UPDATE: Editor’s note: Added video taken by INQUIRER.net business editor Ma. Salve Duplito.

COMTEQ COMPUTER & Business College is one growing enterprise in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. Started in 1990 as an institution offering computer literacy courses to high school students, it has now become a full college offering bachelor’s degree courses in Computer Science, Information Technology, Accountancy, and Business Administration. It also offers shorter two- and three-year courses in computer programming, animation, and electronics technology, among others.

Hundreds of students now go to Comteq wanting to be equipped with the technological know-how needed in the marketplace. What attracts the students to Comteq is the school’s strong on-the-job (OJT) training program and affordable tuition fees. “We want our graduates na may alam na paglabas [ng school] because of OJT,” says John Bayarong, Comteq’s dean.

In fact, students have already done websites for organizations. The students have also been joining competitions and have in fact won in some contests already.

Here’s a video taken by INQUIRER.net business editor Ma. Salve Duplito. Bayarong and Ausbert Joaquin of Comteq Computer & Business College listen with Allan Cruz of Business Mentors Inc. to mentor Willy Arcilla (not in video) as Arcilla advises strengthening Comteq’s hold in the market first before venturing into franchising.

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AT THE DANGWA Flower Market, some 50-plus vendors sell an array of fresh cut flowers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This market has been there for more than 30 years. Retail buyers and those with floral businesses flock to this market for their floral needs.

Jay Domingo and his wife Gina run a branch of Pat’s Flowers & Supplies in Dangwa. The main outlet located in Quiapo was put up by Gina’s grandmother in the early ‘70s. It still exists today.

As the name suggests, Pat’s Flowers & Supplies does more than just provide flowers: They also make available to flower shops the supplies they need, from pots, ribbons, and other tools of the trade.

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UPDATE: Editor’s note: Added video taken by INQUIRER.net business editor Ma. Salve Duplito.

DELILAH GALANG is a retiree with a mission. Having seen how cancer can take away the lives of people dear to her, she has, since 2000, embarked on a personal mission to offer Filipinos an alternative way to treat and care for cancer patients.

This alternative way is the Gerson therapy introduced by the German physician Max Gerson in the 1920s. Gerson therapy is an all-natural non-toxic treatment program using organic foods, juices, coffee enemas, detoxification and natural supplements. Dr. Gerson founded the Gerson Institute based in San Diego, California to spread the word about Gerson therapy and to train caregivers to administer the therapy program.

How she got into Gerson therapy is interesting. Delilah’s nephew was just six years old when he was diagnosed with advanced non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Doctors gave him only a 25-percent chance of survival. He was having chemotherapy every three weeks.

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UPDATE: Editor’s note: Added video taken by INQUIRER.net business editor Ma. Salve Duplito.

FRANCO MESINA is in an enviable position. At twenty-something, his problem is how to keep up with the success of Icylicious, his snow cone business, and how to sustain the seasonal business of FranzAvian Trading Co. Ltd., which supplies equipment to water refilling stations. Franco has been running his businesses with his girlfriend Abby Sarmiento, and they sat down with mentor Willy Arcilla for advice last March for their first mentoring session.

Because they had space in front of Fountain Cool, the water refilling station in Binondo he put up with his dad, Franco thought of selling something there. Lots of young people pass by on their way to school.

And so Franco and Abby started Icylicious just three months ago. They registered the business with DTI and SEC. They got an electric ice crusher and sourced ready-to-use syrups for the snow cones. To distinguish themselves from other snow cone vendors, Franco and Abby made sure the syrups are delicious and do not leave discoloration in the teeth and mouth. They would sell as much as 1,000 cups of 6-oz. styro cups a day for P15 a cup, so the profits are coming in swiftly. Franco foresees the return on investment to happen in five to six months’ time.

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UPDATE: Editor’s note: Added video taken by INQUIRER.net business editor Ma. Salve Duplito.

(From left to right, Marvin Natores, Meme Natores, Allan Cruz and Willy Arcilla)

Most newbie entrepreneurs rack their brains trying to think of ways to sell more. Marvin and Melani Natores wonder how they can keep up with surging demand for their products and are even struggling with the basic question: “Are we ready to grow the business? Are we ready for wealth? Is it possible to be rich and happy?”

Nuts? Foolish? Crazy? Who wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, huh? Believe it or not, it’s a serious matter on their part.

They have received queries on franchising, been booked for events outside Metro Manila, toying with other novel product ideas and are wondering whether to consider advertising. But they still come back to that question on whether they are ready to expand.

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