A solid business plan is a must for one venture to thrive. But sometimes, business eurekas happen when one expected it the least—and such occured to Nestor, who is now a successful entrepreneur after he discovered his business by accident.
In 2011, Nestor Velasquez decided to quit his stable job and returned home to his hometown in the province of Batangas. He decided to start a small business by selling breakfast and lunch meals while his wife sold in offices nearby, as reported by Entrepreneur.
Among the dishes sold by the couple in their little stall was Sinaing na Tulingan, which was sold for Php850 per pot. In an unfortunate circumstance, one of his customers did not claim a dish—a four-kilo tulingan (mackerel tuna)—that he initially ordered.
This forced the Velasquez family to eat the unclaimed order, the four-kilo fish, for more than a week. Thinking like a businessman, Nestor knew he needed to find a way to prevent such occurrence from happening again.
This led him to an idea that he can preserve the dishes they sell through canning. Velasquez self-studied and did experimentations, with many failures along the way.
When he eventually felt satisfied with the result, Velasquez decided to go all-in and spent his remaining savings to buy a pressure canner and 600 glass bottles.
After his product passed the commercial sterility test, he sold his canned product and began formally labelling it as Kusina Batangueña Home Cannery. From small resort visitors and trade fairs, Velasquez’ product is now being sold in several supermarkets in Batangas and Metro Manila as well as Visayas and Mindanao.
Today, Velasquez is earning Php324,000 to Php432,000 monthly or Php10,800 to Php14,400 daily with his brand expanding to other products such as Kapeng Barako, Sinaing na Tawilis, and Atsara na Papaya, Sigarilyas and Ampalaya.
The businessman’s new goal? Sell his products abroad.
Photo courtesy of Entrepreneur.ph
