5 Business Ideas to Start This -Ber Month

The holiday season is not just for celebrations but also a great time to earn some cash. There are plenty business ideas you can start with zero to low starting capital and even at the comfort of your own home. Here are 5 business ideas to start and make money from this -ber month in the Philippines. 

1. Puto Bumbong and Bibingka Business

Both Puto Bumbong and Bibingka are staple snack during the holidays season especially those who attend the Simbang Gabi. This can be a good opportunity for to make extra money by starting a puto bumbong and bibingka stall on a place close to church. You might need a starting capital of 3,000 to 5,000 pesos depending on the quantity you plan to sell. Puto Bumbong and Bibingka both sells around 25-50pesos per serving. Most prefer to sell puto-bumbong and bibingka during the holiday season till month of January while others sell whole year round.

Below are recipe ideas I found at pinoyraket.blogspot.com:

PUTO BUMBONG #1

Ingredients

- Five (5) kilograms of glutinous rice

- One (1) cup ordinary rice

- One (1) tablespoon of food coloring (Lilac)

- One (1) kilo of freshly grated matured coconut

- Margarine

- Sugar

Procedure:

• Mix glutinous rice, ordinary rice and food coloring. Soak in water for four hours. Slowly grind using a stone grinder or manual grinder. Be sure not to put too much water in while grinding, this will delay drying of milled ingredients. Too much water will cause the mixture to be sticky. Put milled ingredients onto cotton cloth. Tie corners of the cloth. Let it drip. When the mixture is almost dried, press it using a heavy object to remove excess water. Let stand overnight.
• Remove the milled ingredients from the cloth. Place it on finely woven cotton cloth. Mix and crush the milled ingredients using your hand until the finest particles pass through the cotton and fall into a container. Collect the particles.
• Boil water using the steamer. Cover it with custom-made-cover with nozzles big enough to fit bamboo tubes or metal cylinders. Cover the nozzles with cotton cloth.
• Grease cylinders with margarine then half-fill cylinders with milled ingredients. Cover the other end of the cylinder with cotton cloth. Fit the opposite end into the nozzle. Steam will come out of the cylinder when it is cooked. Before removing Puto Bumbong from the cylinder, invert position to ensure proper cooking.
• To remove Puto bumbong from the cylinder, hold it in a vertical position and gently tap it out over a plate.
• Put sugar and freshly grated coconut as toppings. Best when served hot with ginger tea.

PUTO BUMBONG #2

Ingredients:

1 cup malagkit (glutinous) rice

6 tablespoon of pirurutong (black rice)

4 cups of water

Mature coconut, shredded

Margarine

Sugar

Instructions:

• Wash the malagkit and pirurutong, then soak in water for 3-4 hours.
• Then grind the rice. Let it dry on a strainer.
• Soak the bumbong/(Slender Bamboo) in oil and scatter with shredded mature coconut. Fill � of the bumbong with the grind rice and put it on a steamer. Let it cook.
• Then remove the puto on the bumbong, apply margarine, coconut and sugar. Serve.

Photo from kimpossiblegorgeous.com

PUTO BUMBONG #3

Ingredients

- 1 Kilogram malagkit (glutinous) rice, mixed with

- 125 grams ordinary rice

- 1 pc mature coconut, shredded

- butter or margarine

- violet food coloring

- banana leaves

- water

- salt

- sugar

* Soak malagkit and ordinary rice mixture in salted water with violet food coloring for 1 hour.

* Let dry overnight by putting inside a flour sack.

* Put something heavy on top to squeeze out water.

* Mixture is ready for cooking the following morning.

* Heat steamer (lansungan) with enough water.

* Put a small amount of rice mixture inside bamboo tubes(bumbong).

* Attached bamboo tubes to lansungan or steamer.

* When steam comes out of bamboo tubes, remove and immediately push out puto bumbong.

* Top with coconut shred and sugar before serving.

BIBINGKA (Coconut rice desert)

Ingredients:

- 2 1/2 lb (5 1/2 cups)mochi rice

- 1 can (12 oz) frozen coconut milk, thawed

- 1 pkg (1 lb.)dark brown sugar

- bananna leaves

Procedure:

• Rinse rice and cook in rice cooker. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk and 1 1/4 cups of the brown sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 20 minutes. Wilt banana leaves over low heat on electric stove; line a 13 X 9 X 2 inch baking pan. Preheat electric oven to 350 degrees F. Put cooked rice into a large bowl. Reserving 1/2 cup of the coconut milk mixture, stir remainder and remaining brown sugar evenly into the hot rice. Put into prepared pan. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup coconut milk mixture. Bake for 20 minutes, then broil for five minutes to set topping. Cut into small pieces. Makes 45 servings.

2. Christmas Bazaar (RTW, accessories, cosmetics, etc.) 

A ton of bazaar will surely pop up now that the -ber month season has begun. If you want a quick extra cash then join a bazaar to sell any ready-to-wear items, accessories, cosmetics and other products. People love to shop during the Christmas season and with a small capital you can easily get the return of your investment through price mark up.  

How to sell on Christmas Bazaar?

• First, decide on what you want to sell. Look for what's trendy this season and what you think your friends and family will like. 
• Next, come up with supplies. It is important to have your items to be sold already available before you even sign up as exhibitor in a bazaar.
• Then, research on bazaar near your area. Most common bazaars during holidays in the Philippines are Noel Bazaar, Manila Sundance Bazaar and/or Trendsetters Bazaarr. Visit their FB Page or Instagram site for contact info. You directly ask for information on how to reserve a spot on their bazaar. Bazaar Exhibitor fee range from 2,500 to 5,000pesos daily depending on location.
• Your post-holiday to list includes creating your own instagram shop/FB page to continue selling your item of choice even though the Christmas season is already over.

Photo from manilabazaars.com

3. Baked Holiday-themed Cakes and Pastries 

Another great extra income idea is selling holiday-themed cakes, pastries and goodies to your friends, family and workmates. People love pretty things and you'll surely get a lot of customers who would either buy your product as a gift or just want to eat. Common starting capital you need is below 5,000pesos and you can market your products .

Here's a list of Holiday-themed Baked Ideas You Can Sell:

• Fruit Cake 
• Chocolate Lollipops
• Donut Pop
• Graham Balls and other variants
• Leche Flan
• Ube Halayan
• Holiday Cakes
• Cake in a Jar

4. Fruit Stand

Another good extra income idea is starting a fruit stand on your neighborhood. People love fruits and will look for different fruits during the big holiday feasts. As long as you have a good location you can earn a lot by having a fruit stand business. Below are extensions of your fruit stand business that you can also try:

• Fruit shake (with the ever chnaging weather this can still be profitable)
• Buko stand (ideal in making buko salad)
• Fruit Punch (people will also love some refreshing drinks)

5. Mini Christmas Gift Store/ Toy Store 

This business idea is well recommended for those who have good location. Go to a Divisoria and scout some ideal gift items and toys you can sell for higher price. Items like cute mugs, teddy bears, board games, printed t-shirts are very in gift ideas for school Christmas party. You can even give free gift wrap for every purchase as a form of marketing. Toys on the other hand are best sold to kids during the Christmas week. 

Final Notes from SavingsPinay

Personally I'd love to start a mini Christmas gift store/toy store on our area. My parent's store location is along the highway so I feel like it would be a very profitable business. I am trying to declutter and sell some of my clothes to generate extra income and put it on my emergency fund. The -ber months is a good opportunity to earn and to learn. Practice your business skills and who knows this could be the calling you've been waiting for.

Do you have any additional business idea?

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