there are no students during school breaks and especially during the long summer break.

Celine has now tapped the social media to promote Chiquito’s targeting more students within the vicinity since competition can be stiff with several carinderias selling home cooked foods. But among the row of small restaurants in the area, Chiquito’s stays on top.

RECOGNITION Chiquito’s was the top awardee in the recently concluded Next Generation in Franchising Award by the Philippine Franchise Association.

To qualify for this award, applicants must be 35 years old and below with franchisable business concepts, complete with government documents (BIR and DTI) and executive summary of the business. From the list of applicants, they will be shortlisted until they get the top three finalists.

The three finalists were asked to make an elevator pitch with the officers of the PFA before they can present in front of a big audience at the franchise conference.

At the recent Franchise Asia Philippines 2017, Celine was given a chance to defend her thesis project for the second time around as she competed with the two other finalists.

Celine wowed the judges and the audience with her simple concept but defensible franchise model.

As a winner, Celine has the chance to participate in the global competition sponsored by the World Franchise Council in the US. Part of the reward includes free coaching from PFA consultants and booth at the PFA Expo at SMX Convention Center.

“The competition has opened my eyes to the world of franchising,” says Celine, amazed at the success stories of various business concepts that grew under the franchising business model.

The 27-year-old pretty lass said she still need to understand more about the intricacies of franchising as she acknowledged the need for help in her journey, hopefully, into the path of big restaurateurs.

It is still a long way to franchising, which may not come in 2018 yet. Feeling inadequate, Celine plans to enter AIM for a masteral degree on entrepreneurship.

“I need to learn more,” she admits noting that she has to register yet the “Chiquito’s” as a trademark and the long process of standardizing their operation. For one, they have to establish a commissary yet. Actually, during the franchise expo they received a total of 150 inquiries already.

“We are taking it slow because putting up a capital for a new branch is not easy,” says Celine who coughed up half a million pesos for the second Chiquito’s branch.

But the prospects are good. She looks into bringing Chiquito’s into 1,000 schools and universities via franchising.

HANDS ON The hands-on young entrepreneur goes to the market in Pasig to buy some of her supplies.

“Our workers get R350 a day with regular benefits,” says Celine. They employ 5 workers at each store. These workers have also grown loyal to Chiquito’s because they came from other stalls in the area that paid them only R100 a day and R80 for the stay-in employees.

“Some of our workers are already supporting their families,” she adds.

Celine says the difference with other restaurants in the area is largely the price because students get quality good meal in a very decent and clean environment at prices cheaper than the “turo-turo” setup.

“We are good food, good value and friendly service,” sums up Celine of the way they market themselves which is actually what they heard from their customers.

“We have been in the business for 8 years already and we’ve proven we can be profitable, we have earned our reputation and we have generated a lot of goodwill among students. So, this could be the time to think about expanding through franchising,” she adds.

Her school was amazed at her feat and the students, inspired.

“Students are inspired that my business is a result of a thesis project, that I started very small with a big dream,” says Celine. Now, some students come to her for advice for their thesis projects.

START YOUNG

Celine said that it is good to start a business while you are still a student because parents will always help with the capitalization. She was only 18 years old then and vowed not to enter the corporate world by marking herself with a tattoo on her arm.

Even as a young child, Celine had already bouts of that entrepreneurial drive. During grade school, she would buy cute notebooks for R2 each and sold them for R10 each.

She also sold some of her collection of stickers. Her elective class on young entrepreneurship in St. Scholastica won in one competition. In their village, she also sold water balloons. To her, selling validates the idea if a product is saleable or not.

Schools do not allow students to sell any items to fellow students, so she sold secretly to her classmates and was never caught. But her sister, who did some selling too, was caught by her teacher that it was a bit of traumatic to the young child, who since then never ventured again into selling. Celine’s uninterrupted entrepreneurial drive could be the reason for her to press on.

“But I am the ever-optimistic person all throughout,” says Celine, who attributed this attitude mostly to her youth.

“Most older people fear to venture into business because they might lose money in the end. But the young people just want to go into business, they are not constrained about losing money. If you don’t think about money, you will just proceed because if you lose there will still be another chance to recover,” she adds.

Celine believes that money that should drive someone to go into business because money is a byproduct of a good venture.

Already, she enjoyed some luxuries because of Chiquito’s which she could not have achieved had she worked in the corporate world after graduation.

But what makes all the difference is her faith. Celine says she prays a lot, too.