Financial Adviser: 5 Business Lessons Everyone Can Learn from 'Triple Cheese Donut Queen' Steffi Santana, Co-Founder of Lola Nena's

financial adviser: 5 business lessons everyone can learn from 'triple cheese donut queen' steffi santana, co-founder of lola nena's

Financial Adviser: 5 Business Lessons Everyone Can Learn from ‘Triple Cheese Donut Queen’ Steffi Santana, Co-Founder of Lola Nena’s

Steffi Santana grew up in San Francisco, California, where her family-owned Filipino restaurants. She moved back with her family to the Philippines after 10 years, with hopes of replicating their restaurant success but encountered failure within a year of their venture.

Despite feeling defeated, Santana decided to start fresh with a family recipe for pichi-pichi, a traditional Filipino dish made from cassava and sugar. She co-founded Lola Nena’s with her father, opening their first store with limited capital in a 30-square meter neighborhood food stall on Quezon Avenue.

Initially offering pichi-pichi, Santana noticed a growing demand from customers for more diverse offerings. As a result, she expanded their menu to include a variety of panaderia items. This strategic expansion led to a significant increase in daily sales, catapulting Lola Nena’s into prominence in the local bakery scene.

Like many businesses, Lola Nena faced challenges during the pandemic. It was during this period that Santana saw an opportunity to innovate and adapt. During the lockdown, she explored the use of digital marketing to promote their products, notably the Cheese Donut, which quickly gained online traction. The success of Santana’s marketing efforts propelled Lola Nena’s to new heights, leading her to double their outlets in 2021, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Today, Lola Nena’s stands as an example of entrepreneurial success, with 28 outlets across the country in just 11 years. Santana’s vision, coupled with her relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation, has transformed Lola Nena’s into one of the most beloved bakery brands in the Philippines.

Santana’s journey from managing a small Filipino restaurant to building a thriving bakery empire is a testament to the power of passion, perseverance, and innovation. Through adversity and challenges, she remained unwavering in her commitment to delivering quality products and exceptional customer experiences.

How did Santana overcome the initial challenges of Lola Nena’s and transform it into one of the fastest-growing bakery brands in the country? Furthermore, how did Santana’s resilience and determination contribute to the success of Lola Nena’s entrepreneurial journey?

Here are the five business lessons every entrepreneur can learn from Steffi Santana, co-founder of Lola Nena’s.

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1| Know how to learn from failures and move forward

Learning from failures builds resilience and strengthens one’s ability to face adversity with confidence and determination. Each failure offers valuable lessons and insights that cannot be gained from success alone.

Failure encourages entrepreneurs to explore new approaches, think creatively, and adapt strategies to changing circumstances. Embracing failure as a natural part of the learning process enables entrepreneurs to overcome it and become more willing to take calculated risks and explore new opportunities.

Santana learned lessons from failure by reflecting on the closure of their restaurant in Ever Gotesco. The closure led to a period of introspection, where the entrepreneur recognized the accountability associated with managing a business.

The failure prompted her to analyze possible reasons such as market suitability, location, and operational aspects. Her experience served as a profound learning opportunity, highlighting the mistakes made and the need for strategic planning.

As a result, the closure of their first restaurant prompted Santana to adopt a more cautious and informed approach to business, emphasizing the importance of starting up a business more conservatively to ensure success.

“I grew up with my family in the States, in the San Francisco Bay area,” she says. “During my childhood, my parents had two Filipino restaurants in the Bay Area, so lumaki ako na nagtatrabaho sa restaurant. I waitressed, bussed tables, worked at reception, nagluluto ako sa kitchen. All my life exposed ako sa food.

“After 10 years, my dad said, ‘Okay balik na tayo Philippines. Let’s move back and figure it out.’ When we moved here, my parents sold the restaurants na and my entire family moved here to work and retire here.

“My dad and I opened a restaurant in Ever Gotesco which had the same concept as our restaurant in the States in 2011,  pero within one year lang, nagsarado na yung restaurant. When it closed down, we were kind of like, ‘Okay, what did we learn from this?’

“Siguro naisip namin, ‘Oh, we know how to do it na. We’ve done it in the States. Maybe it’s the wrong market. Maybe the wrong location. Maybe something about that restaurant just didn’t work out, and I was only like 22 years old at that time and I felt really defeated because, it was the very first thing that I was actually really part of conceptualizing and executing and managing a new restaurant

“When it failed, I felt really bad. Feeling ko ang daming kong mistakes, and I learned a lot. I remember when it closed down, I was like nagkulong lang ako sa room for a few months. It was the first failure that I’ve ever experienced. It was the first time that I was actually accountable for something so big that cost a lot of money.

“After that experience, we planned again to open another business. Meron kaming pichi-pichi recipe from our family and we knew that this pichi-pichi recipe was really, really good, and it was something that we wanted to sell, so naisip namin, ‘Okay we want to sell this pichi-pichi, pero gusto natin low overhead lang kasi we learned last time na hindi muna tayo mag mo-mall. We felt like ang daming nagastos sa mall. There’re so many fees and it costs really a lot to open in a mall as compared to outside.

“So much capital got lost from closing that first restaurant and so we’re like, we’re   going to be really smart when we open this new venture the following year in 2012. Siguro yung puhunan namin on our first Lola Nena’s was less than P100,000. Quezon Avenue was our very first branch. We were like, ‘Okay, small store lang, let’s be smarter para kahit na magsarado ito, hindi magiging masakit.’ We only had one employee when we started. We were doing everything, so everything was really bootstrap. Because our overhead was so low, we were making money.”

2| Know how to create a compelling brand story

In a competitive market, having a unique brand story sets companies apart. A well-crafted narrative can highlight what makes a brand special and differentiates it from others in the same industry.

Stories have the power to evoke emotions and create connections with the audience. By incorporating narratives into branding, companies can resonate with customers on a deeper level, fostering loyalty and trust.

Santana created a brand with a story by drawing inspiration from their family history and values. She wanted the store to evoke feelings of nostalgia and warmth, reflecting the traditional Filipino food they served.

Naming the store “Lola Nena” after her great-grandmother, who played a significant role in teaching the family how to cook, added a personal touch to the brand. The name also resonated with Filipino culture and sounded catchy.

As the business expanded, they recognized the need to diversify their offerings and introduce new products. Collaborating with their mother, who was a chef, Santana developed a bakery line, transforming Lola Nena’s into a semi-bakery or corner panaderya. This strategic expansion not only differentiated Lola Nena’s from other stores but also attracted more customers.

“When we opened the store, it was pichi-pichi lang,” she says. “It’s cassava mixed with sugar and then it’s steamed. We didn’t have a name for the store at first. We were thinking, ‘Okay, we have a product but we don’t have a name. We don’t have a brand. What are we going to call it?’

“So we were thinking about the kind of brand attributes that we wanted. We wanted the place na parang nostalgic kasi it’s such a traditional food item sa Philippines. We wanted nostalgic, we wanted something comforting. We wanted the feeling of like, people can come in and they feel warmth and care and love, and then we were like, ‘Oh, why don’t we call it Lola Nena’s?’

“Lola Nena is actually my dad’s grandmother, and she’s the one who taught all of us how to cook and eat. She is my great grandmother. She passed away when I was young, so she never got to know that this store exists.

“We use the name Lola Nena kasi because of her personality. She taught all of us how to cook and eat. She taught my dad how to eat, and how to cook. She even taught my mom how to cook and parang sya yung matriarch figure in our family. The name also is very catchy. It’s very Filipino because my Lola’s name is Baby. Maybe Lola Baby is not so bagay with the brand.

“And so we had this really good pichi-pichi recipe, and as we were opening a few stores and closing a few, we realized, ‘May kulang dito, kasi nagbubukas tayo ng tindahan pichi-pichi lang binebenta natin?’ That was three years later, we thought, ‘We need more products kasi we’re opening more stores and while people like our pichi-pichi, they often ask, ‘Meron pa bang ibang mabibili dito? And we didn’t have anything else.’

“And so we asked our mom who came back to the Philippines a little bit later kasi she was still working in our restaurant before in the US. She’s a chef, and so when she came back, we were like, ‘Can you help us create another product line for Lola Nena’s? My mom made an entire bakery line so naging semi-bakery na si Lola Nena’s as in parang corner panaderya. Parang when we added the panaderya, naging completely different brand na ulit sya. We were getting compared na to Julie’s and other bakeshops.

“My mom felt like the panaderya was bagay sa brand and because our current stores at that time were outside, maraming foot traffic, we were just thinking, ‘Oh this type of food is bagay to the people na nandon, to the market that’s already there with our existing stores. We really didn’t know if it was going to work or not? We had no idea.

“We had pandesal, Pan de Coco, Spanish bread, the typical items that you see in a panaderya and we switched to 24 hours. We completely rebranded the brand into a panaderya. We bought ovens. We bought mixers. We trained people to do the baking. We just assumed that maybe people will like our products. Gawa tayo. The strategy was let’s put new products in. If it works, it works and if it’s not, let’s try something else.

“Later on, bigla na lang kami nagkaron ng main product that people started buying from us, which was the siopao tostado. We were like, ‘Oh, tumataas yung sales natin, just by adding this bakery line.’”

3| Know how to adapt and pivot through crisis

In today’s dynamic and rapidly changing world, unforeseen events like economic downturns, pandemics, or technological disruptions can significantly impact businesses and livelihoods.

By embracing adaptability and innovation, entrepreneurs can effectively respond to changing circumstances and identify new opportunities. It also enables them to stay resilient and remain competitive in the face of adversity.

Despite the fear and uncertainty surrounding the COVID pandemic in 2020, Santana chose to keep their stores open, recognizing their responsibility to their staff. Her decision to embrace online platforms and focus on social media during the lockdown proved pivotal.

By leveraging online visibility and responding to customer feedback, Santana introduced new products like the triple cheese donuts, which became a hit and contributed to their brand’s success. The tremendous success of Lola Nena’s during the pandemic encouraged Santana to open new branches despite the challenges

“Most people think that Lola Nena’s just opened a few years ago, which is how I felt then, parang I feel like it’s a three-year old company, but it’s actually an 11-year old company na. From 2012 to 2020, we grew a few branches and we had 60 employees.

“At that time, we were opening and closing branches, but we were still learning. At some point, we had nine branches tapos naging six, tapos naging seven. We were opening and closing and figuring out what works, what location works, what people liked, what people wanted to see. Wala pa kami nun sa mall. Lahat nasa labas lang.

“And I think right before the pandemic, we had only six or seven branches. When the pandemic happened, all of us were scared kasi we didn’t know what was going to happen. What is this disease? Are we all going to die? We were very, very scared, but my dad said, ‘We can’t be scared. We need to stay open because hindi natin alam ano ipapakain natin sa staff natin. Sixty people are counting on us, and if we close, wala tayong pansweldo sa kanila’. So it was really like, ‘OK, let’s not be scared. Let’s stay open.’ So everybody closed, kami lang yung bukas.

“At that time, yung nag-lock down, we were lucky that we were on boarded with the food delivery app kasi dun sa food delivery app kami lang yung bukas and the people had a chance to see us for the first time, so imagine mo nobody knew about us, but since we were online, we were open.

“One of the few restaurants that was open for the first time and people had no choice but to order from us, kasi everyone’s at home, right? Everyone was at home, wala silang ginagawa, takot silang lumabas so the only way to get food was either to go to the grocery. Everyone was wearing gloves and naka mask pagpupunta sa grocery. At that time, kami lang yung nasa Grab and maybe a few like two other restaurants.

“We got our break from the pandemic because we had the chance to be seen, and then our food started going viral online. During the pandemic, nasa bahay lang kasi ako nun. I’m an operations person, so I’m in the stores. I’m running them, making things more efficient. I’m making sure that we have standard operating procedures in place, but since I was at home and I wasn’t able to go to the stores, I put all my energy into studying social media.

“It was only during that time, in 2020, that I focused on social media. Before 2020, we did not exist online. Lola Nena’s did not have an online presence. Our marketing strategy at that time was having a signage and flyers, which was super old school. No one knew about us online, so no one knew about us. So in 2020, I really went all in. I really studied social media and that’s when we started going viral.

“We started going viral on Facebook and then one regular guy posted on a food Facebook page called “What’s Your Ulam Pare?” He posted our classic doughnuts and he was like ‘Na-try nyo na ba ‘tong cheesy doughnuts from Lola Nena’s?’ Nobody knew our brand talaga but it went viral. That was around April 2020 and at that time, we started getting an influx of orders through phone calls, Viber, Facebook and we didn’t have the infrastructure to take all the orders.

“I was literally calling my neighbors. ‘Pwede ba kayong pumunta dito?’ Tinawag namin yung mga kapitbahay, whoever was not doing anything, can you come in and help us to take orders? We were taking orders from our small attic in our house. During that time, people would call and reserve, so kung ikaw ang customer and you want to order from us, I would say, ‘Okay, I can give you donuts, three weeks from now’ and people would still buy. We were sold out for three weeks.

“When that happened, we also started getting a little bit of bad feedback online. People were saying, ‘O, yung cheese doughnuts ang konti ng laman na cheese.’ This is the classic donut, so namomoblema kami sa bahay like, people were getting mad. Ang dami naming orders. People were ordering way in advance pero konti lang talaga kasi yung cheese sa classic donuts to begin with and people were expecting to receive very, very cheesy donuts.

“So we were like, ‘Okay, what do we do? O, let’s just make triple cheese donuts,’ and that’s how the triple cheese donuts were born from the feedback of the people. Because we were the ones talking to people, we said, ‘Bakit hindi na lang natin ibigay sa kanila yung gusto nila, which is more cheese? So yun ang nangyari. Parang because of the customer’s feedback, we got to have this product, which became our number one product.

“Imagine March 2020, was the lockdown then we went super viral April, May, and then June we got the triple cheese donuts. After June, we opened two branches. Sa kasagsagan ng pandemic, we were opening stores. The year after that, we opened 10 more branches

“That’s what was going on during the crazy times of the pandemic. It was like the busiest time ever for the brand. It took us eight years to prepare for this break that we got in 2020.”

4| Know how to build a culture of accountability and transparency

Transparent communication encourages open dialogue and collaboration among team members. It holds individuals and teams accountable for their actions and responsibilities. When expectations and objectives are clear, employees are more likely to take ownership of their work and strive for excellence.

A transparent culture encourages a growth mindset and a willingness to learn from both successes and failures. When mistakes occur, they are viewed as opportunities for improvement rather than reasons for blame. By openly discussing lessons learned and areas for improvement, organizations can continuously evolve and adapt to changing circumstances.

Santana values learning and encourages a culture of continuous improvement within the organization. She recognizes that handling people is a significant challenge and emphasizes the importance of understanding intrinsic motivations beyond monetary incentives. She also fosters an environment where mistakes are acknowledged openly, and efforts are made to rectify them collaboratively. She believes that discipline is important in maintaining consistency and ensuring a positive disposition, even when motivation fluctuates. By instilling discipline, the business can deliver consistent service to customers and uphold its values effectively.

“I learned in business that it’s very important to be meticulous with counting,” Santana says. “I find that businesses that closed down were not meticulous in counting both in terms of inventory and sales hours of their people. It’s really being meticulous in finding where you can tighten the belt where it’s necessary kasi parang ang dali lang mawalan.

“I find that, during those time times when I’m just trusting too much, ang daling mawalan. That’s one of the biggest things that I’ve learned in the past from 2012 to 2020. Like, ‘Nawawalan ba tayo nito? We’re trying to save all the time. We’re trying to find the best suppliers pero hindi natin alam may butas na pala tayo dito,’ so it’s really like finding where that butas is and making the SOPs to make sure it’s sealed tight.

“We’re able to keep our prices low because we run a pretty tight ship. I think that’s the main thing that other businesses kind of lack is, yung medyo loose sila sa control.

“I like immersing myself kasi maraming bagay na nangyayari sa tindahan. When I go to the stores, I really look at all the numbers, look at what we spend, how we release the food, how we cook, like weights and all of that, parang inaaral ko yung sistema.

“I read a lot. I like to learn. I’m a lifelong learner. I’m always like, when I go anywhere, like maybe in a restaurant or a resort or an airline, I like watching their operations. I’m always looking like, ‘Bakit kaya dalawa yung tao na nandon? Bakit kaya dalawa yung nilagay nila don? Siguro maraming ano’, and that’s always how I’m thinking and I learn a lot thinking that way.

“I think handling people is one of the hardest things for any leader in general. When I took a course at Stanford called Strategy and Organization, I was very intimidated because I didn’t think that we would have anything in common. I thought they had so much more experience and alam na nila yung ginagawa nila, but I found out that all of us faced similar problems, and most of it are people problems. So I was like, ‘Aha, pareho pala tayo ng problema. Kahit na you guys are handling billion dollar companies and I was just a Miss Pichi Pichi girl from Little Philippines.’

“One of the biggest things that I’ve learned is if you can create a good culture within the business. We always talk about culture at Lola Nena’s and we always talk about what is the culture that we want and are we living it? Or are we just saying this is our culture, pero fake sya because we’re not actually doing it? This is a constant conversation I have with our managers.

“Our culture is number one, and pinaka-important is transparency. I find that in the Philippines, it’s very different from the States. When people make mistakes, they tend to hide it. It’s very Filipino culture and that’s something that we work extra hard to get out of. When people make mistakes and they hide it, we really sit down with them and say, you know, when you make a mistake, you need to tell us because what we’re going to do is we’re going to try to help you fix the mistake, and if you make a mistake and you hide it, it can get the worse.

“Number two is, it’s important to have discipline. We talk about this all the time, na parang, ‘okay sobrang saya kung palagi kang motivated. Sobrang saya kung you’re always inspired when you go to work, but in reality, that’s not always going to happen. You’re not always happy, so it’s like, ‘OK, we need to put in discipline, that when we come into work, we’re doing it on purpose, that we’re going to have positive disposition.’ So disiplina yun eh, kasi parang kung magiging masaya ka lang kapag when you actually feel like it, then that’s not going to be 100 percent of the time. Then we can’t be consistent to our customers, so kailangan natin yung  disiplina na yun.

“I think another big thing for us is empathy kasi before, when you’re young, it’s like you just want people to follow you. Just follow and everything will be okay, but as you gain more experience, you realize that you really need to understand people, because that’s the only way to get to their intrinsic motivations, and the motivations that’s really inside, that’s not only money kasi money can only do so much in terms of real output.”

5| Know how to innovate and nurture financial independence

Innovation allows businesses to stay ahead of the competition by offering unique products, services, or processes that differentiate them in the market. This competitive advantage can lead to increased market share and profitability.

Developing financial independence empowers individuals and businesses to take control of their financial futures. By promoting financial literacy, prudent financial management, and investment in sustainable practices, businesses can contribute to long-term economic stability and prosperity.

Santana constantly evaluates potential additions to the Lola Nena’s menu during their travels, taking into account factors such as affordability and uniqueness. By creating items like the customized toasted siopao with a distinctive filling, they differentiated their offerings from competitors and attracted customers.

Santana followed her father’s advice to prioritize financial independence and recognized the importance of self-reliance in personal and business matters. This mindset shift empowered her to make confident decisions, assert her autonomy, and take ownership of her financial future.

The entrepreneur also recognized how her father played a pivotal role in developing her entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen. By treating her as a partner and instilling confidence in her capabilities, her father facilitated her transition into an independent entrepreneur.

“We travel a lot so everywhere we go, we’re like, ‘Bagay ba to sa Lola Nena’s?’ I think ultimately, we ask, ‘Bagay ba sa menu? Kaya ba natin gawin, affordably? And kaya ba natin ibenta affordably?’ We find that people like sulit, kailangan sulit, kailangan it feels like you’re getting a good deal, so kailangan mag-swak yung mga pieces na yun and at the same time may ‘X-factor’ din yung item.

“If we can think about a way to make it a little bit different, a little more like our own, a little bit different from the puto bungbong, kung kaya na mas iba. Medyo iba kasi for us; we don’t want to address any product that you can buy somewhere else kasi bakit mo pa bibilhin samin kung you can buy it anywhere else.

“One example here is our toasted siopao. My dad’s best friend actually is from Bicol and toasted siopao originated in Bicol, so it’s something that we’ve had before, but we changed it. Yung original na toasted siopao is medyo matigas na para siyang monay yung labas while our toasted siopao is soft bread then the filling is completely different. Our filling is very savory with egg, almost very like sisig filling but using pork so medyo iba yung taste nya and has a little bit of spice.

“My parents kasi sobrang hindi sila takot, parang malakas lang loob nila. Dati, the first time I signed a lease, yung mga lease namin P10,000, P15,000, P20,000 per month pero yung nag sign na ako ng P100,000 peso na lease, I had to go to the bathroom and throw up because I was so nervous kasi parang nagka-trauma ako, bumalik yung trauma nung nag-close yung restaurant namin.

“Pinagtatawanan lang ako ng dad ko. ‘Ano ba ‘to? Ang hina talaga ng loob nito.’ But since then, wala na, malakas na po loob ko ngayon.

“My dad’s advice while growing up was always to have your own money because you can’t rely solely on your husband or boyfriend because when you don’t have your own money, you’re trapped. So always have your own money.

“My dad treats me like a partner. Of course, he’s still my father figure and I’m also his daughter, but he really empowers me to become like a businesswoman, even though I’m really young. So he really made me feel like I can make my own decisions, make decisions mga ganyan and so that’s really how I felt growing up, and I felt that he really respected me. I think that’s why our dynamic works.”

Henry Ong, RFP, is an entrepreneur, financial planning advocate and business advisor. Email Henry for business advice [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @henryong888

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