We built Chemistea together, hand in hand.
I know this post seems a bit
late, like really late (July 2020 na), but I just have to do it because it’s quite significant. Because of this, I fell in love with him even more....
Anyways, 2019, I think it’s my
most daring year, ever. First in the list, I finally did my ChemisTEA kick-off.
Being born from a
not-business-minded family, I never really knew how to run a business and never
had any idea about all the must-dos (let’s not forget the starting capital is
also hard to raise). Plus, I’m a Chemist and Jeff’s an Engineer so we never had
real business classes in college, hahaha! We invested money on something we didn’t
have any idea about (using our own savings and bonuses) especially that it’s the first milk tea store in the city .
Being someone who’s not used to
asking for help or bothering anyone else and being used to do things on my own,
I just did things really slowly on this – taking it one baby step at a time.
Cause I can’t afford to fail. I’m not rich, you know. I’m just glad and really
blessed to have Jeff with me through all the struggles and kakapoy. He’s the
best partner anyone could ever have!
Starting a business from scratch
is really challenging when there’s just the two of us and at the same time
we’re both working. We have experienced a lot and learned a lot in starting ChemisTEA.
It’s exciting but most of the time it’s really tiring and exhausting. It
requires real hard work (a lot of it!) and determination (200% of it!!!) cause
it’s what keeps you going.
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Chemistea's humble beginning - June 2019 |
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Milktea-lovers flooded our small store on our 1st month. |
Anyways, this is how we started –
a really small store with so many things still lacking but thank God business
started good and keeps doing good. After a month, we were able to do some
improvements using the store’s own money already. We never spent anything more
from our own pocket. Thanks to the Tanjayanons for their warm welcome, for loving
our chemistTEA, and for always coming back.
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Big thanks to the first few who trusted chemisTEA. |
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Thank you, teachers! |
After 3 months of operation, by God's grace, we
were able to transfer to a bigger and more decent place than the first one (but
not that big pa ha) and with a better location. We were also able to do some
transformation and added other stuffs inside the store and also purchased additional
needed equipment. In short, our investment grows.
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Bigger place than the first one. |
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Proud to say that these heroes are our suki. |
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Our bubbly milktea-lovers. |
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We're glad to be part of their special celebrations. |
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Our bigger, more decent place. |
We never expected how chemisTEA grew in just a couple of months operation. Thanks to the never-ending love of all Tanjayanons who keep on supporting our small business.
So when December came, as our way of saying THANK YOU, we spent our first-ever Christmas
party with the kids in one of the barangays in Tanjay. It’s our simple way of
giving back to the community that supported us.
And we had so much fun on that
day!
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It's not just with the Chemistea staff but also with Jeff's and my family. |
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Simple gifts for the children. |
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Everyone had so much fun! |
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More games, more prizes, and more fun!!! |
It wasn’t an all-smile smooth
1-year journey, though. Challenges came but the hardest one so far was when we
encountered a problem with our business name that we had to change it because
of some trademark issues. Didn’t have any idea about that. It’s not our fault,
though. It’s Dti’s. That explains why we had to change from ChemisTea to
ChemistTEA (it’s not even solved yet). But I think it’s smoothen out already
and we were able to pull through. But I know sooner we really have to change
the original name. But we’ll deal with that later.
Thank you, God for all the
blessings, the guidance, and the strength.
Thank you for ChemistTEA. We
survived our first year.
It’s always You, Lord, I know. ❤❤❤
P.S. And this is the reason behind the #13. Through all the daring and tiring and stressful decisions I make in life, I have this super supportive and super patient boyfriend. They say when a couple is exposed to difficult and challenging times, true colors will be revealed, misunderstandings will drive them apart, and most of the time breakups happen. But this isn't true with us. What was revealed during this experience is how patient and understanding this man is. Through all the tiring and exhausting days, I've seen such an amazing man.
Truly, my partner and bestfriend in everything!
I love you bikoooooii!❤❤❤