To 2023's First Quarter Misteps and Milestones

2023 First Half

Naku, I've been sluggish lately, staying up late and waking up at noon. Acid reflux is a pain. I'm starting to suffer all the neglect of starving myself back in college. I need to take care of myself more. 

Staying away from fast food. 

It was my primary diet for the past months since the workload has been piling up.

I'm too lazy to prep for a decent meal. All those fatty foods, sugar, and not-so-active lifestyle contributed to my abrupt weight gain. Now I'm struggling to manage it. Haay :(

Relationship woes.

The past couple of months was not easy for both of us. There has been a huge strain in our relationship that we are trying to mend. The good thing about this is we are there for each other even though times are difficult. She never gave up and kept on fighting, weathering this storm we are in. I on the other hand was lost and confused looking for answers. We are still figuring things out and adjusting our attitudes on how we tackle life's challenges.

Business as usual.

One of the milestones we have this first quarter of 2023: We have reached our first million in gross sales! I'm so happy that we were able to reach this level in our 2nd year of business. Year zero was just awful, we hardly got to break everything even. Looking at the numbers it was a lost cause. In year one we manage to gain traction, we bumped the marketing, made some new partners in the board game community, and found our niche market. We manage to renovate and got some new equipment. The sigh of relief rushed over me when I saw the financial report for the first quarter of 2023. 

It was a slow start but now we must maintain and hopefully push the boundaries and explore untapped markets.

Weebs Dream

Aside from an art cafe, we manage to capture the rising popularity of cosplayers here in the city. One of the events we had was a maid cafe. The theme was from the popular game Genshin Impact. 

Tea Time

I can't wait to tell you this story: I'm going to write it in Filipino, feel free to translate this if you wanna know more about it.

Medyo controversial ito, pero feeling ko kailangan ko syang ikwento kasi isa sya sa mga stressor ko this first quarter ng 2023. Medyo kumikita na yung cafe, pwede na nga iwan. Hindi narin ako masyadong tutok dito kasi kaya na nyang tumayo sa sarili nyang paa (naks) pero from time to time kailangan parin ng gabay at patnubay para quality parin.

Hindi narin kami gaanong nagkakaroon ng events unlike nung mga unang taon. Kasi kaya naman na ng revenue ng cafe i-sustain yung operations. Para sa akin good yun di rin kasi madaling gumawa ng event. Paminsan minsan nalang at mas maayos pa kasi hindi rushed.

Maganda din kasi na focused and strategic yung mga ginagawa namin para hindi kami mag bleed ng resources lalo na kung mababa ang turn out. 

Nagkakaroon din kasi ng confusion at conflict kapag may mga events na hindi na plaplano at hindi na eexecute ng maayos. 

Dito na papasok yung kabilang branch. Honestly napapansin ko na nahihirapan sila. Nag reach out naman ako para tumulong, kaso ang dami nilang problema na parang ayoko muna maki alam, nag hahanap ako ng tamang timing. Bigla silang naglabas ng line up of events. Hala halos walang natuloy sa 10 nilabas 3 lang ata ang natuloy. Which is hindi maganda sa brand. Madami na nga silang events minsan nag ooverlap pa sa aming niche market. 

Gusto ko sana meron paring separation ng identity at branding. Malapit na nga, parehas pa.

Dun nagsimula yung di pagkaka intindihan. I called them out, magkaka ibigan naman kami. Pero wala naman nangyari. Kaya parang dumistansya nalang ako at simulan ulit naming i-build yung identity namin.

Dahil siguro dito, nag pile up narin yung fraustrations ko dahil meron silang mga management decisions na sablay. May mga utang sila na nadadamay kami, kasi hinahanap sila sa amin. Malay ba namin. Dumating pa sa point na parang scam na nga eh. Front nila yung business para manghikayat ng mag iinvest para mapagtakpan yung mga utang nila. Dahil investment yun, walang kasiguraduhan na may babalik. Iniisip na nga namin na magpalit ng pangalan para di madawit eh. Pero syempre it will cost us too. 

Aside sa financial woes, nagkaproblema din sa permit. Dito aminado ako na nahighblood ako. Nung nagpro-process kasi ako ng business permit nagkaroon ng conflict at miscommunication. Ay grabe, pinag mumura ko sa galit yung manager nila. Pano ba naman kasi turuan sila ng turuan. Ayun pina-police ako at pina barangay. First time kong mapunta sa presinto para magpaliwanag. Nanginig kalamnan ko sa galit pero humupa naman. Inis na inis kasi ako. Pero mali ko yun. aminado ako na naging emotional ako at hindi ko na control yung mga sinabi ko dun sa tao. Kawawa naman.

Medyo meron akong anger management issues ngay, kaya ganun haha kaya iniiwas ko na yung sarili kong magalit kasi hindi ko na macontrol. Yung kaso ko pala ay unjust fixation. hahaha!

Ay grabe, sinasabi ko sayo hindi din ako nakatulog ng ilang araw dahil dun. Ang lesson lang siguro dito na napulot ko, dapat take charge ka kung ikaw yung owner. Kasi walang bukambibig yung friend ko kundi yung manager. basta may mali yung manager ang tinuturo, ngayon nung sumabog ako napag tuunan ko ng baling yung taong yun. which is wrong kasi kapag management level dapat internally meron grievance committee  at issues management sa isang organization. 

Ginawa na rin namin yun sa aming munting company para maiwasan yung gantong insidente. 

Ayun lang, di ko alam kung tea sya pero kung gusto mo malaman ang buong kwento tawagan mo nalang ako.