For coffee entrepreneur Anna Magalona-Go, to brew a successful café business, one doesn’t need to have it all, but three key things: Goal, vision, and hard work.
Known for starting her initially online-only café But First, Coffee with only P6,000 seed money, Magalona-Go is a fan of starting small. “You can start very simple. You don’t need to have it all,” she said, speaking before hundreds of entrepreneurs and business owners at SME Day Manila, organized by PLDT Enterprise through its micro, small and medium business unit (PLDT SME).
“It’s not about reaping overnight success. It’s about not letting yourself be hindered by challenges and surpassing them so that your business will grow and thrive,” said Magalona, who founded But First, Coffee during the pandemic. “Don’t get easily affected by challenges, as they are part of life. No one succeeds without these challenges and the lessons that we can learn from them.”
Magalona also underscored the importance of nurturing community and generosity in growing any business. “Part of scaling your business without increasing your cost is building your community. I’m a very generous business owner, and I tend to give back to my customers, to my community, through promos, giveaways, and other activities.”
She cited as an example her experience with a customer early on in her café’s journey. “At the time, I was offering free delivery, but only in Makati. We had a customer then who was in Quezon City, so I told her the delivery fee would probably be expensive. But I offered to pay half of the delivery fee, just so she could try out our coffee. She ended up liking it, and months after, she became our franchisee,” she shared.
From being an online café during the pandemic, her business has fully blossomed into one with physical stores and franchises today. Magalona attributes it to kindness: “Being kind goes a long way. It’s not always about price wars. It’s about the quality, the service and the way you give back to your community.”
Boosting Filipino SMEs with SME Day
Through gatherings such as SME Day Manila, PLDT Enterprise provides small and medium enterprises a venue to learn from each other, exchange best practices, and listen to expert advice on how to harness technology to level up Filipino businesses in today’s digital-first economy.
In addition to the panel, participants also learned more about future-ready wireless solutions, resilient connectivity, cybersecurity, digital transformation, and sustainable business growth through experts from PLDT Enterprise, ePLDT, Vitro and TikTok, with key sessions highlighting 5G-driven opportunities, the critical role of fixed broadband in business resilience, and the importance of cybersecurity for modern enterprises, among other topics.
After its Pampanga and Manila editions, PLDT Enterprise is set to roll out SME Day in Davao and Iloilo. This initiative is aligned with PLDT Enterprise’s enduring commitment to empowering SMEs with the tools, technologies, and insights they need to innovate, adapt, and succeed in an increasingly digital business landscape.
