ARCHERY In The PHILIPPINES? (Oh Yes!)

Pea visits Wild Gold Archery in Cebu City and interviews Ken Wildfire, the Australian owner, about building a business in the Philippines as a foreigner. She also takes her first archery lesson from trainer Christian, and the video mixes practical business-in-the-Philippines insights with a fun activity segment.

What's Covered ​

• Ken Wildfire's background and business concept

  • Ken is Australian; two long-term goals were to have a business and to move to the Philippines
  • He saw archery businesses operating in Manila and figured Cebu had nothing like it — they'd be the first archery range in Cebu City
  • Archery has always been one of his greatest loves/hobbies
  • Located on the second floor of SM Seaside City Cebu, on the mall grounds

• The reality of starting a business in the Philippines as a foreigner

  • Took six months just to negotiate the mall lease — constant back-and-forth bartering on the price per square meter until both sides agreed on a rental/leasing package
  • Ken expected Philippine bureaucracy and red tape to be less than Australia because of the relaxed lifestyle — "that was completely false"; it's about the same amount of paperwork
  • Immigration was very slow
  • Ken is married to a Filipina, which made things significantly easier — without a Filipino spouse, getting a working visa is extremely difficult unless you're a huge corporation like Coca-Cola
  • The building/renovation process ran behind schedule "as usual"

• Business operations and COVID impact

  • Opened January 18, 2018 — just over three years in operation at time of filming
  • Had to completely shut down for about eight months during coronavirus lockdown
  • All employees had to be let go during the shutdown
  • Only three of the original crew came back after the stand-down; they had to hire mostly new staff
  • Plans to boost up staffing once the economy picks up and vaccine rollout is effective

• Customer demographics

  • Ken did serious homework: stood in the mall for months with a counter tracking foot traffic at different times of day
  • Original calculation: 95% local Filipinos, 5% tourists — turned out to be fairly accurate
  • During COVID: 99% Filipino since tourists aren't allowed in; occasional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese residents pop in
  • Greatest number of customers are first-timers
  • About 5% are long-term archers who are on holiday or have moved to Cebu and want to continue practicing

• Equipment overview (Ken explains)

  • Olympic recurve competition bow with stabilizers that reduce shaking, a sight for aiming, a "clicker" that gives an audible sound at full draw extension, an arrow rest with magnets, and a plunger that controls side force
  • Sight adjusts in/out depending on shooting distance — far away you extend it out, close distance you keep it near the bow
  • Six different arrow types available; skinny carbon fiber arrows are inexpensive
  • One high-end arrow can cost 2,500 pesos (~$50-60 USD); best arrows can cost 10x that
  • The competition bow shown costs roughly $200-300 USD — still relatively cheap; you can easily pay 10x more
  • Also showed a hunting-style bow with "beaver balls" (real beaver fur) on the string that make it quieter for hunting environments — though hunting with bows isn't legal in the Philippines
  • Ken emphasizes: expensive equipment doesn't substitute for skill — "it still takes a lot of skill to be a good shot... it's not like you're suddenly Katniss Everdeen"

• Future plans: outdoor range

  • Building an outdoor archery range that will be big enough for full accredited tournaments
  • Visible from the third level of the mall — people can look down at the range from the sky park at a 30-degree angle
  • Plans for solar-powered lights and spotlights for nighttime shooting
  • People passing in public transport will be able to see archers shooting, which should draw spectators and walk-in customers
  • The outdoor range is also safer from a COVID perspective (open-air activities)

• Pea's archery lesson with trainer Christian

  • Christian demonstrates first with a bullseye shot
  • Safety gear: leather arm guard and finger protection — Pea jokes "always use protection"
  • Step-by-step form instruction:
    • Stand with one foot inside the block line, face sideways
    • Square feet, square hips, square shoulders
    • Nock the arrow with the same-colored feather facing right
    • Use three fingers on the string with the leather finger tab
    • Straighten the bow arm, raise the elbow
    • Pull all the way to the chin, aim the red dot at the target center
    • Release
  • Pea's results: first shot hits the blue ring — "not bad for a first timer"; subsequent shots also hit the target
  • She's thrilled: "I feel like a warrior now"

• Comedic ending bits

  • Ken pretends to do a William Tell trick shot with an apple on Pea's head (obviously a joke)
  • Pea does a traffic cop comedy skit where she "pulls over" viewers for skipping ads and not subscribing

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