Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 8 No. 4 - Enterprise
A Doctor in a Kitchen
Modular kitchens provided by a medical doctor result in healthier homes
By Anne Ruth dela Cruz

Pam Ramirez’s kitchens can be customized to fit customer needs

In 1992, Pam Ramirez made a career move that would change her life. While she was happy with the way her medical career as an internist in the United States was going, she longed to be with her husband Eric, then-country head of Walden Large International Venture Capital Firm in Jakarta. And so she decided to pack up and leave for Jakarta.

During their four-year stay in Jakarta, Pam had her kitchen remodeled. The remodelling must have been such a good experience for Pam that it made her consider making a business out of it. Since the family was planning to return to the Philippines, Pam thought that modular kitchens would be a good business to get into once they got back.

“My husband loves to cook and I love tinkering with things so I thought it would be a good idea to get into the modular kitchen business,” Pam relates. “Besides, I think that you can call me a frustrated architect because I really love redoing things.”

Homecoming
Late in 1995, the Ramirez family moved back to the Philippines. Prior to their departure, Pam had already met with the principals of the Canadian Kitchen which remodeled her kitchen. “Canadian Kitchen was not too keen about setting up an office in the Philippines,” Pam recalls. “But I was able to convince them.” Pam underwent training with them in Canada.

Pam had to put up P1.5 million as initial capital for the stocks she brought in. In 1996, Canadian Kitchen in the Philippines was chugging along. However, the Asian financial crisis in 1997 proved to be a litmus test for Pam – the imported stocks suddenly cost multiples of their previous price. Since her Canadian principals were not very strict with Pam, she was allowed to put up her own factory. In 1999, she opened up her own kitchen furniture factory in Ugong, Pasig. She uses “satellite showrooms” to display her products instead of putting up her own.

Pam recalls that when she started the business, she only had two employees. Now that she has a factory, the number rose to 35. When asked to describe how she treats her employees, she says she adopts the “benevolent matriarch style.”
“I believe in empowerment and giving my employees the opportunity to grow in my business. I want my sales people to get a feel of working in an entrepreneurial set up.”

Pam gets most of the kitchen ideas from reading a lot of magazines and talking with her clients. “It is important for me to do some of the client calls myself so that I know what my clients want and they know that I am really serious about my business,” she explains. When she has free time, she spends it with her family, watching movies and eating out.

Retooling Herself
Since Pam was trained to be a doctor, she experienced a lot of difficulties adjusting to the ways and life of an entrepreneur. To facilitate the learning process, she enrolled in the Master of Entrepreneurship program of the Asian Institute of Management. This taught her how to deal with business finances.

One thing that makes Canadian Kitchen stand out from the competition is that it is flexible and can customize products to fit customers’ needs. “It is only in the Philippines where architectural plans are sometimes not followed and problems crop because of that. For example, a wall comes out too small for the kitchen, we are able to customize our sink in order to fit into that space.”

These days, though, business has been slow. Pam is confident things will start picking up since Canadian Kitchen did very well financially before compared to the other companies.

Advising those who plan to establish a similar business, Pam says it would be good to do a lot of research beforehand. “It is also important that you know your finances and to watch your cash flow very closely.” But inspite of all the problems that she has encountered, Pam has no regrets about leaving her medical practice. “Besides, I really love what I do and I would probably have as many headaches if I pursued my medicine practice.”