Pera ni Juan

You might think that everybody is making polvoron and it's very common. But to tell you honestly, there are areas that the polvoron makers haven't tap yet. Just look at the picture shown here, it's a polvoron but it has the combination of chocolate and milk therefore making it different than the common milk polvoron.
Kids especially like chocolate so much. If you add chocolate to your polvoron, you have also tap an additional target market.... the young ones (ages 3-12 yrs old).

There are polvoron variants that you can create and start with, there are pinipig, cashew, pili, cookies and cream, coffee, strawberry and so many others. Be imaginative and explore your mind. Do a research on what other flavors you can add to your polvoron business. The more flavors you can make the better.
Remember that your polvoron business must have a "niche" where people will know and remember your product. Don't also forget to make your own brand name. Creating your own brand name is an integral part of your polvoron business success.

Start first with just a few variants.... 5-6 flavors is a nice number to start with. It will not confuse you but at the same time it will give choices to your customers. Then once you perfect your polvoron, create a brand name. Then comb divisoria and quiapo for the right packaging. Packaging is also important to catch the eye of the prospective customer. Once the customer see the nice packaging, you already 50% sure of closing the sale.
Make a mark-up of your product. Food should have a bigger margin than other business products. Then do you pricing. Make one for retail and one for wholesale.

Begin selling with your friends, neighbors, families and relatives. Why? Most likely they will buy your product because they know you already. Get their comments and negative reactions. Gather feedback on what you need to improve and develop.
Once you find a common ground on your product then you can go full blast on your marketing campaign.

There are a lot of ways of selling your polvoron. You can join trade fairs and bazaars. This is a perfect way to expose your items. Remember to give your customers your calling cards or place your contact numbers on your product label. If you do this, there is a possibility of the customers calling you. They can order your product in bulk, some will do dealership and sell to their areas (provinces), some will offer consignment on their spot and restaurants, and some can offer to export your merchandise to other countries. The possibilities are endless.

You can also target the malls. SM and Robinsons are the best mall to contact with. You can tap their supermarket and place a merchandiser to do your product introductory for you. Or you can get a kiosk inside the mall. The choice is all yours. Rent may be pricey but it's worth it because of the heavy foot traffic.

One more option is distribution to schools, hospitals, government institutions, small groceries and sari-sari stores, airports and seaports, bus terminals, hotels, church, villages, etc. You will need several aggressive sales representative to reach your sales to the maximum.

The internet is also one way of exposing your polvoron. Almost everybody is online nowadays and promoting your product on the net is not only cost-effective but it is also global. I said global because one guy in Japan might be able to see your website and decided to order from you. Now you are not selling only to the Philippines but to Japan as well.
You can contact me if you need me to help you in this category.

So before you start doing your polvoron, let me tell you a story of a couple who started with their polvoron business with just a capital of Php 1,000. They use their capital to buy ingredients and plastic packaging for the powdered milk candies. Their housemaids help them with the production and they started selling to relatives and friends. Once they started receiving volume orders they quit their daily jobs to give more attention to their new business.

Today they have more than 30 workers at home who help them out with their polvoron business. They sell an average of 1,200 24-piece packs worth Php 72,000 a day. And in a year they were able to gross Php 21 million.
They are also now in to export and is planning to reach neighboring countries in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, America and Europe.

Polvoron business looks small and diminutive but it can be a heavy weight type of business if you really dig into it. So go on, start making your polvoron today.