Franchising

To say that Filipinos are merely "brand conscious" would be an understatement. In a country where personalities are worshipped, having a stand out brand can help your business grow significantly, whether you have a cart business, a shop, or an online venture

But how does one go about building the foundations of a successful brand? Especially with cart businesses, it all starts with the visuals, and conditioning how people perceive your business.

Some of the recognizable kiosk business ideas include Cane Twist, a healthy beverage concept founded by Shiela Yap, and Shanghai Siomai, the dimsum business of Gilbert Jim. Entrepreneur.com.ph asked them to share some of the ways they make their businesses have a huge following.

1. HAVING AN ATTRACTIVE DESIGN IS A MUST
Since their respective businesses are food carts situated in high foot traffic areas, Yap and Jim put a premium on cart design and color schemes. They both agree that in a volume driven market like malls and public places, stiffer competition puts an onus on the business to stand out.

"You must settle on a color scheme for your food cart first. Then, you have to mind the font you use, because it has to be attractive but at the same time not too loud. Make sure that your color and font schemes are in harmony, because a confusing or off-putting design can easily turn off customers," Jim says.

For her part, Yap says arriving at a final layout and theme should be done before you open your first store. She speaks from experience, having gone through numerous designs before finally settling on the one she currently uses, which she also plans to tweak in the next few months.

"I had a vision of what I wanted my food cart to look like, but then when I got the mall permit, they only allowed me to sell certain products. That torpedoed my original designs, which I had already built by then. So, I had to adjust the design as a stop gap measure, and I plan to change it soon," she said.

2. DON'T FORGET MARKETING
Many startup entrepreneurs think that marketing is only meant for bigger companies, a notion that Jim contests. "One of your biggest challenges as a business owner is getting the word out about your product. This can be done on a small scale when you're a startup business with a limited marketing budget. Sponsor promotions, contests, print out small flyers, tarpaulins and giveaways; these won?t cost you much, but they can be just as effective when used properly," he said.

Yap says educating people about your product is as much a marketing function as having a billboard. Since her product is new in the market, she has made it a point to have instructional materials on her food carts.

"Fresh sugar cane drinks are new in the Philippines, because people think it is too sweet to become a beverage. That is why we are trying to educate people that this is a healthy and nutritious treat, and we do this by having visual materials on our food carts stating the benefits of incorporating fresh sugar cane in their diets. Education, especially for a new product, is a marketing tool in itself," she said.

3. BUILD A BRAND THROUGH QUALITY PRODUCTS
Any marketing effort will go to naught if the product you sell is not up to par. That is why maintaining product quality is essential for any business to succeed.

"In a food cart business, it's a volume market targeting the lower income brackets. The prices are lower, but that doesn't mean your product should reflect your prices. Maintaining high quality products will help your brand generate word-of-mouth buzz, which is a great form of free marketing," Jim said.

Yap says extolling the virtues of your product and banking on its unique selling proposition is also as important as quality control.

"Letting people know what to expect and meeting those expectations is half the battle when it comes to selling a product. Since our products are health related, we always tell our customers that our raw materials are fresh, and have no extenders. We try our best to deliver all these promises, because a customer will always know when they're being cheated," she said.

4. CONCENTRATE ON WHAT YOU DO BEST
One common mistake businesses make is trying a shotgun approach of launching too many products at once. Jim says minimizing menu items and sticking to these fast selling items is a good way to trim overhead costs and decrease spoilage in food carts.

"We only have three menu items for Shanghai Siomai, and this works great for us. Since we specialize in on-the-go food, it makes it easier if customers know exactly what we sell, and helps keep us a top-of-mind brand. The problem with having too many products is you're never known for anything specific, and you'll end up just being a generic brand with no unique product to sell," he said.