Child Labor

In my search for a baker, I came across an applicant who was 16 yrs old. 

I consulted with PESO and I was told that  it'll be illegal for me to hire a minor who's 16 yrs old and below. If the applicant was 17, I can hire him if he has a written consent from his parents and provided that he will not be given dangerous tasks or be assigned to work outside the normal workin hours. 

In my case, if a 17 year old applicant came, I still can't hire him because working with an oven and other bakery equipment is considered dangerous and I need a baker/assistant to start work at 1 or 2 am. 

LPGone

Sales since we opened have been steadily increasing but are still not at the level where it's able to pay for all overhead costs. Hence, I decided to make a few changes:

1) Open at exactly 5am with freshly baked pandesal ready by then. 

2) Extend until 6pm from the usual 430pm closing. 

3) Sell cigarettes. 

I wanted to go to the bakery early to have enough time to bake. Sans any sleep, I arrived there by 130am and proceeded to prepare for baking. At around 5am, as I was waiting for the oven to be at the right temperature, the LPG ran out. I didn't have a spare and was only able make bread by 1030am when the replacement came. 

We were able to extend closing hours but  I expect that to be felt after a few days when people are accustomed to the new closing time. 

I also went and bought cigarettes to sell. Having been a smoker for 16 years, and having quit for 3 years, I know how bad smoking is. I am completely against smoking but I am also desperate in making this bakery work. If selling cigarettes for the meantime would make me meet my financial obligations for now, then I am willing to bend. I'm willing to make sacrifices to make this endeavor work. 

To Advance or not to Advance

Just a few days from when we opened, came an inevitable but rarely talked about reality of being an employer. My employee's son was hospitalized and was prescribed medicine. She did not have money to buy said medicine and asked for a P500 advance. 

Salary advances have been so normal for Filipinos that there's a word specifically for it, bale. A lot of employees live hand to mouth and there's not enough money when emergencies arise. A salary advance would seemingly solve the immediate concern when in reality, it only postpones the larger problem. It starts a vicious cycle and the scenario when there's not enough money for all needs will manifest again when some 'emergency' happens. 

Here lies the dilemma for the employer. Should the employer give an employee an advance on their salary? 

On one side, it messes with the employer's accounting. The money can be used to buy inventory to allow it to grow in the few days from now until the wage needs to be paid. There's also the chance of an employee leaving and the employer paying for the salary an employee has not earned yet. On the other hand, an employee with financial troubles may be less productive at work and it would impact productivity negatively. 

Here are my guidelines on whether I'll give employees an advance on their salary. 

~ There has to be money not earmarked for an immediate business expense.

~ The employee should have already earned the salary being advanced. They cannot ask for an advance for future day's work. 

~ The advance should automatically be deducted in full from the next pay day. 

Search for a Baker

The bakery has been open for almost 2 weeks but I have yet to find a baker. 

There were a few applicants but there hasn't been any promosing prospects. The closest one came from my post in FB but he was not allowed by his current employer. 

There's truth in what is said about having your own business; you won't be able to grow the business when you're busy running the business. My days have been occupied by baking that I don't have the energy to look for ways on how to increase sales. 

So my immediate goal is to find a baker. Last week, I have processed my application to be certified by the Public Employment Services Office (PESO). This will allow me to receive applicants from their office in case they get bakers. Although I was told that it was unlikely because they get few bakers. However, I can get in touch with Manpower Development Center which is a TESDA accredited training center and I'm hoping they have some graduates who are looking for a job. 

If this fails to bear fruit, I'll be forced to find a non-experienced baker whom I will teach. I don't want it to come to that since I'm not an expert. 

We're Open!

Today, September 17, 2015, marks our day 1 of operations. We sold 56 pandesals as well as some other items and we raked in a total of P128. We hope tomorrow's sales would be a bit better. 

This post will be short as I am very tired and sleepy. 

Fire Safety Inspection Certificate

After a month, I finally got my Fire Safety Inspection Certificate. Here's what happened from my post last August 6, 2015. 

On August 8, 2015 (Saturday), I called different suppliers to ask how much a 10kg fire extinguisher and a smoke detector was. One of the suppliers I called was the supplier given by the BFP Officer I was talking to two days before. Upon reviewing all of my options, I found that it would be less expensive to purchase said items from Ace Hardware. So I did.

On August 10, 2015 (Monday), I sent a text message to the BFP Officer as per his instruction. I told him that the items he requested I buy were already on site and that he can inspect them. I then received a call from the supplier he gave asking if I was going to purchase a fire extinguisher. I told the supplier that I already have one. Then I received a message from the BFP Officer, "D ka naman pala bmile ng extingser inspectionin k yan muna . Pending muna cert. M"

On August 12, 2015 (Wednesday), having not heard from BFP, I sent a text asking when the inspection was going to be. I did not receive a reply. 

On August 17, 2015 (Monday), I went to BFP to follow up. The same officer who I had been dealing with said he was going to inspect the place at that time. He arrived at the bakery, looked at the place for less than a minute, then told me that I needed to ask Ace Hardware if the Fire Code Sales Tax had been paid. He said that if it hasn't been paid, that I should pay for it myself. 

On the same day, I went to Ace and asked them about the Fire Code Sales Tax. The people at Ace couldn't confirm this as they do not pay the taxes themselves but assured me that all dues are paid. 

I sent a text message to the BFP Officer and told him that Ace has paid the Fire Code Sales Tax. I was then asked to get a copy of the receipt as proof that Ace paid this.

On September 1, 2015, I sent a text message to the same BFP Officer telling him that I could not produce the receipt he was requesting. He told me to talk to a different BFP Officer. I went to BFP and talked to the new BFP Officer. She told me that the Fire Code Sales Tax is required, but she was still going to provide me my Fire Safety Inspection Certificate. She said that the certificate had already been made, but she couldn't find it. She asked me to come back the following week. 

On September 9, 2015, I returned to BFP and my FSIC was there. 

Now I can finally move one to the other requirements. 

Kitchen Test

I have almost everything ready. Everything but the kitchen sink, literally. The sink is there but it doesn't have the faucet attached to it yet. But all other equipment is set and all ingredients are ready. So I decided to do a test run.

I baked my first batch of pandesal today. I tried to recall lessons learned from 4 months ago, and it wasn't easy. Inexperience won today and needless to say, the first batch was a flop. 

Here's a picture...

But it was expected and it has not changed my determination. I just learned that I can't do without a baker. That, or I need to practice a lot more.