One of the businesses birthed by the community quarantines in the first wave of the pandemic is “The Batter Concept”. Established and self-managed by the NSPC 2018 2nd Best News Anchor, Water O’Neill de Leon, also known as “Water de Leon” by many. The young entrepreneur began his business through little cravings during the first month of lockdown, March 2020, immediately after coming to Palawan from Manila. Starting with his mini baking sessions, he also gave some to his friends, as what he usually does even before the pandemic hit the city.
“Yung binake ko na brownies, shinare ko syempre sa mga close friends. Namigay lang ako, tinry nila, syempre sasabihing masarap, natural, kaibigan,” he said while laughing it off. Water also shared that he only had a certain recipe that he followed, but did not totally copy, thus, made some adjustments according to his liking.
It was in the first month after the March 16 announcement of worldwide quarantine when he decided to try out baking brownies–this time, for his growing business.
“Tinry ko lang siya, isang tupperware, isang pyrex ba na malaki, dun ko sinalang. Tapos pagkalabas, slice slice,”
“Wala rin akong gamit by that time. Ang gamit ko lang nun is microwaveable oven sa bahay, yung 3-in-1, yung multipurpose na maliit. Saktong nasa kitchen counter lang siya, yun yung ginagamit ko (noon),”
With limited resources since not all ingredients in his recipe could be easily gathered in the city, he did alterations and made alternatives. In his first batch, he recalled trying to slice the brownies into boxes, but almost always ended up having crooked slices. In the next batches, Water managed to perfect, if not, do it professionally. After finally having a market-worthy batch, he finally thought of advertising his product on Facebook, the reachable advertising ground.
“Ibenta sa Facebook, syempre unang-una na marketing platform natin yun (Facebook) dahil una, libre siya. Pangalawa, maraming tao, mas broad yung market mo sa Facebook kesa sa ibang social media,” said Water.
Preparing Ingredients
After sending the goodies to his friends, Water said that it only took him a week to decide whether to continue his baking into a business–for which he did.
It was only in the following month, May of 2020 when he decided to name his business “The Batter Concept”. Usually, business names that use articles (a, an, the) are prohibited, but Water was also surprised when the article on his business name was approved by DTI. Consequently, he applied for business permits and all else needed for its growth.
“Nag-costing ako nang masinsinan. Yung una ko talagang kita nun was around 1k+, as in tuwang-tuwa na ako. Alam mo yun?”
“Iba kasi yung pakiramdam kapag kumikita ka, nagnenegosyo ka out of your own pagod, sariling sikap, concept, design, mga ganun,” Water further shared.
It is in the moment that he got his official business documents when he realized that he should really pursue what he has started.
“Natuto rin talaga akong mag-manage ng negosyo, iba kasi kapag inaaral mo kesa sa inaapply mo, iba yung learning. Kunyare kapag technical lang, more on knowledge? Iba siya dun sa ia-apply mo talaga kung ano yung negosyo,”
“Na-instill ko sa sarili ko na I have to push this kasi sayang rin naman yung nasimulan (na) eh. Unti-unti, nakilala na siya ng mga tao. Naisip ko, although kilala na siya ng iba, don’t stop introducing your business pa rin talaga dito sa locals,” and said that as of the moment, The Batter Concept is really blooming well.
Bakes After Bakes
Despite the triumphs, Water was also transparent with the succeeding sacrifices that he gave in establishing the business. Unlike any other businesses, financial success is always paid by one’s time. Upon being asked about elaborating his sacrifices, he told two things: time and financial aspects.
“Unang-una, syempre, yung time. Financial, hindi naman masyado kasi pinapaikot naman ang pera (dito),”
“Syempre pag may naipon, investment, bili ka ng equipment, tapos wala ka na naman uling savings, so ipon ka ulit. Ganun lang, hindi talaga tumitigil na mag-expand,” he said as he also shared what was his starting capital.
“Nagsimula ako, ang bangko ko nun 10,000. Pambili ng ingredients, packaging, pero ang packaging ko lang nun is tupperware, lahat tipid,”
“Ang electricity, hindi naman kasi sa bahay naman, yun na yung tulong talaga nila (parents). As a home-based business, yung support talaga ng family is yung kung ano lang rin yung nasa bahay, pwede mong gamitin for free,” expressing his gratitude to his parents who supported him through utilities, which he considers a big save.
Recalling the previous hit of Typhoon Odette, he said that it broke his heart to cancel orders, doing it to refrain from having excessive orders that cannot be catered due to the loss of signal and electricity. However, having a lot of slots during Christmas, he managed to get back up during New Year, wherein he started to bake again and was able to deliver everything.
Sharing that he was the sole manager and everything else in The Batter Concept, during that time of holidays, he started to hire assistants to help him with packaging and dishwashing, to lighten his load.
In the first days of business, aside from starting with selling brownies, Water added creampuffs to his menu.
“Yung creampuff kasi, dati, parang walang nagbebenta dito. Tapos favorite ko talaga siya. Sa Manila, kumakain ako nun, tapos namiss ko lang din talaga yung lasa, so tinry ko ring siyang gawin,” said Water and articulated about how creampuff took toll in trials and errors due to multiple repetitions just to attain his preferred liking.
“Next nung creampuff, nag-cheesecake ako. Madali lang siya gawin, pero matagal. Matagal ang baking time niya. Cheesecake cupcakes, nag-try ako nun. Pa-tatlo tatlo. Yun na, nagsimula na ako sa cakes,” he said.
Now famous for his cakes, Water talked about creating an Oreo cake for his brother’s birthday then. Afterwards, he learned how to assemble the cake itself, to design, but did not plan on studying how to do calligraphy on cakes, saying that he wants to instill in his market that he is not for customized cakes, but more on imposing a superior taste and uniqueness of products.
“Kapag unique ka, yun yung tatangkilikin ng tao. Kapag nalaman nila na ‘uy, ang sarap, wala pang ganito dito sa Palawan,’ you’re the first one na gumawa ng ganito dito,” edi ang sarap pakinggan,”
“Ang disadvantage lang is iba kasi yung market ko, hindi siya pang-masa,”
“Ako, made-to-order, syempre hindi ako pupwedeng gumawa ng marami agad kasi baka di naman mabili, pero minsan gumagawa akong tatlo tatlo, nauubos rin naman,” said Water and imparted that his cake base is usually meringue, just like what he is using on his Mango Dacquoise.
Being vocal about not being able to cater everyone’s preference, his mission stands to provide unique taste and quality pastries. He also said that aside from having a one-man power for TBC, he is also the sole manager for The Batter Concept’s Facebook page. Sometimes, he posts that he is fully-booked, due to the overflowing bookings. Also, he wants to maintain the quality of his business by not accepting more orders than what he can only do for a day or so.
“Kunyare nung December, 100 slots lang, ang dami ko pa ring nareject. Yung iba, gusto ng same-day order, akala siguro laging may ready-made, kaya narereject ko sila. Ang dami kong narereject, pero bad yun sa negosyo,” Water stated. The continuous flow of orders drives him to finally form a team for TBC, but for the meantime, he first invested in bigger equipment, to be able to bake goods in one time.
“Financially speaking, ang pinakang-struggle ko lang talaga is yung cash talaga kasi sariling labas. May times talaga na sobrang wala ka, pero kumpleto ka sa gamit, sa ingredients, talagang pagsikapan talagang i-work ulit, i-continue ulit,” he said, sharing that he recently bought a bigger oven and a mixer.
The Outcome
Upon being asked if he already sees himself successful in his craft, Water said that his initial definition of being successful is to finally have a physical shop for TBC, but having a shop for him is one of his future plans, yet.
“Successful na rin ako in a way na kumikita ako, yun na. Yun yung definition ko of success, pero gusto ko pa siyang, to the extent, yung masasabi ko talaga siyang truly successful,”
“Yung dream ko to be much more successful yung branding is to have a shop, restaurant, a cafe na profitable, hindi lang liquid by event, talagang kumikita talaga, yun yung success,”
“Sooner or later, magkaroon ng ibang branches, normal business success. Makilala sa buong Pilipinas, hindi lang sa buong Palawan,” he said. Nevertheless, he holds on to the fact that his growing business helps out in finances, making his load lighter, and that he is glad that through its growing success, he is able to expand because of the patronization of the people.
“Best way talaga is yung kinikita mo, ibuhos mo rin ulit sa negosyo mo. Mag-isip ka ulit kung paano mo kikitain yun,”
Having his goal to build a physical shop for his business, he also aims to have another big house that could cater more of TBC’s orders.
The Triumph and All Else That’s Bound to Come
At the age of 21, Water has put up a business that is all from scratch, all made possible by his efforts. Nevertheless, his transparent triumph from starting a business, one of the firsts since the pandemic, Water also expressed his times of self-doubts during nights of burnouts and all else that he thought might have led him to stop.
“I wouldn’t say that I am contented with what I have achieved, but I am grateful enough na ganito yung plan sakin ni Lord. I am grateful for these things na talagang binebless Niya ako, na hindi ko masasabing lugi or talagang nasa downside,”
He continues to share that all the trials that he is facing, he urges his mind to accept that everything is likely to experience loss and downfall during times of success, and said that what motivates him is himself, to change his mindset every time he encounters conflict, to change his angle into what is positive, that quitting won’t get him anywhere.
“I am grateful and proud of myself. Thus we all live on our own pace and I know God has a plan for me, as keeping the faith and by trusting him always, can help me live with purpose and lead me on the right path.”
