Kasal.com – The Essential Philippine Wedding Planning Guide

When FARAH Kharen Orosco first told a college friend about her business idea, she was told that nobody but she would be crazy enough to laboriously turn something that is meant to be consumed right away, such as chocolate, into a souvenir item But the 28-year-old Us Marriot Hotel trainee was not discouraged. She firmly believed there was a local market for edible souvenirs especially among sentimental Filipinos who like keeping souvenirs from proms, debuts, weddings, and even less important occasions for many years. Orosco is now counted among the pioneers of the edible gift items industry and her handmade chocolate bars wrapped in personalized packages have gained a following. But things didn't come easily for her, A year and a half ago. armed with an initial capital of P2,000, basic skills and a business network plus tips from the Deportment of Trade and Industry Web site - Orosco launched O.A. Sweets, lovingly named after her parent, a retired army doctor and a nursing school dean. Aside from lending their initials to their daughter's start-up venture, Orosco's parents also helped her in promotions and marketing her mother distributed samples of O.A. Sweets, while her bathe: used to drive for her to deliver products, Still she had to patiently attend to her business to see it take off.

Joining seven wedding fairs, and even a baby fair, to promote her backyard business did not work out for Orosco. However, she took it all- philosophically ''Even if I joined a fair that turned out to be a flop, I still looked on the brighter side of things,'' she says.

What did work out for her was the internet which played a key role in creating a market niche for O.A. Sweets. She boosted sales of chocolates in cookies and cream (her bestsellers), white chocolate, choco krispies, and white pandan through an email blast To various weddings and events coordinators.

Orosco : ''Sometimes, I don't want to look at the money because it will make me conscius of what I'm earning and that might make me want to not work harder.What I'm after is self-satisfaction that I'm able to put this (0A sweets) off''

Last December, Orosco gained fresh opportunities to expand her market when she launched the O.A. sweets Web Site (www.oasweets.com) , which made her products more accessible to her barge: market: weddings, birthdays, corporate functions, school proms, plus Foreign patrons and overseas Filipinos. She even got orders from chocolate capital Switzerland: Her biggest client, to date, is the Ateneo De Manila University junior- senior prom which ordered 1,000 chocolate bars. (Her chocolate bar retails for P35 a piece) client who place bulk orders :75- piece minimum) are given ample time to decide on how their chocolates will be packaged. If a client has no particular motif in mind, Orosco and her graphic artist are willing to work on it, "When my clients say 'bahala ka na' (I leave it up to you) it gives me the confidence I need to do what they want" she says “Wala pa namang nagrereklamo'' (No one has complained, so far) As for managing finances, Orosco (who teaches part-time at St. Paul University-Manila; uses what she calls ''simpe accounting'' to keep her small business running. But she says it will not remain small forever, She plans to set up a stall with a complete catalogue of her artistic packaging of course to accommodate more clients.

But what is important to Orosco is that she was able to be a successful pioneer in an industry that gives her an outlet for her creativity ''Sometimes, I don't want to look at the money because a it will make me conscious of what I'm earning, and that might make me wan: to not work harder,'' she candidly admits. ''Yes I have an accounting system, but what I'm after is the self-satisfaction that I'm able to pull this off '' LCC