As a single parent, I have a lot of side hustles in order to make ends meet and help build up my emergency funds and investment portfolios. I have been in and out of the buying and selling business. from clothes, bags, anything.
You name it, I can sell it.
My most successful and longest-running venture, however, is the Homemade Skinless Longanisa.
Skinless Longanisa is a type of sausage without the pork casing. It's a famous Filipino breakfast dish that has a garlicky taste with a hint of spice and a sweet taste.
I have been making and selling them ever since 2012. It was a family business and the original recipe was passed down to us by my aunt, while me and my mom added some renditions to the Longanisa Mix.
My job was to sell products to neighbors and friends in our hometown. Our marketing strategy back then was purely word of mouth and the proactive selling of goods by going to one place and another. It was later in 2014 when I first started using Facebook to sell the Longanisa.
This has always been my go-to side hustle since I love cooking and the food business has a huge market, plus the quality of the product really speaks for itself.
Our skinless longanisa is made from pure meat with no added preservatives and extenders. We also have a perfect blend of garlic and chili, which really complement the taste of the longanisa. I guess that's the secret as to why we have a lot of repeat buyers.
When we first started the business, we didn't really do thorough tracking of the data and numbers that the business was making. Personally, all I cared about back then was that I was making a profit and didn't mind looking at the bigger picture with all the numbers. If only I had, I would have been surprised at how much we were able to grow the small business. I was a bad entrepreneur then.
We were in and out of the Skinless Longanisa business throughout the years and eventually put it on a break by 2017 when I moved to Cebu to work in the city. My mother was caring for my children and was having difficulty juggling running the house and the business without my assistance, plus I was the one who was heavily involved in hard selling.
Fast forward to May 2020. It was in the midst of the pandemic when I decided to revisit my business and bring it to Cebu City. The food business was really in demand back then as almost everything was sold and ordered online due to the curfews and other COVID restrictions.
It was the perfect opportunity to relaunch the business.
I was lucky to have a partner who is very keen on details and loves to track everything in excel files. He was also business-minded like me, so we clicked. He made a customized file to track and breakdown everything from costs, gross income, net profit, inventory, customer profiles, and all other stuff while I was in charge of marketing and we both worked on product making.
We started with only $1,000 ($17). I was able to buy 2 kilograms of meat plus the other ingredients needed, and we were able to make the first batch of longanisa.
This sold quickly, and before we knew it, we were making at least 4 kilos of longanisa every other day. Our $17 grew, and we were able to buy equipment to make our production easier.
The first thing we bought was a Manual Stuffed Sausage Maker. It was a tool we used to place the mixture into the plastic casing. Back then, I used to place the longanisa on the plastic wrapper manually using a disposable plastic icing bag. It was a tedious job that ate up a lot of time and patience. When we bought the sausage maker, packing the longanisa was made much easier.
The next thing we bought was a plastic sealer. We were packing at least 30-40 packs per day, and back then what we used was a candle. Imagine how hard it was and how very unpleasing the wrap looks. The plastic sealer was a very good investment. We also bought a kitchen scale and a lumpia roller.
Aside from the equipment, we also invested in a good logo, as we would like to build a brand and think long term and we added other products on to the business but all of which still focus around Longanisa, just different versions.
Our Products
- Skinless Longanisa
- Lumpianisa
- Longaganisang Hubad
- Rice Toppings
We managed to have nearly ₱8,000.00 ($137) in our account by the first week of November. It was already the net worth, minus all the equipment and expenses we had.
That is a 671% ROI (Return on Investment) in 5 months.
What is ROI, or Return on Investment?
Return on investment (ROI) is a financial ratio that is used to measure the profit or loss of an investment.
The goal of the ROI is to directly measure the amount of return on a particular investment, relative to the investment’s cost.
How to Calculate ROI
In the case of our Skinless Longanisa, we invested a capital of $1,000 ($17) in May 2020 and ended on November 4 with $7,711.00 ($139).
In the span of months, we were able to sell 854 pieces of Longanisa Products.
(This already includes all types of products that JD Homemade sells, e.g., skinless longanisa, lumpianisa, longanisang hubad, rice toppings)
It was really a promising venture for both of us. However, I needed to go home to the province as due to travel bans from COVID19, I was unable to see my kids for nearly a year and I was super homesick and we had to temporarily stop the business while I worked from home.
We ended up splitting around 4,000.00 each. I added my half to my trading account and reinvested the money while our Longanisa business is on break.
It was a fun 5 months. Now that I am back in the city with my partner, we are thinking of opening the business again. However, due to inflation and high price increases, we need to do market research first and redo our pricing. We also need to find a new direct supplier to minimize production costs. We still have a lot more to do, but I'm positive that by next year you will be seeing more of JD's Homemade.
Do you have experience running a small business of your own? How did it work out? I would love to hear your story too. Do tell me what you think of our small business. Follow me for more inspiring stories.
I'll be sharing my top 10 entrepreneurial tips that I have learned and worked well for me while I was doing our small business on my next blog, and I hope this can help you if you want to start any business of your own.
Who knows, you might read something that could spark that entrepreneurial side of you.
'Til our next read.
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Wow! Honestly I am mesmerized! Building something from scratch and making it a success is indeed a difficult task to perform. I applaud you for that.
While I have some idea about food business as because I have a seen a brother of mine making foods at home and deliverying them online. They were indeed making some very good profits. The main issue was the order. Like they had to take orders beforehand. So that they can get prepared for that making's. Apart from this not many issues were faced.
On the other hand, I must say that food business is one of those business where if the food is delicious the customer gets attracted towards it automatically. And that is indeed one of the best publicity that it can obtain.
By the way your foods does looks delicious as well. No wonder you got to make such ROI and that even within a span of short period.
Thank you for the kind words. I really appreciate it. Yes, in the food business it's really the quality of the food that gets you the repeat buyers.
I think what is also hard in the food business is the man power and production itself, unlike bags and clothes this type of business need 101% attention cause you will be incharge not only with the distribution but from making the product from scratch. Production sure do takes a lot of effort and time, but then again if you love what you do it wont feel tiring at all, but rather fulfilling.
Reading this post reminded me of the small business that we had launched too! It isn't a food business but shoes and sandals.
The ROI that you had is amazing and going the extra mile in selling in the carinderia is one thing that I find great yza as I myself cannot do that ( I guess but I did live selling )
Thank you. Going after the carenderia was really a punch to the moon, we had a lot of rejection but it just inspires us to strive and do better.
Wow, you did live selling. That's great, I haven't tried that tho I don't have the courage yet, lol but yes, shoes and sandals is also a great business especially I you get it from direct suppliers, plus unlike food there is no expiration date we can just keep it in the inventory if we can't sell it all. That's one thing I like with dry goods and RTW.
WOW!! Incredible!
Now I'm craving longganisa!
Wish I could order pero ang layo ko naman e hahaha
Longganisa na isasawsaw sa sukang may bawang at sili tapos partner nh fried rice. Hehe yummy! Nakakamiss nga talaga, pati ako ngcrave na 😅
Wag pls! Nakakatakam at nakakagutom tuloy. 😂
Yaaaay so nice geng. Hopefully balik na imo business soon. Mo boom jud na ba. And thank you for sharing this. Im sure peeps who are planning to open a business can get information and inspiration from you and your journey. All the best ❤️
Thanks geng, puhon2 makabalik rajud. 🙂 Patilawon ta niya mo hehe
Yessumsss pohon. Mo buy jud ko ana ba
Wow! This is incredible. I love how you carefully explained everything with pictures too. It gives us a clearer understanding of all you're telling us about. I wish you well as you plan to start business again. Well-done!
Awwe, Thank you for the kind words @didiee. I'm really glad that you appreciate my efforts in sharing the story.
You're welcome 🤗
wow, amazing ROI, Congratulation @yzamazing for your bussiness.
Thank you, I'm really looking forward to reviving JD's Homemade.
Makahappy and worth it rajod tanan inyong sacrifice at the end dai noh coz it really shows thru ROI. Makalearn jod ko ani since I am also helping my mama in our homemade cakes and pastries. I hope to try your longganisa soon! 😍🤤
Thank you dai, lagi perting effort jud namo ato and height of the pandemic pajud, naay time hike rajud mi para mamerkado palit ingredients kay wala jud public vehicles. Kapoy na Lingaw kay worth it rajud. Puhon2 makabaligya nami balik. 🙂
Wow! Congrats to your booming business ;) that's how we hustle hard ! ^^,) this is Sassy Cebuana, my old account was hacked. I hope you can follow me back with this new acc. Aye2! Cheers to success!
Thank you, yes hustle hard to all Mommas out there.
Sorry to hear about your account. I followed you back na.
So true! We've got no one to rely on but ourselves. Laban to all the momshies out there :) hehe thank you for following back
When can you possibly go back again to make this delicious longanisa?
Miss this mi? Soon, need to market research pa and adjust pricing cause inflation is real 😅 You will be one of the first to know.
Hehheh yesss
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Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
One thing I have come to understand in line of business is that being an entrepreneur isn't an easy task it involves a lot of risk taking, on and of the business....but one thing that keeps us going is the passion and the desire to serve and earn.
I'm a serial entrepreneur I basically do online shopping for people and I'm presently making hair from home.
I earn more from my online shop and I'm thinking of ways to promote and sell more online.
I use words of mouth and sample to advertise my business.
I'm looking forward to reading those tips.
Thanks for this amazing post
I totally agree, if we love what we do and we are passionate about it, it makes all the risk and hard work fulfilling.
I wish you all the best on your online and hair business and thank you for stopping by @goodysam.