It’s no secret that Marvin Agustin started out doing odd jobs in the food industry—from mascot and waiter to cashier and cook—before entering show business and eventually becoming a successful restaurateur.

And Agustin cherishes this experience, as this allowed him to hone an important skill: his “entrepreneurial mindset.”

In RCBC Boz Sessions, a video series featuring Filipino entrepreneurs, Agustin—whose recent establishments include Sumo Sam, Secret Kitchen, COCHI “Feast Of Filipino Flavors” and Mr Monk “Handmade Dimsums & Chinese Roast”, among others—shared his “all around” exposure in all aspects of the restaurant business.

“Looking back, sa pagiging employee sa isang restaurant ako talaga nahasa and I was able to practice what they call ‘entrepreneurial mindset.’ Ang klase ng mindset na hindi lang pala basta sipag at tiyaga ang kakailanganin natin. To be more successful, kailangan ng matinding diskarte,” he said.

Make-or-break variable

Agustin learned early in this career that the simple formula “to make a healthy profit margin” in the food business is “Sales (benta) minus costs and expenses (gastos), equals profit margin (kita).”

While it may seem simple on paper, this formula served as the framework of how he manages his businesses and even his personal savings.

“I will never forget this lesson I learned from the wise people I worked with. Wala sa laki ng kita kundi sa laki at tamang pagtitipid para magkaroon ng sustainable savings,” the actor-entrepreneur said.

Agustin explained that the two highest expenses in a food business are the food cost and the labor cost. These two, he added, are the make-or-break variables of any food business.

Without considering these variables, many starting restaurateurs make the mistake of thinking an overflow of customers automatically means profit.

“Minsan parang ang daming tao sa restaurant natin, pero hindi pala na-meet yung sales target. Yung inventory, hindi nabantayan, either may mga nasira na ingredients or return orders na dahilan ng pagtaas ng food cost. Kung wala kayong na-set na numbers at inakala mo na agad na kapag maraming tao ay malaki ang kita, dyan nagiging problem ang negosyo,” he shared.

Implementing ideas

Agustin offers three tips on how beginning restaurant owners can properly balance their sales and expenses to earn profit: efficient use of workforce man hours, properly delegated duties, and clear operations process flow.

“And when these things are clear with you, align with your managers and other employees. Next important thing to do is to implement and monitor,” he added.

Agustin admits monitoring everything that encompasses expenses and sales—including rent, bills, payment for suppliers, among many others—can be daunting and tedious. For this, he suggests using tools specifically designed to help make monitoring and implementation easier.

One such tool is RCBC Boz, a banking app meant to help entrepreneurs manage their RCBC business accounts separately from their personal accounts. The app gives users instant access to all of Boz’s features—including an Invoice feature that helps entrepreneurs request payments from customers and an Expenses feature that can track outgoing transactions. RCBC Boz also has a Reports feature that can provide users an accurate summary of a business’ finances and overall performance in real time.

Agustin stressed that “you cannot monitor what you cannot measure.”

Agustin also said: “The key here is to properly tag your collections and expenses so that you can analyze your business trajectory. Lalong dadali ang pag manage ng cost if you monitor this well.”

Using tools that can monitor expenses and revenue properly will allow an entrepreneur to execute his business ideas properly. “At sabi nga ni Jeff Bezos, idea is only one percent and 99 percent is execution… Kaya dapat ma-execute ang mga magagandang plano at detalyadong gameplan mo para lumaki ang kita mo.”

Aspiring restaurateurs should not be scared if their plans are not yet 100 percent polished. “You can start implementing what you think can give a good impact then check if it’s working,” Agustin advised.

He added, “Sa mga SME owners na baka first time mag-run ng business, o kahit longtime business owners: don’t be afraid to take the next big step. Tools like the RCBC Boz App are here to help you make the next boss move.”

Manage your business with ease. Download the RCBC Boz app and sign up now.