How to Start a Silogan Business in the Philippines (2022)

Silog is a popular Filipino breakfast. The two basic ingredients are sinangag (fried rice) and itlog (egg) or silog for short. In every corner of the archipelago, one can find a silog store. Silog business is a lucrative business. If you are interested in starting a silog business, this article will guide you.

Silog Business in the Philippines

Sinangag and itlog are the two of the three basic ingredients of the silog breakfast. The third ingredient is meat. The three most popular meats are tapa, longganisa or tocino. If you have tapa (cured beef), then your silog becomes tapsilog. For longganisa (Spanish sausage), it becomes longsilog. For tocino, it becomes tocilog.

Silog is one business that is easy to start. It requires a small amount and time to put up. Yet, it offers high returns. This is the main reason the silog business is thriving. You can find many independent restaurants and chains offering franchises focusing on silog business.

Filipinos call a stall or a restaurant that specializes in silog meals a silogan, tapsihan or tapsilogan.

Brief History of Silogan Business

In 1986, Vivian del Rosario opened a canteen at a parking lot at Lauan Street corner Molave, Project 3, Quezon City. She catered food to ordinary people such as jeepney drivers, tricycle drivers, and others. She named her canteen Tapsi ni Vivian at Bulaluhan. She served tapsilog and bulalo.

She was the first one to introduce tapsi and tapsilog. She shortened tapa, sinangag and itlog, words she kept on hearing from people, to tapsilog. And the term stuck.

She started offering other combinations like tocilog (tocino, sinangag and itlog), cornsilog (corned beef, sinangag, and itlog), chosilog (chorizo, sinangag, and itlog) and many others.

Types of Silog Business

Types of silog business in the Philippines are categorized in two ways by size and structure of business. 

Size categories

As to size, silog business falls into three categories: fast-casual restaurants, fast-food restaurants or quick service restaurants (QSR) and stalls/kiosks. 

A fast-casual restaurant is a sit-down restaurant but you order food from the counter. Its food is a level higher in quality and price than the fast-food restaurant. Tapa King belongs to this category.

A fast-food restaurant is after convenience and speed of service. Each restaurant usually has a limited menu. Its table service is minimal. It can pack its food for take-away. Rufo’s is this type of restaurant.

A carinderia is a food stall. Filipinos also call the carinderia an eatery or turo-turo.

Chow Meals falls under the kiosk category. It is a small booth store.

These categories will help you understand the categories that different silogan fall under. They will also help you in your vision for the silogan business. However, most of those who are in silogan business started with either a carinderia or a kiosk.

Structure categories

As to structure, there are two categories: independent and franchise.

An independent business is a privately owned business and free from outside control. A franchise business is a business where a business owner, the franchisor, allows someone, the franchisee, to use his brand, operation, products and expertise for a franchise fee.

This article caters to those who want to start a silogan business as an independent and as a franchisee. The end section of this article will present five silogan franchises representing different categories and from different locations. 

Pros and Cons of Silog Business

Pros

• Small initial investment
  Silog business does not need huge investment to start. You need around ₱10,000 to ₱20,000 to start the silog business.
• Few pieces of equipment needed
  For preparation, you need a stove, some pots and pans and a refrigerator. These are things you can find in your kitchen. Perhaps, you will need utensils, tables and chairs for your customers.
• Space not an issue
  You can use your own kitchen for cooking. For the dining area, you can start with your garage. You might even opt not to have a dining area. You instead deliver the food to the people.
• In demand
  Silog meals are familiar meals to Filipinos. They do not need any introduction. They are not expensive. And they are breakfast meals. Remember that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However, many silogan stores offer them all day. In fact, the Cebu-based Sinangag Station offers them 24 hours. 

Cons

• Competition
  This advantage is also its disadvantage. Silog business is a low investment and easy to start. This makes it an alluring business to many people. This results in stiff competition.
• Food hygiene
  Being a food business, hygiene is your top priority. You will have a huge problem if someone gets sick from eating your food.
• Time commitment
  Just like any food business, you need to commit time to buying the ingredients, preparing the food and taking care of the customers.

The Importance of a Silog Business Plan

One important factor that leads to a successful business is the business plan. It is like your map to success. It provides you with the direction. Thus, it is important to write a business plan.

Silog Business Plan Outline

To give you an idea of what the different elements found in a business plan are, here is a sample outline.

Executive Summary

This section gives you a picture of the overall content of the business plan. This would include:

• Overview of the business
• Goals
• Objectives
• Mission
• Vision
• Projects
• Teams
• Other departments

Opportunity

In this section, you answer these questions: 

• What are you selling? 
• How does this endeavor help solve a problem in the market? 
• Who is your target market and competition?

Execution

In the execution section, you lay down the plan of making a profitable business out of the opportunity you have seen. Here, you present the marketing strategies and sales plans.

Company and Management Summary

Here, you mention the teams, if you have, and individuals that you already have and those teams that you are still to create or individuals that you are still to hire. Discuss how they make a good fit to your company. Mention how you will manage the business.

Financial Plan

This is a crucial part. In this section, you discuss financial forecasts and source funding for capital.

Appendix

The appendix should have references, diagrams, tables and others that support the business plan.

If you want to know more on how to create a business plan, Franchise Market Philippines has a blog to help you.

Facilities and Equipment Needed

A silogan needs some facilities and equipment to get the business running.

• Cooking space
  You need a space for cooking your various silog meals. This would depend on the setup of the silogan business you envision. Your cooking space could be a full kitchen or mobile kitchen like in a food cart or kiosk.
• Eating/Dining space
  If you plan for a sit-in silogan, your customers need a place to eat.
• Furniture
  For a sit-in silogan, there should be tables and chairs.
• Equipment
  For cooking, you need a stove and rice cooker. If the kitchen is mobile, a griller with a fryer would be a good investment. For storing, you need a refrigerator or freezer.
• Kitchen utensils
  A silogan business requires different kitchen utensils like measuring cup/spoon, knife, kitchen spoon, ladle, bowl, pan, weighing scale and others.
• Eating utensils
  For eating, you provide your customers with plates, spoons, forks, drinking glasses and sauce dispensers.

If you choose to deliver your food, you need styrofoam food containers and perhaps disposable spoons and forks.

Business Requirements for the Silog Business

To avoid legal inconvenience later, your silogan should comply with the different legal requirements for starting a business here in the Philippines.

Register your business with the Department of Trade and Industry

There are three types of business ownership: sole proprietorship, partnership and corporation. For sole proprietorship, register with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) office.

For partnerships and corporations, register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Secure the Mayor’s business permit

To secure the Mayor’s permit, go to the city or municipal hall where you want to put up your business. Be aware that this permit has many requirements that you have to work on beforehand. They are the following:

• DTI Business Name Certificate for a sole proprietorship, SEC Articles of Partnership or SEC Certificate of Incorporation
• Barangay Clearance/ Permit
• Authorization letter of the owner with ID
• Contract of Lease or Land Title / Tax Declaration
• Sketch of Location
• Occupancy Permit
• Location Clearance
• Public Liability Insurance
• Community Tax Certificate (Cedula)
• Fire Permit
• Sanitary Permit

There are other additional documents or permits that the city or municipality may require from you.

Register with the Bureau of Internal Revenue

Register your business with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) so that they can give it its Tax Identification Number (TIN). Visit the BIR’s Revenue District Office (RDO) where you want your business to be.  

Register with the SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-Ibig Fund

If you are hiring workers, register them with these three government agencies for the workers to receive benefits.

The Social Security System is in charge of retirement and some health benefits. Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) provides solely health benefits. Home Development Mutual Fund (PAG-IBIG Fund) is for housing benefits.

Each agency requires the employer and employees to share in the monthly contributions for the workers’ benefits.

The requirements given here are just a summary. For a full explanation, go to Franchise Market Philippines’ blog about legal requirements for business.

Silogan Business Tips

Find a good location

You cannot underestimate the value of a location in business. To a great degree, a location dictates the success or failure of a business. Usually, the common suggestions for a good location are schools, terminals, offices, or busy roads.

However, here are several helpful considerations when choosing a location for your silogan business:

• Is that where your target market is?
• Is it accessible to your target customers, your potential workers and suppliers?
• Will it make your store visible?
• Can I afford the rent?
• Is it safe?
• Am I allowed to put up a silogan business in the area?

Hire the right people.

Employees can make or break your business. Hire the right people. 

Hire reliable people. Reliable people are people you can trust with the work given to them. They can work with minimal supervision.

Hire trustworthy people. They are the people that you can trust with money, especially the cashier.

Hire friendly people. Having friendly and courteous employees builds bridges with the customers.

Maintain hygiene and sanitation

Since silogan business is a food business, food hygiene must be top priority. There are five keys to food safety. They are:

• Keep clean. Keep hands and utensils clean.
• Separate raw and cooked food.
• Cook thoroughly.
• Keep food at a safe temperature.
• Use safe water and raw materials.

Your employees should also maintain personal hygiene to avoid food contamination making your customers sick. They should wear clothes that are:

• Suitable
• Clean
• protective clothes

When preparing or handling food, they should;

• keep hair tied back and wear a suitable head covering, e.g. hat or hair net
• not wear watches or jewelry (except a wedding ring)
• not touch their face and hair, smoke, spit, sneeze, eat or chew gum

Keep the sanitation of the kitchen and eating area. Throw garbage in the proper trash cans. You do not want to see cockroaches, rats and mice in your kitchen and dining area.

This is imperative in this digital age. If any of your customers gets sick, you will get bad publicity on social media. This is also important while the Covid-19 is still with us.

Upsell

Learn to sell other food items. Offer like fruit and side dishes to go with their silog.

Have social presence

It is essential that you build relationships with your customers. Because of the pandemic, the government limits in-person interaction. It is important to have social media pages. Creating a social media page is free but it brings several benefits to your business.

Five benefits that an online presence provides:

• Customers get to know your company.
• Customers engage with you on a personal level.
• Customers get to know what you offer
• Your online presence boosts your company’s brand.
• Your online presence boosts your credibility. People trust businesses with websites and social media pages. Post updates regularly.

Market through social media

Even without a website, you can still market your business online. Use of social media. It is not only for internet presence. Use it to market your business. Create a page for your silogan. 

Most of the silogan businesses in the country do not have a website. But all of them have Facebook, Instagram or Twitter pages.

Partner with a Delivery Company

The delivery sector became relevant at the onset of the pandemic. Because of the lockdowns, businesses had to rely on their delivery system. However, for those without it had to partner with the delivery service companies.

There are advantages to partnering with delivery service companies. They are:

• Additional income. Those who cannot buy from you physically can order online and have their order delivered wherever they are.
• E-commerce opportunity. Even without an e-commerce platform of your own, you have entered e-commerce. If you partner with a delivery company, they will post your products on their own platform for customers to order.

The cost of partnering with these companies is affordable. You only pay for the platform fee. They will waive the fee if your income does not reach a certain amount for using their platform. They make money by getting a commission from you.

Reward your suki

Give your loyal customers or suki special deals. This will encourage them to continue to patronize and promote your business more.

What special deals can you offer to customers? Here are several ways to offer special deals:

• Buy One, Get One Free
• Free Delivery
• Gift Vouchers
• 10% Off Discount
• Student Discounts
• Loyalty Points
• Random Rewards
• Cash Back
• Package Deals

Five Silogan Franchises in the Philippines

If you think you would rather start by buying a franchise, here are five silogan franchises you can consider.

1. Chow Meals

Chow Meals is a silog and chow fan food cart business. It is one of the food cart businesses of Fab Suffrage Food Services. Some of the company's other businesses are Gulaman Corner, Sizzle Sisig and Hotdog Champ.

For the silog menu, Chow Meals serves Hotsilog, Longsilog, Tapsilog and Tocilog. For the chow fan, it has Beef Chow, Spring roll Chow, Nuggets Chow and Siomai Chow.

For franchising, it has two packages: Distributor Package and Food Cart Package. Under the Distributor Package, the franchisee has the option to get five food carts or food to go.

Initial Investment

• Distributor: ₱749,000
• Food Cart: ₱99,000

Space Requirement: 2 sq. m.
Website: https://fab.ph/chow-meals/
Email: [email protected]
Contact Number/s: 0917-1254451; 0939-9163425; (02) 219-5869

2. Bente Silog

Dennis Soriano of Grupo Valoro opened his first Bente Silog outlet near the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Campus, Sta. Mesa, Manila. He aimed to offer an affordable silog meal to students, taxi and jeepney drivers and anyone with a limited budget. His pricing starts at ₱20.

Three franchise packages are available for those interested in franchising: 
Package 1 (Dine-In Package #1)
Package 2 (Dine-In Package #2)
Package 3 (Takeout counter)

Initial Investment

• Package 1: ₱600,000
• Package 2: ₱550,000
• Package 3: ₱400,000

Space Requirement

• Package 1: 51-100 sq. m.
• Package 2: 21-40 sq. m.
• Package 3: 5-20 sq. m.

Website: http://www.bentesilog.com/ (down at the moment)
Email: [email protected]
Contact Number/s: 02717-2307, +6326332074; +639083174568

3. Rufo's

Rufo's is a chain of Filipino restaurants which started in 1984 Kalayaan Avenue, Makati City. Rufo’s Famous Tapa comes from this restaurant chain.

A group of employees working in an accounting firm in Makati started Rofu’s to augment their income. They named their business Rufo’s after their manager. The current owner is the Villar Group of Companies. It now has over 20 branches.

Franchise Fee: ₱500,000
Space Requirement: 80-120 sq. m.
Website: http://rufos.com.ph/ (down at the moment)
Email: [email protected]
Contact Number/s: (02) 532 6335

4. Tapa King

Tapa King started their operations in 1987 along Gallardo St., Makati. The aim in starting the business was to offer Filipino home-style tapa which is one of the three ingredients of tapsilog. 

They have different variations of the tapsilog like the Classic, Spicy and Sweet, Sweet and Savory, Crispy-shredded Tapa and Spicy and Sweet Chicken Tapa. However, tapsilog is not the only food on the menu. There are many other foods to choose from.

Today, it has over 100 branches all over the Philippines, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Singapore.

Franchise Fee: ₱1.2M
Initial Investment: ₱7M
Royalty Fee: 6%
Space Requirement: 80 sq. m.
Website: https://www.tapaking.com.ph
Email: [email protected]
Contact Number/s: 8888 8272; 0917 634 2062

5. Sinangag Station

Sinangag is a casual restaurant chain offering tapsilog. Based in Cebu City, Resty E. Esponilla Jr. started its operation as a kiosk in 2003. It now has nine branches in Cebu and Quezon City. All their branches are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Franchise Fee: ₱250,000
Initial Investment: ₱1,500,000
Royalty Fee: 3%
Space Requirement: 60 sq. m.
Website: https://sinangagstationfranchise.com
Email: [email protected]
Contact Number/s: 0932 876 6285

Silogan business is a viable business in the Philippines. The food is in demand because Filipinos love silog meals and they are affordable. Starting a silogan business is not expensive and difficult. It does not require many facilities and equipment. Preparation of the different meals is easy.

Its low investment and ease in starting makes it a lucrative business for many Filipinos. This means that you will have a stiff competition. To beat the competition, have something unique to offer. If you notice the different franchises, each has something different to offer to the customers.

If you do not want to run your own silogan business, there are many franchises to choose from. 

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