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IAMRAFI: From Zero to Hero
The Story of Virgilia Bonghanoy,
RAFI Micro-finance, Inc. (RMF) Nanay
By Marco Paulo Trajano Deligero | August 20, 2018
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Virgilia started with nothing, even to the point of being refused to buy rice on credit from different sari-sari stores because she could not pay on time. That was before she became an RMF Nanay, and with her dedication and focus in her business, she now has five sari-sari/grocery stores, an animal feeds store, and a bakery.
And more important than her business success, she was able to send all her five children to school — who have all graduated from college.
Her Humbly Beginning
A native of Cebu, Virgilia’s parents were both farmers. She admitted that life was difficult, and she used this experience as her motivation to go into business to help her family.
“Nine years ago, in 2007, I made the decision to go into business in the hopes that life wouldn’t be as difficult as it was when I was growing up, even better. I had 5 children to support,” Virgilia said.
The Beginning of Their ‘Family Business’
Virgilia had her first loan cycle at RAFI Micro-finance, Inc., (RMF) with only five thousand pesos, which she used to start her small sari-sari store.
She diligently attend seminars at the RMF branch where she learned how to properly handle the money she loaned.
The first cycle was a success, so she continued to invest more into the business. She loaned P15,000 in her second cycle.
“The business was getting bigger, and expanding it was both a huge risk and responsibility. I made sure the money was used wisely,” Virgilia said.
It Takes a Whole Family to Run a Bakery Business
With her following loan cycles, she used the money to set-up a bakery from scratch — from baking to selling.
She remembers how their whole family would take turns baking and selling the baked goodies on foot.
“We would roam the streets of different barangays to sell fresh bread from our bakery. We also sold bread using habal-habal in the hard to reach areas,”
The bakery was a success, earning up to 50 percent of her baking operations cost.
On Expanding Their Family Baking Business
The success of their bakery, particularly among the masses, encouraged Virgilia to expand it even further. Her third loan cycle amounted to Php 50,000.00, which she used to buy new equipment, citing their importance.
“During our first month of operations, we would bake bread ‘manu-mano,’ using bare hands. It was so tiring and time consuming, so we decided to buy a roller and a huge oven suitable for bigger bread production,”
“As a family, we took turns in baking and delivering goods. We helped each other expand the business and made a huge market success,” Virgilia proudly shared.
When Business Expansion is Life
Starting in 2007 with just a small sari-sari store, Virgilia’s business grew. With sheer determination, dedication and family cooperation, she now has five grocery stores, one bakery and an animal feeds store.
“We rented several places for our business expansion. I know it was a huge risk but we worked hard as a family, I guess that’s the main ingredient of our success,”
Sharing Some Business Tips
Virgilia is happy to share some tips to aspiring RMF Nanays, particularly in the bakery business, which she summarizes into these three: add, observe, and train.
“First, you have to add items to your menu; you have to make them interesting and delicious so that they would appeal to your customers,”
“Second, you have to observe what product your customers want — what kind of bread gets sold out fast, and what is always left on the shelves. You should know the movement of your goods because this will definitely help you improve your bakery,”
“Third, you need to get training, and train your people — your bakers, to ensure quality in your finished products and consistency of taste — same amount of ingredients, the way it was baked, etc.,”
“Why? Because your customers will know if something was changed in the bread they keep coming back for, they will know the difference in the taste. The baked goods should be consistent in taste and quality, because that is what the customers are looking for,” Virgilia added.
Life’s Challenges
It was not always happy days for Virgilia. There was a time when three (3) of her children got dengue at the same time.
“That was really shocking for our family, my three children got dengue fever, and it was a totally stressful situation for us all,”
With a handful of business to run, the added challenge of taking care of her children was difficult.
“I had to go back and forth from the hospital to the family businesses because at that time we didn’t have a lot of help with overseeing and running the sari-sari stores, it was just me and my husband. Thank God after several weeks of being hospitalized, they survived dengue and were discharged,” Virgilia said.
With Great Diligence Comes Great Reward
Virgilia and her family now enjoy the rewards and fruits of their labor.
According to her, they were able to invest in several properties, which includes a house, a lot, and several vehicles — a car, two multi-cabs, a tamaraw FX, an elf and two motorcycles.
Their family is also looking forward to expanding to an even bigger business venture: their very own gasoline station.
Advice to Aspiring RMF Nanay
Virgilia’s advice is simple: to take the risk and give your 100 percent.
“If you want to succeed in the business you want, you have to have a good capital and use that to start your own,”
“Combined with hard work, dedication, and good marketing strategy, your business will definitely expand and your business will be a huge success,”
“Also, separate the budget for the family and for your business, never mix them up,” She added.
On How She Wants To Be Remembered
With currently around fifteen people working for her, Virgilia said that she wants to be remembered as a good boss, someone who is concerned for their growth, for her people’s growth.
“I don’t reprimand my staff without reason, I consider them as my own children, and they know that,”
“I make sure to inform them when they did something wrong so they could correct it immediately,”
“Having a huge number of staff is not easy but as long as they are doing their jobs well, then it’s all good. I always tell our staff ‘tarunga inyong trabaho’ (do good in your job),”
Virgilia and Her Greatest Life Lessons
Admittedly, Virgilia said that life was hard for her at the start, recalling the days when she was refused credit by some stores.
“Life was difficult for me, but I learned that it’s what you make out of your life that makes you a better person,”
“Before, we were struggling. But now, because of perseverance, my family was able to have a comfortable life. In that aspect I think I became a successful mother,”
“Also, make sure you have enough savings for emergency situations, that is really important,” Virgilia said.
On Her Life Motivation and People That Matters
As an RMF Nanay, Virgilia takes pride in saying that her family is her motivation. In her fear of not being able to feed her children, she turned this fear around and persevered to make a good life for them with the help of RAFI Micro-finance, Inc.
Virgilia gives thanks to her family, her husband and children, for being supportive in their making their business grow.
“To my husband and children, I love you very much. You have been a great motivation to me, to push me farther to reach the financial stability that we have today,”
“Stability in the sense that we are able to provide for our daily needs and live a comfortable life,” she said.
She also thanks RAFI Micro-finance, Inc.
“In 2011 and 2016 I was nominated as RMF’s Most Outstanding Client, which alone is already a blessing, thank you RMF,”
“Thank you very much to God, my family, my five children, and to RMF, daghang salamat!” #IAMRAFI
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“Combined with hard work, dedication, and good marketing strategy, your business will definitely expand and your business will be a huge success.”
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