It was never their intention to be considered as examples of what physically challenged people can do when given the chance. “Considering the economic situation of the country right now, it’s very difficult. Even hearing graduates are having a hard time finding jobs, so the odds are even more difficult for the deaf,” Jose Benjamin Sigua, chairman of the Deaf Benildean Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DBMC) and manager of Deck Coffee, says through a sign language interpreter. “(When we opened) we were looking for differently-abled graduates and students to establish their own businesses.”

The business DBMC, an organization of deaf students and graduates of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) of the College of St. Benilde (CSB), chose to open is a coffee shop, more particularly a franchise of Deck Coffee in the confines of the CSB campus. The twist is that, unlike any of the other franchises, or any other cafés for that matter, this is the first and only coffee shop fully owned, managed and operated by the deaf.

“Somehow this is a breakthrough,” Charlie Jayco, SDEAS internship and business track coordinator, says. “While we know of deaf people working (in cafés), they’re (only) staff members. We haven’t heard of any company owned, managed and operated by deaf people – that is, until (DBMC’s) Deck Coffee.”

Winning plan

DBMC actually came into being after a group of seven students from the SDEAS topped the 2005 Youth Employment SPARK* Business Plan Writing Contest. SPAR* is a youth entre-ployment project initiated by the Dutch National Youth Council, and is supported by the National Commission for Sustainable Development, the National Youth Commission, and the International Cooperation of the Government of Netherlands, under the coordination of the Philippine Resources for Sustainable Development.

For its proposal to establish a pizza parlor for and by the deaf, the SDEAS graduates received a loan worth P350,000, backed up by a guarantee fund provided by the InterChurch Organization for Development Cooperation. Their proposal won over those submitted from such schools as the Asian Institute of Management and the University of the Philippines.

However, recalls Matt Navalta, SDEAS employment and business opportunities coordinator, when they were already starting to set up the business, the winning students deliberated and agreed that instead of having a pizza parlor, going into franchise business may be more feasible. “As a start-up business, it would be very difficult for them to try establishing their own business considering their inexperience despite the training (they got) from school,” he says. “At least with a franchise, instead of having to develop their own systems, procedures, or whatever, technology will (just) be transferred to them.”

“(With the franchise) the process is easier. We’re spared of having to think of our own idea for business, so there are no more complications to having a business,” Sigua signs. “Besides, preparing pizza is more complicated – with coffee it’s easier: you just mix it and serve it.”

Fortunately for the deaf graduates, the franchiser was willing to give a “huge discount” in the franchising fee. “Natuwa sa kanila (fascinated by them) perhaps because it was the first time Deck Coffee was approached by a group of deaf people,” Navalta says. “Kumbaga, parang tulong na rin (It was also a way of helping).”
Sigua, however, does not consider the lowering of fee as charity. “We have a limited seed capital from the price that we won in the competition. Maybe it’s a consideration of that,” he says.

For Jayco, it may have been in recognition of the fact that 98% of the SDEAS students have underprivileged background, receiving from 70%-80% scholarship grant from CSB. “I think in the case of Deck Coffee, it wasn’t really taking care of them or giving them special attention. It was more a business consideration – they can only afford so much because they don’t have other source of money. It wasn’t awa (pity), but more like giving a chance to prove themselves by giving them the franchise.”

When the franchise application was approved, the seven deaf students who won the competition organized themselves to form a cooperative, thus the making of the DBMC. The cooperative intended to keep the integrity of group ownership of the winning project, and to give chance for other deaf people within the SDEAS community to participate.

Even as early as the planning stages, the deaf entrepreneurs knew they have a winning plan in their hands. “People eat, so they need food. How can you fail there?” Sigua says. “We’ve also compared (establishments in our) business plans: between a pizzeria and Starbucks, the latter wins hands down. And Starbucks compared with Deck Coffee, which is cheaper – well, maybe students will (patronize) our products more.”

Besides the price “that does not compete with the likes of Starbucks, Figaro, Seattle’s Best or whatever because we are a mid-range coffee shop,” says Jayco, Deck Coffee also only targets the students of CSB since it is inside the school’s premises. Almost fatally, when they applied for a place in the school’s cafeteria, DBMC missed out on the deadline. Fortunately, again, the school heads realized “na dapat bigyan ng opportunity itong mga deaf students (for the deaf students to be given opportunity), so they were provided their own venue just so they could start their own business,” Navalta says.

Last October 19, after a two-week dry run, Deck Coffee formally opened.

Harder than usual

“It’s quite hard managing the business,” Sigua says. “The other restaurants have more customers, so we’re trying to encourage more to buy from us. Primarily, the difficulty lies in the operations of the business. For example, when people order, they are supposed to just (tick their order in a specially provided order list). What is hard is if they ask for details since we are not able to explain to the customers the ingredients of what they want to order, how these are made, and all that.”

Thinking more pro-active, though, DBMC is already developing new ways to “improve our services to make them repeat customers,” Sigua says. Among approaches being considered are coming up with an information board where all the offerings are cited, and the promoting of conversation between servers and customers via writing so they can communicate with each other effectively. “This way, next time, customers and servers will understand each other, so the service will be faster. This way, too, there’ll be more profit.”

Already looking beyond Deck Coffee, Sigua says that in the future, DBMC plans not only to open more branches “but to venture into a new business. We don’t know yet, but we plan to develop in working more as a team,” he says. “So maybe the original plan, a pizzeria, may be in the offing.”

Good start

Since it was established 15 years ago, SDEAS already produced over 300 graduates in the multimedia arts and business track. Navalta admits that, with the former, “it is easier for us to find jobs for them because these are areas where a lot of communication isn’t needed, so the creativity of the deaf is used. As for the latter, though they are trained in various aspects as encoding, running a business, et cetera, when you talk about office situations, companies have difficulty dealing with the deaf, so they prefer the hearing. So usually ang kanilang binabagsakan, mga menial jobs (they end up doing menial jobs), if they get jobs at all.”

But if before SDEAS was in a “quandary, right now there’s excitement because they see a possible route, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel,” Jayco says. “Now, hindi na lang sila umaasa (they don’t have to rely) on people to hire them, so it’s a big boost in their morale. They can look forward to a better future.”

Jayco notes that if another deaf group does what DBMC did, “probably join a competition, or we can help find a sponsor, then another group na naman ang makikinabang (another group will benefit). That’s why we’re very keen for this to succeed – it’s like a beacon of light for the next batches to look at,” he says.

For Sigua, things are simpler. “I’m encouraging all the deaf (graduates) to send out their résumés, and maybe they will be chosen,” he says. “But I’m also encouraging them to start young in training themselves to establish their own businesses, so even if they don’t get hired, then maybe they’ll make it too (even if they are differently abled).”