by Heather Pascua and Arabella Balderama

On January 29, the Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) Strand of Batch 2024 officially launched ABM Selling Week, an Entrepreneurship course project.

With the Entrepreneur Week unfolding into three distinct waves, the first selling week centered mostly around offering a variety of food services and merchandise.

ABM sections Beyzym and Bobola sold different products ranging from meals, drinks, desserts, and stickers at the third-floor foyer of the Ateneo Senior High School (ASHS) Building.

The first wave of sales was open to the ASHS community every morning, recess, and lunch period from January 29 to February 2. 

The ABM Selling Week, in line with the Entrepreneurship course that ABM students are taking this semester, came hand-in-hand with their previous Marketing course.

‘ABM-Powered!’

The ABM Selling Week aimed to optimize the students’ previous knowledge from their courses as well as enrich it from this hands-on experience.

“The experience served as a platform to apply our organizational skills, allowing us to translate theoretical knowledge into practical implementation,” Angeley Nicolas, the ABM Strand Chairperson, expressed. 

During their selling experience, ABM students from 12-Bobola and 12-Beyzym also stated that there were challenges, such as needing to juggle academic commitments and managing their businesses.

Common struggles among the groups were handling pre-orders, tallying inventories, technical difficulties in equipment, and accommodating customers in general.

“We encountered having to handle too much pre-orders which gave us a harder time tracking and taking into account each pre-order,” stated Miko Tan, adding that they also had a hard time due to late inventory deliveries. 

“One significant difficulty we faced during selling week was a technical one in the form of our ice crusher being initially unreliable and inefficient. This led to things like longer lines due to delayed on-site production,” Matthew Acosta shared, explaining that his group had to adjust to their equipment’s working limits.

Even in the face of hurdles, the ABM students still found the whole selling process fulfilling and of big help in skill development, especially for their future careers.

“Despite the arduous process, there was this sense of incomparable fulfillment that followed each day,” Nicolas expressed. 

“What we learn in management subject classes can only take us so far. With this project, many of us were able to experience firsthand how to apply these skills. Actually going ahead and running a business shows how things are done in a real world context,” Zach Moraleda remarked.

“This project really gave us a glimpse of what it’s like in the field that we would like to take on in the future,” Carylle Bartolata said. 

“Essentially, it fostered not only entrepreneurial prowess but also a deeper understanding of real-world business dynamics that are applicable across various disciplines,” Nicolas concluded.

Aside from the seniors, ABM students of the lower batch have also expressed their experiences during the selling event.

“As an ABM student, I felt inspired as I saw a glimpse of what the future has in store for us in the next school year,” Lana Manalang, a student of 11-Angelis, stated.

“Watching the [seniors] during the entrep week made me realize that we have a lot to learn and can even take advice from them when the time comes for us to pursue our own business endeavors, especially next year for ABM students,” added Kae Tan, also a student from 11-Angelis.

Spirited Customers

“I think the ABM Selling Week really upheld the spirits of the students, which was evident last week from the obvious crowds on the third floor foyer,” Simone Huey, a student from 11-Torres, affirmed. 

Additionally, many also expressed the convenience ABM Selling week had provided for the ASHS Community.

“The stalls during entrep week provided us [with] more options for meals and snacks, offering the convenience of buying food without having to walk all the way to the FLC cafeteria,” Tan stated. 

Meanwhile, the selling schedule would continue with its second wave on February 19 to 20, followed by the third wave on February 22 to 23. 

Three groups from each of the classes of Arnaiz, Anchieta, and Acquaviva would be the ones participating during the said dates.