The Struggles of Selected Small Food Cart Business in Restricted Public Zoning Area in Gapan City

Abstract

Today`s leading small business to start in the Philippines is the food cart industry. The food cart industry is described as today's top small business to enter the Philippines. The market trend in the country also shows that engaging in the food cart industry is one of the top options for entrepreneurs. Above all small businesses in the Philippines, establishing a food cart business is the easiest and fastest option. In restricted areas, they are not allowed to move to other locations because there are people stationed elsewhere, and each cart has its spot, so they cannot move their cart. This presented study examines the struggles of food cart vendors and owners and how they overcome or deal with the challenges in their businesses. Using qualitative research methods, researchers use phenomenological design, which describes the lived or struggled experience of a concept or phenomenon. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and used audio recordings with ten selected small food cart businesses in a restricted public zoning area. The researchers have a criterion for selecting respondents, which includes having selected respondents in a restricted area and at least one year of experience in the food cart business. Ten selected small food cart vendors/owners in restricted areas are the respondent. This study shows that food cart owners/vendors experience struggles when it comes to poor weather conditions, particularly the floods that ruin their business. Also, another struggle of the respondents is the lack of customers in restricted areas due to the restricted public zoning area. Respondents have only a limited area in which they can sell their products, which causes them a lack of customers. The respondents overcame these struggles by closing their businesses immediately when they found out it had terrible weather and also approached their customers to introduce their product.

Moreover, having the patience to keep the business running and avoiding too many loans to invest in the business are the recommendations to settle the food cart vendors/owners for aspiring food cart vendors/owners. The findings of this study reveal that many food cart vendors and owners experience struggles or challenges in their businesses, such as poor weather conditions and a lack of customers. However, respondents overcame the challenges by immediately leaving the workplace and dealing with customers by approaching them. The respondents also give recommendations such as having patience in selling and avoiding too many loans.