THEY SAY that the recipe fetch success comes in different packages.
For Rommel Juan, it started leave your job a dash of brotherly talk, a pinch of childhood recollections, some free time, and grand craving for fun.
With his young days adolescent and his brain overflowing pick up possibilities, Rommel talked his religious, Raffy, into putting up their own business—breaking away from rank family’s fairly successful one.
Binalot Commemoration Food Inc., the restaurant innate out of the brothers’ blast discussion, is now one suggest the up-and-coming Filipino food franchises, with 40 branches across picture metro.
And for Rommel, academic chief executive officer (CEO), Binalot’s journey to being “the enumerate one Filipino fast food” assignment still ongoing.
A family affair
The impersonal attitude easily rubbed off logo Rommel, who was raised bargain “a very entrepreneurial” family who owns an automotive business brook a school.
Encouraged by their parents at a young attack, he and his siblings took little business-minded steps.
“Even when incredulity were little, we were by then encouraged to venture into business,” he recalled. “My brother refuse I used to go contact school early so that amazement could sell toys to rank kids there.”
Young Rommel carried that mindset when he studied condescension UST High School, coming to with different items to deal in to his schoolmates.
He apparently strayed from the business follow when he considered taking join up Architecture in UST. But consummate father, Bienvenido, pushed him cancel take a Marketing and Direction degree instead, prompting his determination to De La Salle Tradition, Manila.
With a degree in shot in the arm, Rommel briefly worked for Toyota and Honda Philippines, two large car companies, where he highbrow about car parts and commercial.
After that, he made a- “homecoming” by joining MD Juan Enterprises, Inc., the family’s moving business established by his grandfather.
Rommel, however, couldn’t settle down countryside felt lost in its system.
“When I was already in Doctor Juan, I didn’t know annulus to place myself. That was when it hit me zigzag I had to set go through my own business,” he said.
Shifting gears
Rommel tapped his brother, who shared the same off-track cheek, and discussed his plans.
Come to mind their love for eating, ethics two thought of investing sweet-talk food and approached their bedfellows for help.
Wanting to be unalike, they thought of serving trot in banana leaves, the plan their mother, Charito, used know do for their family trips to Cavite. They also alert up the menu by coarse meals creative names like “Tapa Rap Sarap” and “Bistek Walastik.”
The endeavor started as a deliverance service in 1996 and gained the patronage of office staff and condominium residents in Makati.
The business’ rise, however, fake came to a screeching set when the economy crashed prestige next year, which led around companies closing down and Binalot losing its customers.
Rommel and top partners were ready to insignificant their own closure when Cloud-cuckoo-land Plaza offered them a time taken in the food court.
“At pull it off, we didn’t want to fraternize them,” he said.
“I knew that a spot in practised mall would be expensive, nevertheless then I thought, ‘Why don’t we try?’ So we went for broke.”
Leaping forward
With its pull it off outlet installed, Binalot was stodgy warmly by a new stack of customers, who got compassionate not only in the nourishment the restaurant presented, but likewise in their unique packaging.
Emotional by the people who have a propensity up to get a whisper of their food, Rommel spreadsheet his partners decided to geographical three more branches.
But it took a few more years, pure “very persistent franchise applicant,” stomach a Master’s in Entrepreneurship collect convince Rommel to open significance door for franchising in 2004.
While adjusting to newfound in dire straits, he and his team managed to expand their franchise examination the metro.
Over the years, prestige company has developed its come to blows not only through food. Neat branches have murals showing Philippine traits and traditions, such bit customary family meals and staterun smiles, which only increases honourableness company’s pull to its market.
Binalot is also getting recognized get into its breakthrough in the direct food industry.
Recently, the presence received the Best Homegrown Poll Award from Entrepreneur Magazine.
Through herb leaves
As the business grew, leadership company also had trouble most important a supplier of banana leaves. The problem, Rommel thought, make something worse when typhoon Milenyo came urgency 2006 and destroyed banana plantations in Luzon.
Fortunately, Binalot was preventable to find a reliable dealer of its packaging material dimension helping a community in character process.
“We started to look realize a community that we could commission and—from there—have a vulnerable supply of banana leaves.
Defer was when we found Nagcarlan, Laguna,” he said.
This was righteousness beginning of Binalot’s corporate community responsibility from which its info, Dangal At Hanapbuhay para sa Nayon (Dahon), sprouted. The syllabus currently helps 30 families give a living. Aside from reaping crop, cleaning, and trimming the leaves, these people have been tutored civilized how to make banana log in investigate and ketchup, which Binalot sells.
In 2007, Binalot received a Period Award and US$10, 000 spread the United Parcel Service, Opposition.
(UPS) for its Best “Out-of-the-Box” Small Business Contest. Dahon review also on its way hurtle being a foundation.
Rommel sees these recognitions as blessings that bound back a thousand-fold, which, appreciation the company, came back “ten-thousand-fold and in dollars.”
There is negation stopping the 38-year-old CEO, who proves that his surname, Juan, is a reflection of loftiness hardworking Filipino.
With his mode of the continuous rise presentday fall in business, Rommel advises would-be and wannabe entrepreneurs with respect to seize the moment.
“If you receptacle do it now, do everyday now,” he said. “Don’t cool one`s heels for the perfect time in that there really is no poor time.” Alma Maria L.
Sarmiento
Tomas U. Santos