Suds' First Franchise

4 years ago, when we were still fledgling entrepreneurs, John and I used to take coffee together and brainstorm about business. That was when we were still engineers at Intel. Suds was 2 years old then.

Fast forward four years and 400 cups of coffee, John is now a franchisee of Suds. What a twist.
I am really thankful for John to have opened my eyes to the potential of franchising. Before, I used to dismiss the idea, I thought that it will never work and I never put much thought into it. But John’s insistence caused us to consult RK (Rudolf Kotik) and he told us it could be done. Thus the franchising effort was born.

What a year!

We started working on the system late last year. We were forced to look at the numbers from all angles by our friend Jojo V. and we were thankful for that because Charm (my wife) and I finally found a way that this might work WIN-WIN for all. Jojo never allowed us to compromise and I don’t know what the reason is but I highly suspect it’s because of his Peyups (U.P. grad) blood. For that, I am thankful.

Dee Fenix was a great help in our documentation effort. I don’t know anyone with a sharper eye. Plus, she has an unbelievable work ethic (Salamat gyud, Dee!). Dee and Charm’s body of work was something I couldn’t accomplish even if they chain me to a computer for year.

The next phase was looking for a spot. The first place John wanted was the Summit Ridge at Tagaytay. We all fell in love with that place but, sad to say, something about the numbers was not in place and in the end we had to give it up.

After Summit, we tried another space but it didn't seemed to be right either. And that’s when we decided to really scout Tagaytay. It was a decision aided by God because that was when we found a very good site at the Corner Stone building (operated coincidentally by a religious group, Focolare). In the end, John, Charm and I were satisfied that this could work.

After all the preparations and trainings and coffee (kape pa please!) we finally opened on July 12. It was a happy, happy day with all the staff feeling the satisfaction of hard work bearing fruit.

Somehow, I didn’t feel it as a culmination although in some ways it us. I felt it was a start of something big – for me and Charm and hopefully for John and Malou as well. I know the four of us dedicate this effort to Him, upstairs. His hand was there to guide us.

And to John and Malou, thanks a lot for trusting us (and for the delicious home cooking!).

Now the real work begins.

-Caloy Ang