Online stores a viable venture

BUSINESS BITS
Carlo P. Mallo

Janice Ting says becoming an entrepreneur is the only way to find real success

Wanting to share her passion for entrepreneurship, Janice Ting started her online store, with her sister and a sister-in-law, dubbed as “Urban Living and Beyond”. The concept of the store is pretty simple: it sells goods to help urban dwellers save space and utilize every square meter of their house.

What makes her business different is that she is using her venture to achieve her other goal of encouraging employees to turn entrepreneurs.

“By starting small, people get to practice their entrepreneurial skills – from marketing to customer relations to inventory,” Ting said. “Right now, we are looking for people who want to be part of our business by becoming the seller or distributor in a particular building.”

The distributor, Ting said, will be the exclusive seller for a particular office building.

“The nice thing about this business is that it can be done after office hours and it does not really affect your work hours. One may have to sacrifice some hours at night checking on stocks or orders for the next day, but it is a very good training,” Ting said.

An employee of a multinational company, Ting believes that entrepreneurship is the only way one can truly find success.

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, it comes as no surprise that Ting has always been interested in entrepreneurship.

“Since I was a kid, I have always been an entrepreneur. From selling ice candy to selling yellow corn, I just knew that I am bound to be an entrepreneur even if I have taken a different path by entering the corporate world,” Ting said.

Prior to opening Urban Living and Beyond online, Ting was already involved in other buy and sell businesses, such as clothes in Bangkok and wares from China. “Actually I sell to my officemates [and because of that] my boss teases me that I have already sold everything possible at the office.

But of course, everything must be done after office hours,” Ting said. In 2009, when Bangkok came to a stand still due to political instability, Ting’s buy and sell business of clothes from Bangkok was affected.

It was then that Ting, with her sister and sister-in-law, decided to take a look at what China had to offer

A trip early this year showed the trio that there was so much space saving solutions available in China at very cheap prices.

“Some of the products are not even carried by the big stores here that we decided to pour in a big investment into this venture,” Ting said. “Just looking at the potential market, mostly condominium dwellers, there is a big potential for our business.” Ting said she and her business partners pooled P400,000 as their initial capital.

Launching the online store in Multiply just last month, Ting revealed that sales have been doing better than expected.

“There is still a huge potential for entrepreneurship here in the Philippines. Even if you start selling only in your office, the important thing is you have started and able to practice your entrepreneurial skills,” Ting said.