Couple Earns Php15k a Week Selling Coffee to Online Customers

A couple earns Php15k a week selling coffee to online customers – and their business venture was something that they started after needing to give up on a franchise business.

Venturing into Small Businesses Before Selling Coffee

Muriel Santos and her husband, Erik James, owned several small businesses even before the pandemic.

They operated a Siomai King franchise, GrabCar, and had an online shop selling imported bags and watches.

She achieved her dream of becoming an entrepreneur in October 2018 when they began operating their Siomai King franchise in Makati.

The business was good, with the couple earning around Php20,000 net income a month.

Sadly, they had to give it up to another friend when the pandemic began.

Learning from the Pandemic Loss

Many businesses had to shut down during the pandemic, yet many of these entrepreneurs found other ways to earn money when their pre-pandemic business closed.

The Santos couple also had a similar light bulb moment as entrepreneurs.

“Having this experience helped us learn how to strategize on marketing, how to save, and look at the things we can totally control and innovate,” Muriel explained.

Although they had to give up the thriving Siomai King franchise, they were able to open a different kind of business just six months later – and it isn’t a franchise but their own business, built from scratch.

The couple produced and sold their own product line, Kape Isabel, which was named after their daughter.

Using a capital of Php20,000, they began their business.

What’s good about this business is that even with the pandemic, they didn’t have a problem because all the transactions were done online.

Most of their sales also came from online customers on Shopee, Facebook, and Instagram.

They also partnered with gift curators that included their coffee products in the gift options they offer.

Kape Isabel now averages 40 to 50 orders per week, and the couple earns around Php10,000 to Php15,000 a week. Their peak sales happened last December when they earned Php25,000 in just one week.