Bubbles and Tails Pet House: Passion first before profit

CEBU, Philippines -  â€œWe have built this business through blood, sweat and tears. We have invested our time, money, commitment, effort and knowledge to keep it going and growing. The bottomline here is actually not just the profit but the heart that every entrepreneur puts on it.”

This has been the guiding principle of nine Carolinian students who ventured into selling lap dogs such as Shih Tzu and poodles, fishes such as Koi, Betta Fighting and Flowerhorn and pet accessories.

One of the requirements of the business practicum program course for students taking up Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Double Major in Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of San Carlos is to operate their own enterprises and market it to the public.

The group is composed of general manager Ed Kirby Bun-an, operations head Michael Kerbie Cinco, operations assistant Hughes Yagaya, human resource manager Chad Vincent Tee, marketing head Sheelou Mae Legaspi, marketing assistant Edwin Dungog, marketing staff Roland Donaire, finance head Charimay Abaniel and finance assistant Claire Salas.

According to Dungog, all of the group members came to realize that they share the same passion for animals, thus putting Bubbles and Tails Pet House as their student enterprise with an initial investment of P165,000.

Apart from sustaining a profitable business, the group envisions establishing a pet house as the paradigm for integrative care to be emulated by other pet shops.

They aim to cater to the needs of those pet owners who are willing to spend just to pamper their pets with glamour and comfort.

They also teach customers the proper way to handle their pets.

“Our mission is to empower and educate clients by providing them the knowledge on proper handling of animals and give them the best quality of our products. It is also to honor animals by giving them great value and importance that they ought to have as part of this world,” the group stated.

The physical shop of Bubbles and Tails Pet House is located at Gov. M. Cuenco Avenue, Banilad, Cebu City while the group has two production areas situated at Bulacao, Pardo and Lapu-Lapu City.

From their initial sales of P3,232 last November, their revenue turn-out increased to P28,295 on December of last year and grew to P46,635 this January.

“As a new entrant in the industry, giants had given us a great challenge in terms of sales. As of now, we are not that close to the sales we have forecasted. But as a new player, I think we’re doing well,” Dungog assessed.

So far, the group has participated fairs and expositions such as the 3rd ABA Cebu National Betta Competition, 1st Regional Conference of the Council of Management Educators and Practitioners in the Philippines , 7th USC Entrepreneurs' Fair and pet expo at Parkmall.

Joining fairs and exhibits, he said, paves the way for the group to gain exposure and sales, build their image to the public and establish networks with prospective buyers.

“The competition in the local market is challenging and that’s what makes it more exciting. What makes Bubbles and Tails Pet House different from other players is that we are selling show quality betta fighting fishes which is not common in pet shops here in Cebu. We breed some of our dogs that make it cheaper and affordable than our competitors,” he told The Freeman.

However, he said that struggles for student-entrepreneurs like them include the risk of buying items that are not saleable, the danger of animals dying and miscommunication in the group.

Although with such hurdles, he noted that the group strives to cope by getting wiser on where to spend their capital, seeking the best and cheapest suppliers, concentrating on pets that could be handled in accordance to their expertise and extending their patience top avoid any conflict among members.

“We learned after all that we have to make the right investments. We got to be emotionally and mentally ready for the challenges that we may encounter and we have to treat each other as brothers and sisters,” he said.

To heighten the demand of their products, the group strategically strives to make an effort to determine their strengths and nurture them by developing new products, keep satisfying their existing and potential clients by ensuring quality in their business, and evaluating new opportunities in the market.

Dungog further revealed that the group plans to offer new product lines and expand online to capture a wider range of market.

Apart from that, he added that they are eyeing to continue operating the business even after they will graduate. (FREEMAN)