Resilient Filipino-Canadian businesses: Adapting to survive in a pandemic and beyond
Resilient Filipino-Canadian businesses: Adapting to survive in a pandemic and beyond
By Veronica C. Silva
Most businesses of all shapes and sizes in Canada are closed to help stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus. So too for those owned by Filipino-Canadians.
But if you think kababayans are going to sulk in a corner and wait out the pandemic, think again. Our resilient kababayans are trying to adapt and even forging ahead with alternative business strategies now and into the future.
It’s like business as usual for FV Foods of Scarborough, Ont. as the food business is deemed essential services. The company’s bakery is still running on full operations, and the takeout business is still ongoing although with reduced workforce and hours, said owner Mel Galeon,
There are some changes, though, to product offerings in the bakery, he said. The bakery is producing more bread than cakes these days.
“Nag-increase ang demand for bread, maybe because nasa bahay lahat ang tao (The demand for our bread products has increased, maybe because most people are at home),” he said, adding that he is getting orders from supermarkets, including big ones, that were not customers previously. His usual grocery clients have increased their volume of orders.
FV Foods also beefed up its supplies of grocery items. The storefront in Scarborough is available for home-cooked food takeout, delivery and groceries. Prior to the lockdown, this location also had a sit-in restaurant. The takeout business through mobile apps is also busy.
Galeon said that he delivers free to loyal customers he knows in the Scarborough area for a minimum purchase of $100. This is done through SMS and Facebook. These deliveries include food and groceries, including the traditional Filipino broom stick called the walis tambo.
Ironically, Galeon considers the pandemic a blessing of sorts. His business continues to thrive because his competitor bakeries have closed down.
“I hope our kababayan stand by FV Foods; We still stand for them during crisis,” he said.
“Gusto namin ipakita na (we want to show customers that) FV Foods, we’re here always.”
The business initially saw a decline in revenues by as much as 30% – 40% in the first weeks of operation. But Galeon said the opportunities have since picked up, though still not at the levels prior to the lockdown. He said they have yet to look into the wage subsidy and rent relief programs.
Self-employed virtual training
Not to be outdone are other kababayans from the west coast and the Prairies.
Certified personal trainer Yolanda Lumase has also found a silver lining in the pandemic. Her fitness training business has expanded her area of coverage beyond the Fraser Valley region in B.C.
Before COVID-19, Lamase said 100% of her work was done in the gym where she was an employee. Shortly before the lockdown, she joined a fitness company as a sub-contractor, and now she’s conducting her business 100% online.
With gyms closed, as they are non-essential services, she has found new clients via virtual training, and these clients are from all over B.C. and in California.
“I would say it was a blessing because had I not joined them (a training company offering virtual training), I would not be training clients right now. All of my clients in (another) gym (I worked for before the lockdown) did not want to move online, so I have not trained them for more than a month now. So I would say I still made revenues and gained new customers during this lockdown (from virtual training),” said Lamase, who specialises in training older adults.
Though the number of her clients dropped by 50%, she said she is pleased that she was able to expand her client base, something that she hopes to maintain even after the economies reopen.
Ghost town
Tony Adriano and wife Clara own two businesses in tourist destination Jasper, Alta. The Adriano’s own a bed-and-breakfast and a laundry cleaning business. Both, unfortunately, are dependent on tourists, mostly international visitors. When businesses were ordered to shut down last March, the usually busy town transformed into a ghost town almost overnight.
Their 2 Swans Inn business in their basement had bookings in April in what would have been the start of peak season for tourism in Jasper. However, since Jasper National Park and all Parks Canada sites are also closed, Adriano said their inn’s bookings were cancelled.
The Adriano Laundry Service business, however, is still running because it is considered essential services in Alberta. However, it is operational for only one to two hours per week to service small supermarkets and a bakery that are also deemed essential businesses. Its usual big clients were hotels and restaurants serving the tourism industry.
Despite the slow business, it still has to pay for rent, utilities and payroll.
In order to survive, the Adriano’s has dipped in to the government’s economic lifelines, such as the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), an interest-free loans of up to $40,000.
“I’m keeping that money just in case this summer will be challenging when it comes to sales,” said Adriano. “Because it won’t be busy (with tourists) here in Jasper even if the economy reopens. Jasper mostly relies heavily on international travellers. Although regional tourists might create some money, it won’t be at the peak level without international travellers.”
But he is also looking into other economic relief programs recently announced by the federal government, including the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). For his laundry business, two of his top expenses are payroll and rent, the latter easily taking up around 50% of the business’ regular monthly expenses. Payroll is the number two expense, he said. He still keeps some staff to serve the supermarkets and bakery clients.
Plans:
Business may be down, but don’t expect Pinoys to tap out of the game pretty soon. There’s always a Plan B, or even Plan Z, for our persevering kababayans.
Unfortunately for the Adriano’s tourism-dependent businesses, there is little wiggle room for an alternative plan during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, he is already setting his sights on diversification soon as the economy reopens.
Adriano plans to diversity to a wash-fold-dry that caters to the local consumer market because the service is not offered that in their area. He said it’s one way to create revenue for the laundry business and, hopefully, make up for loss revenue during the shutdown. But he will also need to invest in small machines — compared to big machines for hotel and restaurant linens — and that’s where he could possibly use the government loan.
For the BnB business, he said he’s thinking of accepting monthly rentals instead of short-term stays.
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