Through thick and thin, especially during this pandemic, the business has depended on one of the country’s largest and most responsive universal banks for its various services and solutions.
Before Vicky and Joseph Mojica started Angel’s Burger, they were franchisees of another burger kiosk chain. Eventually, they thought of putting up their own burger business, which they named after their daughter Angel. From a single food kiosk in the late ’90s, Angel’s now has more than a thousand outlets all over the country. Through thick and thin, the Mojicas have depended from the start on BDO Unibank’s various banking services and solutions.
Facing challenges
Taking a leap of faith, they started the business in 1997. But their independent venture wasn’t an overnight success. By 1999, the business was struggling and their financial situation reached a point where even paying for their daughter’s tuition was a big challenge.
They received an offer from a friend who wanted to buy their business for P1 million. At the time, Angel’s Burger had 13 stores. Vicky admitted that they strongly considered the offer. But an unexpected opportunity came—a relative offered them a chance to work in the US as OFWs.
Their plan was to work together overseas so that they could earn enough money to save their business, pay off debts and start over. While working overseas, they received an unexpected windfall of $10,000. With this development, Vicky and Joseph decided to return immediately to the Philippines and go full-throttle on their business.
Now, Angel’s Burger is one of the most popular food kiosks in the country. It’s now run not only by the husband-and-wife tandem, but also by their now-grown children Cholo, Angel and Joma.
Finding the right banking partner
BDO Unibank has been providing support to Angel’s Burger since the start. Even before the venture was established, Vicky and Joseph had already been BDO clients since 1994, and the bank has proven to be a reliable partner through good times and tough times. As Angel’s Burger grew and evolved through the years, BDO kept on providing useful, relevant, and reliable banking services, particularly in the area of cash management.
“For example, BDO handles our payroll service. They set it up so that our employees could access their payroll anywhere, from any ATM. We appreciated this so much especially during the pandemic when people were having a hard time moving around. During this crisis period, kailangan talaga ng tao ang sweldo (people really need to access their salaries.) It’s safer for them to get their salaries through ATM rather than having to go to our office,” she said.
Cholo, who is now president of the company, added BDO’s Cash Management Services greatly helped them adapt to the new normal. Angel’s Burger is now using a BDO Corporate
Cash Deposit Machine (CCDM). Essentially, a CCDM is similar to an ATM as it electronically and remotely facilitates bank transactions. It’s a way for a business to deposit cash, say, from sales collection, anytime they want.
Once the BDO CCDM is in place at a secure location, a business no longer needs to go to a BDO branch to make a deposit—whatever deposit they make to the machine is credited to their account. It’s as good as having made the deposit at the bank itself.
“Nung simula, very reluctant pa nga ako. Sabi ko, is it really necessary? May cash pickup naman. Nung nagkaroon ng pandemic, doon ko na nakita yung advantage niya. Sobrang convenient! Anytime pwede ka mag-deposit sa sarili mong account habang nasa loob ka lang ng sarili mong kumpanya. Kaya ang galing nun, actually. Ang galing ng BDO doon,” he said. (I was reluctant at first. I didn’t think it was necessary considering we already have the cash pick-up. But this pandemic proved how advantageous it was. It was so convenient—being able to deposit anytime to your account while in the premises of your own company. This is a great product. BDO did well with this product.)
Online stock payment
The newest service that Angel’s Burger is enjoying from BDO is the franchise stock payment facility. Through the service, Angel’s Burger franchisees send their stock payments online through the BDO Online App.
“Sa Angel’s Burger, hindi naman lahat ng stores ay amin. Karamihan diyan, franchisees. Dati, yung mga stock payment nila are either cash payment sa office or bank deposit tapos magse-send sila ng deposit slip which is very tedious for them. When we availed of the BDO Online Bills Payment service, yung mga franchisees namin hindi na rin kailangan lumabas. Yung comfort na pwede mo siyang gawing online, malaking-malaking tulong sa amin yan,” Cholo added. (We don’t own all Angel’s Burger stores. Most of them are owned by franchisees. They used to pay their stock payments in cash in our office or via bank deposit but then they would still have to send us their deposit slip, which was very tedious for them. When we availed of the BDO Online Bills Payment service, our franchisees need not go out to pay us. They can just pay us online and that’s a very big help to us.)
Having known financial hardship themselves, the Mojicas always put people first—their customers, employees and business partners—when it comes to running the business.
Obviously, Angel’s Burger has a burger recipe and a business strategy that are both heaven-sent.
For more information on how BDO can help your business, go to http://bdo.com.ph/cashmanagement.
