Eight decades of being passed on from one generation to the next, the puto calasiao business of the Decena family has served its community for a long time.
Dory Hernandez of Decena Puto Calasiao shared that there are advantages and challenges to running a family business. She explained that since their family business has been around for a long time, they needed to find a way to improve and compete against the growing number of puto calasiao sellers in their community. They came up with the idea of making special flavored puto calasiao.
“Nagsimula sa lola namin mga 1940s. Pinamana sa mga anak. Nagstart kasi sa mga plain puto at plain kutsina. For how many years na, kaya ilevel up mo naman yung negosyo mo ‘di ba?” she shared with GMA’s Pera Paraan.
Dory admitted that breaking away from their family’s traditional puto calasiao and serving flavored puto calasiao wasn’t also easy. She explained that many customers were confused and doubtful of their special flavored puto calasiao.
She recalled the challenges when they first tried selling puto calasiao in Metro Manila. Their business didn’t prosper immediately, and they had to go online to promote their products more.
“Kasi parang hindi pa rin naniniwala yung mga tao na yan ay gawang calasiao. Ang connotation ng mga tao ay ang puto calasiao is plain na puto at plain na kutsina. Kaya naisipan namin na mag-online, put up ng IG [Instagram], at lumakas rin,” she said.
Soon, Dory and her family’s hardwork paid off. From selling two boxes of puto calasiao, they are now earning over P100,000 in gross sales weekly.
Advice to entrepreneurs
Dory’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to not easily give up and to believe in your skills and capabilities. “Huwag mawawalang ng pag-asa, at lagi kong sinsabi, ang paniniwala sa iyong sarili,” she said.
You can start many business ideas with your family, such as food retail. When you have decided on an idea, you can start planning for the things you need to do when starting a business.
How To Make Puto Calasiao
To make puto calasiao, you prepare the ingredients which include rice flours that has been set for two hours also known as “galapong.” When making flavored puto calasiao, simply add food flavoring to the galapong mixture.
Pour the mixture into small puto molder with cheese. Steam until cooked.
To hear more about the success story of Dory’s family business, you can skip to 4:08 of the video from GMA’s Youtube channel:
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