INQUIRER Global Nation

Some people learn business in school. Others learn it at home. Luckily for Kingsley Ko, 24, he learned business from both places.

Ko set up the coffee shop Café Volere in April 2007 at North Road Plaza in barangay Basak, Mandaue City, Cebu.

Volere, in Italian, means “to want”.

Running the shop was part of a course requirement for business administration at the Center for International Education (CIE), where he’s enrolled.

His parents, Kingkee and Julie, who are engaged in rice and corn trading, supported their youngest son, helping put up the initial capital investment.

“When my professor told us that we need to have a business as part of PBL (project-based learning) course, I couldn’t decide what business to venture into,” he said.

While his classmates started to form teams, Ko chose to go solo.

The initial investment was P1.5 million, an amount he raised from personal savings and a loan from parents.

With the money, he renovated the 45-square-meter coffee shop and purchased his first inventory. The shop occupies a building owned by his family. Nevertheless, he had to pay the rent.

“We were raised and treated by our parents equally. We were not spoiled. We were told to handle our business well,” he said.

When he finally opened in April 2007, the first challenge was how to attract customers.

Since no other coffee shop was in the area, Ko said it was not long before a steady flow of loyal patrons would come for business meetings or a get-togethers with friends.

Since the coffee shop became a meeting point for people in the north, Ko said they decided to include cakes, pastries and short meal orders such as pasta in their menu.

His older sister, Katherine Cheng, who operates a bakery called Baker Bob, supplies the cakes and pastries.

“When I put up Café Volere, I also thought that it would complement my sister's business,” said Ko.

Plans are underway to open a combination of Baker Bob and Café Volere shops inside Rustan's in Ayala Center Cebu.

One year and six months in the running, Ko said he is still working hard to improve the business.

“We need to increase sales because if we don't generate enough sales, how else can we cover all the expenses? Overhead costs are high because prices of goods are increasing.”

He said he started to service corporate accounts and sell coffee by volume to address this problem.

Since people have long accepted that a cup of coffee can cost more than just the regular instant pack, Ko expects a “longer life span” of the business.

“People come here to sit down, discuss business or meet with friends. So it's not just the coffee that they come here for,” he added.

To cater to the needs of the business group, Café Volere is already a wi-fi (wireless fidelity) Internet zone.

While he admits that the business has not gained big profits the past 18 months of operation, Ko said he learned one important lesson from managing his own venture.

“I learned that it is not easy to look for money. The actual scenario is not always what you think would happen in the beginning,” shared Ko.

Ko said he is targeting two to three more years before he gets a return on investment.

Now that he has operated the business for a year, Ko is ready to defend Café Volere before a school panel.

Under the PBL course, the student's business should run for at least a year.

In an interview last year, CIE president and chief executive officer Nelia Cruz-Sarcol said the students' business ventures serve as their thesis and has to undergo a panel defense.

Sarcol said the course instills the value of entrepreneurship among students.

While his school taught him the basics, Ko said his parents taught him how to relate well to customers by talking to them and getting their opinions.

This is perhaps how he learned to speak from the heart and share with others what he feels about doing business at a young age.

“Don't open a business that is not according to your interest,” said Ko.

“Do something that you really want to do. If you do, you will have fun and the business will grow.”