Microscoffee is a unique project and has medical laboratory concept

with the relaxing atmosphere of a study place. Microscoffee is meant to be

a perfect place for students to study – may it be in the morning with a cup
of coffee to start the day and set the mood, or for lunch break, to take one’s
mind off of business issues and have a relaxing half-hour respite, as well as
an ideal evening breather after a tough day in a pleasant and stress-free
environment. Microscoffee target clients can be quite broad – from students
to adult businessmen, or just anybody who appreciates coffee, frappe and
values comfort. Microscoffee is located at 42 J. Alcantara St., Barangay
Sambag 1, Cebu City. The shop opens at 7:00 AM – 12:00 AM.

Mr. Christian Gabatois the general manager of Microscoffee Coffee

Shop. As the manager, he believes that regular planning is essential for the
business to develop and create new innovative ideas. In Microscoffee, they
conduct monthly meetings every 1st week of the month and their usual
agenda is about their profit and loss, updating the menu through pooling
ideas on what are the trends in cafe menus as well doing evaluations on the
viability and market potential of certain food and beverages, conceptualizing
promos as a major part of their planning process for the next month and
other important discussions to be made in their business. Mr. Gabato
mentioned that they always try to update their menu because there are
some items in the menu which are slow moving that needs to be replaced
with an item that can be a potential bestselling item in the shop. The menu
should also be replaced with some new items for their customers to discover
and enjoy in their shop. The manager also mentioned that one of the factors
that urges them to update the menu is the trends in beverages. Updating
regularly also helps them have an edge or advantage against their
competitors. Another action that they make is also provide promos. During
lean hours, hours wherein there are no or less customers, they offer promos
that will surely entice customers to come instead, 20% discount, buy 1 get
1 or unlimited coffee are just some of their many enticements.
Microscoffee’s promos also include a partnership with CIT-U wherein
students are given 10% discount when they visit the shop. They also offer
promos during significant seasons, for instance, Christmas Season and
Summer Season.

The manager believes that all the Functional Areas (Marketing Plan,
Production Plan, Financial Plan and Human Resource Plan) is necessary
and all should be taken into consideration when planning for the business.
This allows the manager to see every month on what needs to be improved
in the business to provide quality products and services to their customers.
The manager is able grasp the courses of actions to make in order achieve
the goal of the business and planning using all functional areas also
minimizes the risks that the business may face. Mr. Gabato strongly affirms
that he uses all these functional areas when planning.

A business will not grow without the assistance of its employees.

Microscoffee values their employees that is why they train their employees
well so that they won’t face any problems with their customers, or if faced
with problems, the employees knows how to solve the problem without
being dependent on their manager. The shop established procedures,
policies and rules for their employees to be guided on how they will act when
they are working. For instance, if there is a rising conflict for the customer
service of the coffee shop, Mr. Gabriel emphasized the need to have a due
process and investigation before arriving into conclusions. He said that he
is going to look into the situation with a fair hand. The rules are not made
only for their benefit but also for the customer’s and shop’s benefit. There is
a consequence when they violate a rule, an example shared by Mr. Gabato
is tardiness wherein syncing or deduction in their salary takes place. Their
salary is deducted by Php 48 every minute they are late and this is the
reason why their employees always arrive before they are needed in the
shop. Mr. Gabato being the manager of the shop says that he also values
the opinions of the employees because he believes that the ideas of the
employees can also benefit the coffee shop.

During the duration of the interview, the manager gave emphasis on

why proper planning is important for the business. He says that planning is
the first step in triumphing the goals of the business and this
correspondingly allows growth to transpire. It is also important that
businesses plan ahead of time on their back-up plans in case the first plan
is ineffective, at least the business is prepared for whatever situation
happens. Mr. Gabato reminded us that change is constant it is critical that
the business is able adapt and adjust to changes so that it can survive for
a long time. The manager actually told us a summarized story of Nokia and
Kodak. He says that these companies are now not recognized as much as
they were recognized before because they weren’t able to adapt to the
changes, they weren’t prepared. Additionally, he utters a significant lesson
about life in general, that we shouldn’t stop from learning. We should be
open to correction and mistakes for it helps us to improve and learn from it.
Learning something every day is an investment in yourself. We become
better individuals as we learn something new. It is imperative for us to keep
in mind that “a day without learning is a day wasted.”
DOCUMENTATION:

"A Menu of the Microscoffee Coffee Shop"

"During the interview proper with Mr. Christian Gabato, general manager of
Microscoffee Coffee Shop"
"The researchers: Blessy Lapiña, Nur Eva Nakahimo and Patrick Sanchez in a photo-op
with Mr. Christian Gabato"