{"id":14583,"date":"2016-04-15T14:05:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T06:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/booky.ph\/blog\/?p=14583"},"modified":"2019-03-03T16:40:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-03T08:40:02","slug":"startup-hunger-buster-ateneo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/booky.ph\/blog\/startup-hunger-buster-ateneo\/","title":{"rendered":"Success Story: Hunger Buster, Student Startup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erika Cantor from Hunger Buster<\/a> shares her insights.<\/em><\/p>\n

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS:<\/h2>\n

Hunger Buster<\/a> is an American burger joint\u00a0that got its break\u00a0from the Ateneo\u2019s JSEC (John Gokongwei School of Management Student Enterprise Center). Owner Erika and her partners weren\u2019t satisfied with just selling to their schoolmates though, so they actively\u00a0joined weekend markets such as Mercato to promote their brand and reach more customers.<\/p>\n

Hunger Buster is now well known for having very\u00a0affordable burgers, great\u00a0for students on budgets. Since its opening, it has already expanded to three branches across the Metro and has even been featured on some of Booky’s\u00a0Breakthrough and Top 10 Most Loved lists!<\/p>\n

photo from @hungerbusterph<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

THE PROBLEM:<\/h2>\n

Erika\u00a0and her partners realized that\u2026
\n1.) On-the-go food was in high demand.
\n2.) There were plenty of affordable burger joints outside the school (mostly fast food restaurants) but none inside.<\/p>\n

First Hunger Buster stall at JSEC | photo from @hungerbusterph<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

THE IDEA:<\/h2>\n

To provide people with affordable meals they can eat while on-the-go in the form of burgers, with emphasis on unique taste and high quality.<\/p>\n

Easy to eat on the go | photo from @kevinafunay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WHAT\u2019S WORKED:<\/h2>\n

\u2713 Acting fast.<\/strong> Erika shares that even before opening in ADMU, she and her partners were already selling in bazaars and weekend markets. This allowed them to test their ideas, refine their operations and reach more customers such as corporate employees.
\n\u2713 Hard work and discipline.<\/strong> Aside from daily JSEC operations, joining the weekend markets meant a lot of hard work because they would end at 3am every Friday and Saturday.
\n\u2713 Research.<\/strong> None of the Hunger Buster team are culinary graduates, but they combined their knowledge and did their research to come up with a great product.<\/p>\n

ERIKA\u2019S TIP:<\/strong> \u201cDon\u2019t get discouraged if things don\u2019t work right away. For one week after we opened, we were only selling less than 100 burgers [a day] on average. But then things suddenly changed and \u2026 we were selling around 300 burgers a day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Hunger Buster stall at an event | photo from @hungerbuster_ph<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HOW TO GROW?<\/h2>\n

\u2713 Start saving early<\/strong>. Erika shares that the decision to continue Hunger Buster after graduation happened late in the school year, so they didn’t have much\u00a0savings to use for expansion at first.
\n\u2713 Maximize your network.<\/strong> One of the Hunger Buster partners was able to get them into the food tasting for the Xavier School cafeteria, while another helped them get a space inside the Cervini Building in Ateneo.
\n\u2713 Taking calculated risks.<\/strong> Hunger Buster took a chance and joined an event that required a relatively large investment (800 free samples!). It paid off\u2014media personalities, food bloggers and other people at the event all loved their burgers, which helped promote Hunger Buster even more.<\/p>\n

ERIKA\u2019S TIP:<\/strong> \u201cSometimes you have to take risks in order to be out there but then that doesn\u2019t mean taking every opportunity you can get. Always know all of the information before taking those opportunities.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Burning Burger | photo from @hungerbusterph<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recommendations:<\/h2>\n

\u2713 Dying Burger<\/strong> –\u00a0Made with bacon, mushrooms and melted cheese
\n\u2713 Starving Burger<\/strong> – Made with barbecue sauce and onions
\n\u2713 New products<\/strong> \u2013 Chicken wings, French fries and milk shakes. These are only\u00a0available at their University Mall branch– for now.<\/p>\n

ERIKA\u2019S TIP:<\/strong> \u201cWhat I like about University Mall is that I get to add [new] products. … While majority of our customers want Dying, my personal favorite is Starving.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Starving Burger | photo from @hungerbusterph<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dying Burger | photo from @hungerbusterph<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Feel the hunger\u00a0yet? Bust it\u00a0by checking out Hunger Buster\u00a0on the Booky App, or stoke\u00a0that burger craving you probably already have by\u00a0checking out our\u00a0list of your most favorite\u00a0burgers in Manila.<\/p>\n

No reservations accepted\u00a0<\/strong>
\nBranches:\u00a0<\/strong>University Mall (Taft)<\/a>,\u00a0ADMU (Cervini Building), Xavier School (Cafeteria)
\nVisit their Facebook page<\/a>
\nFollow them on Instagram<\/a>
\n(0917) 811 8254 or (02) 506 5840
\n\"btn-menu-@320\"<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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