PENAFLOR, MIKAELA C.

BSPT1B

Enterpreneur: JULIA GADIONCO

Founder, Julie’s Bake Shop
Nature of Business: Food Service/ Manufacturing
Based on their success story, for me, I believe that Julia Gadionco is a practical thinking
person with human relations skill, passionate drive, self-confidence, self-reliance, strong worth ethic,
goal oriented, innovative and value oriented. Practical in a sense that she thought of taking advantage
as she stays home and found a way for her to earn and help her husband in raising their children. She
has good human relations as no one could make a business expand without taking care of their
customers, as what she said: “Treat them right and they will surely comeback” her mind set helped her
be able to gain customer loyalty and made her business grow, passionate with helping her husband, she
became self- reliant and instil confidence in herself that she may be able to earn out of her little business.
As their business expanded, she remained goal oriented where she continues to envision how to improve
and make things bigger and even has plans on being a global brand, with such goal in mind, I can see
that she is a innovative person where she was able to improve selling bread into a industry that not only
helped her family but also gave opportunity to those who were given jobs. And of course she is a value
oriented person, as she learned to empower women by showing them that being a housewife would not
mean that you are incapable of earning but with creativity, goals, and faith in God, a person can always
make something ordinary into something extraordinary and excel in the path that they chose.
Like any other business venture, starting her own business was not easy. She had her share of
risks to face from the start which she faced fearlessly. Some of the risk she encountered were capability
risk, where she was not sure if she is capable of running such business because she was not familiar with
that type of business, she did not have enough knowledge nor capital. Economical risk, as a
businesswoman, it is already understood that entering into a business venture is difficult specially if we
are uncertain if our business will be marketable with the community, thus income is not really stable,
which if left unbalanced might be able to cause bankruptcy or closure.
But with the great risk she chose to take, it turned out to be a successful venture. She was
indeed blessed to have her business grow from one branch to another and into 500 stores nationwide.
She was rewarded with good income, she was able to give a more comfortable life to her family,
employment opportunities to others. Not only did she gain profit, be she was also able to succeed in her
life. Indeed that with great risk, there is always a chance for greater success.
 This Filipina Mom Just Started Her Bakery From A Small Town—Now It's Operating All Over The
PH

(My) first bakeshop opened on January 6, 1981, a day for gift-giving. I asked God to give me
this, to make it work to make it succeed. I asked God for only one, but He gave me more than I
ever dreamed of.”
Julia Gandionco never expected to be able to build a corporation. She just for wanted to help
her husband with their expenses.

Julie’s Bakery started its brand from a small town in Mandaue City, Cebu. Now, it is a household
name that runs more than 500 stores all over the Philippines.
Before the success of Julie’s Bakery, Julia worked as a canteen concessionaire in a large factory
in Cebu. It was a huge company that caters to thousands of employees.

The number of bread she served in the canteen needed to be enough for a big crowd.
So in order to keep up with her daily bread distribution, she had to farm out her daily orders to
small bakeries.

Joseph Gandionco—her son, and CEO of Julie’s Franchise Corp.—shared how he was there since
the start of their business.

“From day one, I was there helping. I was the one available at that time. The older ones were all
working, the younger ones were studying. During that time, I just graduated.”

Then, one of the bakers of the bakeries Julia sells to asked her to open her own business and
get him as an employee.

This idea led to her first bakeshop in Wireless, Mandaue, Cebu.

With Julie’s offerings of hot bread every hour and a wide variety of quality products, her first
bakeshop was a hit to the Filipino masses.

Soon, her second store opened, then followed by a number of branches around Cebu.

In 1988, the first Julie’s Bake Shop outside of Cebu opened in Iloilo City..

Their company is said to be the one that revolutionized the baking industry in Cebu.

This revolution came from their idea of providing training and uniforms to their staff and
showing customers the process of how their products are made.

“Our core competency was a clean environment bakeshop. At the same time, you can see the
production from the customers’ side. It has to be clean because they are in full view of the
customer.”

In 1998, Julie’s registered Julie’s Franchise Corporation (JFC) with the Securities and Exchange
Commission to provide Franchise Management Support.

Roberto Gandionco, the eldest, then stepped in to run the business until March 2010 when
Joseph assumed the top position.

From then on, the company became known, garnering awards and recognition.

Sources: https://vulcanpost.com/629555/this-filipina-just-wanted-her-bakeshop-to-be-a-
success-now-its-operating-more-than-500-stores-all-over-the-ph/
 A mother’s touch proves to be a winning advantage

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 09:32 PM May 16, 2013

Entrepreneurs who have a motherly touch have proven to be successful. Take the case of National
Bookstore founder Socorro Ramos who continues to be an inspiration not to only to her family but
to her other ‘family,’ the people working in the iconic bookstore.

Cebu City, the Queen City of the South, also has a counterpart to Nanay Coring in the person of
Julie Gandionco, the founder of Julie’s Bakeshop. Being a mother for all seasons, Gandionco, 81,
also fondly called Tita Julie by her relatives and employees as well, brings her motherly touch to
the Julie’s Bakeshop family because they are the partners to her success.

“Treat them well and your business will continue to grow,” says Gandionco.

Gandionco wasn’t born with the proverbial silver spoon. Being a mother, she was determined to
get out of the poverty trap to enable her children and family to have a brighter future. Just like any
determined mother, Gandionco bucked the odds of her challenging childhood and marginalized
economic background to become a bakery icon in the country

In her autobiography, Gandionco says the family encountered rough sailing in her married life. They
were living in a nipa hut in the center of a fishpond and she had to help her husband in raising the
children plus helping her siblings during the initial years of her marital life.

A real loving mother shows determination, love, passion and skill to turn things around for the
family. Gandionco initially ventured into selling fruits along General Maxilom Avenue in Cebu. After
retailing fruits, Gandionco explored other business options.

She applied as one of the concessionaries in Philcadan, a Mandaue City-based rattan factory. Lady
luck, so to speak was on her side, as she was accepted even without having a background in
business. Thus, her second enterprise was born with an initial capital of P3,000.

The canteen business grew to three handing the food requirements of more than a thousand
workers on a daily basis. Possessing very keen business acumen, Gandionco saw there was a huge
demand for bread for the workers in their daily breakfast and merienda, she decided to embark on
another business—the bakery business.

Investing her lifetime savings of P19, 000, Gandionco bought second-hand equipment for her
bakeshop. Gandionco also used guts to open Julie’s Bakeshop knowing that she does not have any
experience in the bakery business.

Even though without knowledge in the business, her husband Diego, a former salesman of Pepsi
Cola, was there to give her support

When she turned 50, Gandionco opened the first branch of Julie’s in January 1981 in Mandaue City
with less than five employees including Gandionco.
 At present, Julie’s Bakeshop is recognized as the biggest neighborhood bakeshop in the country
with more than 500 Julie’s Bakeshop branches operated by 130 franchisees.

In her book, Gandionco says poverty motivated her to overcome the challenges in life. “In a way, I
was poor. I was hungry, maybe not for food but for self-achievement. I thought there must be
something more I can do than just being a housewife. I was very determined to succeed, in
whatever came my way,” she said in her book.

Despite her success, Gandionco remains grounded and attached to her humble
beginnings. Gandionco and Julie’s Bakeshop are strong advocates of corporate philanthropy.

Feeding the marginalized and victims of natural disasters has become a main advocacy of Julie’s
Bakeshop. Aside from being a good corporate citizen, this action shows the unconditional love
given by Gandionco and Julie’s Bakeshop to people.

For all the milestones she has achieved, Gandionco epitomized that a mother can be a vital
instrument to inspire, motivate, dream and hope. Every morning, a buyer of Julie’s Bakeshop
products is reminded of the compassion and enthusiasm of Tita Julie.

Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/122377/a-mothers-touch-proves-to-be-a-winning-

advantage#ixzz6Dt9HcArX