Quitting a stable job to become the boss

CEBU, Philippines - Weighing options of either to quit from a stable job or become one's own boss by managing a business, could be a tough decision especially with the risks and a certain level of uncertainty it involves.

Such is a story of Marvin Viagedor, a 31-year-old startup entrepreneur who resigned from his job at a multi-national company to fulfill his dream of becoming a businessman.

Marvin could have chosen to continue his way up the corporate ladder but instead he opted to brave the risks of going into business, which could possibly fail along the process.

He had a stable job, wherein he handled the Visayas operations of the company he was working for and had great chances of getting promoted to a national position.

"I had been to three companies during my employment years. I was into sales and marketing. And I would like to believe that it was my training ground — a preparation — to become an entrepreneur now," he said in Cebuano in an interview with The FREEMAN.

Leap of faith

Marvin is a nursing graduate but he had been working in sales and marketing for around eight years, not until late last year when he finally realized that he'd want to do business full-time and quit his job.

And so he did despite his parents' objection, telling him that he would be able to ensure financial stability if he remained employed.

But Marvin knew in his heart that he could do more for himself this time — and not for any company anymore.

It was leap of faith indeed that was driving him.

Marvin, together with his wife Nicole Marie, 30, founded Silly Boy Hot Sauce in 2015. They started the business in their house in Barangay Cansojong in Talisay City.

But it was only late last year when Marvin quit his job and dedicated all his time on their business.

This was also the time when he graduated from the first leg of the Mentor Me program of the Department of Trade and Industry.

In that mentoring program, he was inspired by some successful Cebuano entrepreneurs like Bunny Pages, who shared a similar story as that of Marvin’s having been an employee for many years before deciding to start his own company. Pages was one of the mentors of the program.

Marvin looks up to Pages and like him he want to be more successful as an entrepreneur.

"Even then I've always wanted to run a business," he shared.

Surprisingly though, he did not come from a family of entrepreneurs, which was mainly the reason why his parents objected to his decision to quit his job.

Passion

He's passionate about what he's doing now.

And if there's one thing he has learned about running a business, it's dedication. He said many have this notion that having a business could be more "relaxing" on the owner's part.

"But it's not. It demands a lot of time and effort from you. So you have to be dedicated on what you're doing. You have to be passionate," he said.

Love for hot sauce

Marvin has always been fond of hot sauce and he has a habit of eating a meal with lots of hot sauce on top of it.

They had spent around P100,000 as capital, which they pooled from their savings.

When Marvin and his wife started the enterprise, they used to sell their hot sauce products to close friends and people online through social media.

Every month, they would be able to sell around 300 bottles, which come in 150 ml (priced at P100 to P150) and 45 ml (half the former's price).

Currently, Silly Boy has three variants of hot sauce namely Original, Extra Hot and Garlic.

Marvin is now seeking to get a license from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their products, and part of the requirement is to build a production facility for their products and that these should all be approved by FDA.

He hopes to secure the FDA license before June this year when they target to start producing more bottles of Silly Boy as they seek to get more markets.

Marvin said they had gotten the support of some angel investors, many of whom are relatives and close friends, who committed to help Silly Boy financially to expand in exchange of getting shares in the venture.

One of his long-term goals is to sell his products in supermarkets and retail stores when his brand becomes more known among the public.

He's also planning to introduce his products to homegrown restaurants, saying that he wants Silly Boy to be known as a proudly Cebuano brand.

He believes Cebuanos are more likely to patronize locally-made products and that he wants to make Silly Boy something Cebu can claim as one of its best. (FREEMAN)