by  Joyce Anne Alvero and Jossellejane Raizza Alvarez

Fascinated with online shops, Justine Audrey Pasion decided to open her own online business called “Vogue Ensembles.”  Justine is just a simple student who is now enjoying extra income and other perks from her online shop.  According to her, it doesn’t require much hard work.  Justine shared several tips on how to start an online business based from her experience.

Identify supplier and target buyers. Look for a supplier of the products that you want to sell online. Identify as well who are the target buyers of the products.  Remember that your supplier may not have everything that your consumers want.

Set up an online shop. There are many social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and even Youtube to showcase your products. As for Justine, she prefers Instagram because she finds it much easier to use.

Decide on the transaction process.  Canvass different modes of payment that will best suit you and your clients.  According to Justine, opening a bank account has its advantage because it has no charge fees while the use of remittance centers can help track the actual payment of your customer. “May mga napepeke kasing resibo,” Justine shared.  How the products will be delivered to your clients should also be considered.

These steps are no different from what Mae Anne Alejandrino did when she started her own online shop.  Mae Anne got bored from just surfing the web, checking updates on social networking sites and watching videos on youtube every weekends. With the need to have extra allowance, she decided to open an online shop, the “Mhirhy Cosplay Shop.”

Cosplay is Mae Anne’s hobby.  She used to buy stuff for her costumes online. “Since hilig ko rin ang cosplay at anime, naisipan ko na gawin itong business. Nung nagba-browse ako sa isang cosplay online shop, nakita ko na pwede pala akong magbenta din ng mga cosplay items. Dun na nagsimula yung Mhirhy Cosplay Shop.”

Mae Anne shared that it is very important to find your interests in order to be happy doing what you love while earning money. Opening a business and doing it like a chore will just make you want to quit easily. Also, being honest and accommodating at all times helps in gaining costumers’ trust. A lot of patience is also a requirement.

Mae Anne uses Facebook for her online shop. She suggested LBC Express and JRS Express for shipping items to buyers.  For receiving payments, she gave the following options: Smart Padala; Gcash; BPI bank deposit; BDO bank deposit; LBC Pera Padala; Cebuana Lhuillier; M. Lhuillier; and Western Union.

From what Justine and Mae Anne shared, it seems that an online shop is just another easy way to earn money.  But there is more to this when you do your own online business.

Online shops fall under the category of e-commerce industry. In this type of industry, transactions such as buying and selling of products or services are done online.   Few examples of these online jobs or businesses include English or language tutorials, language translations, editing services, selling new and used products, medical transcription services, web-development/design services and many more.

Online businesses require less capital.  Renting a place for your store is not a concern. You can start off by simply selling products or services using different social networking sites. However, the downside in doing this type of business is that the buyer’s identity could not be quickly verified. Anybody can easily make online accounts using fake names and identities.

Prof. Jeanette Angeline Madamba from the Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship of the College of Economics and Management shared that the use of social networking sites are not necessarily ideal for selling or buying products but it can help boost market reach. Prof. Madamba explained that verifying the online buyer’s profile is difficult.  It would be hard to trace the buyer should there be problems in payment collections.  Thus, one should take precautions to make sure that the buyer is trustworthy.

Prof. Madamba shared that venturing in e-commerce can also contribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  The GDP is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. Per capita, it reflects a country’s standard of living. “E-commerce allows a more expanded market reach which translates to more product demand which in turn increases GDP,” explained Prof. Madamba. “Using the expenditure approach, e-commerce boosts the consumption side of GDP which is the sum of consumption, investment, government spending and net exports. It can also trigger growth in investment, government spending and exports, not just the consumption side,” she added.

Still according to Professor Madamba, another advantage of e-commerce is the flexible hours it offers. Since online businesses do not need a physical space, it is easily accessible to everyone who has access to Internet. Other than shipping schedules or appointments for the services, an online entrepreneur has control over his/her time.

However, just like any other businesses, e-commerce also has its own challenges.  Prof. Madamba shared that the fast pace of changing technology could be one. Adapting to certain changes may be difficult but an online entrepreneur should not stick to the idea that what he/she knows is already enough. Another is that a good online entrepreneur must be daring enough to take risks and follow the trends in technology or better yet, make innovations that will help him/her expand the business. Online security of the payments is also a challenge. Because Internet is a vast world, the security of each transaction cannot be fully assured. Lastly, online businesses are easily replicated and therefore competition may be stiffer.

Do you want to start your own business while you’re still in school? Why not try having your own online shop as well? Get up and be ready to venture out. Welcome to e-commerce!

by Gian Carlo D. Camacho and  Maureen V. Cambay

It is a common sight to see numerous sampaguita vendors in Los Baños, especially near the UPLB gate. Usually, they could be seen in Vega Center, Carabao Park, and some of them may be seen around Freedom Park and outside the Student Union building. With all these vendors around, people could notice one thing. Most of them are children.

Most sampaguita vendors are children since they are more pitiful to look at compared to their parents. Sometimes, parents of these vendors could be seen sitting near them while just watching their kids sell sampaguita.

A 14-year-old sampaguita vendor who lives at the back of the St. Therese chapel sells sampaguita as part of his daily routine ever since he was a young kid. Considering that they are 13 siblings in the family, he sells sampaguita to help his family with the finances. He also wanted to have extra money for his allowance when he goes to school.

Another sampaguita vendor shared that he uses his money to eat whenever he is hungry. Some of their sampaguita vendor friends have the same reason as well –to help their family and to have pocket money when they go to school. Since they go to Lopez Elementary School during day time, they can only be seen in Vega Center during late afternoons and night.

Ms. Hanna Erika Laviña, a social worker from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), revealed that the number of children selling sampaguita in Los Baños is not really increasing. The children selling sampaguita today are almost the same children who sold sampaguita few years back. She shared that the DSWD used to hire someone who roamed around Los Baños (LB) to stop the children from selling sampaguita. However, the children couldn’t be put in their custody because their parents are actually working.  Caught children vendors are just usually brought back to their parents.

The DSWD currently plans to conduct livelihood programs for the parents of these children. However, with the conduct of livelihood programs, the parents must promise that they will never allow their children to sell sampaguita again.

According to aProf. Helga P. Vergara from the Department of Human and Family Development Studies (DHFDS) in UPLB, one reason for the existence of the sampaguita vendors is the need for a source of livelihood. Some of the parents of the sampaguita vendors are just at home taking care of their younger siblings. Because most of these parents have many children, they do not have a choice but to stay at home and take care of them. This situation forced some of their children to sell sampaguita.

Selling sampaguita is popular in LB.  This is another reason why the number of  sampaguita vendors continues to increase every year, according to aProf. Vergara. Though some people get annoyed and do not entertain them, most people are still fond of them. This has resulted in other vendors even from other places to go to Los Baños to also sell their sampaguitas.

Another reason given by aProfessor Vergara is the increasing number of relocation sites near Los Baños. She believes that some sampaguita vendors are not actually from Los Baños. Some may be from the Bayan ni Juan relocation site in Calauan and some may be from other relocation sites from nearby towns.

Whether to buy sampaguita from the children vendors or to just give them money depends on one’s decision. But personally, aProfessor Vergara believes that buying from them or giving them money should not be practiced. Aside from making the children used to the situation, it can also attract other vendors outside Los Baños.

On the other hand, according to aProf. Argee Albor who is also from DHFDS UPLB, the authorities must implement programs that would educate and keep the parents of sampaguita vendors busy and productive in their day to day lives. Examples of programs they must offer are seminars about family planning. He believes that lack of family planning is a big factor that causes such increase in the number of sampaguita vendors. Parents tend to have many children whom they can hardly support with their income. He also suggested livelihood programs for parents. He also added that having a job is a natural contraceptive for parents because it keeps them busy in their everyday lives.

Sampaguita vendors have been present in Los Baños for many years already. Some get annoyed by them, some just ignore them while some talk and entertain them. But should we really buy sampaguitas from these children vendors or just give them money? Will there still be time when no more children will sell sampaguita in Los Baños?