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IAMRAFI: Sugar, Spice, & Everything Nice
The Story of Josephine De Lara, RAFI Micro-Finance Nanay
By Marco Paulo Trajano Deligero & RAFI Micro-Finance| April 30, 2018
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Josephine De Lara learned baking from her mother. Now, she uses this skill to build her own family business. With the help of RAFI Micro-finance, she has made for herself a name in the baking industry through the power of the ‘word of mouth’, as her baked goods can be found almost anywhere. She supplies bakeries, canteens, hospitals and even events like birthdays and weddings. She even has a good number of “suki” in RAFI.
Baking Runs in the Family
Before becoming a RAFI Micro-Finance (RMF) Nanay in 2014, Josephine De Lara was an office employee. She hails from Alegria, Cebu, and back in her childhood, baking has always been the business of their family.
“I was already a supplier of RAFI back in 2014, even before I became an RMF Nanay. I learned about RMF while I was waiting at the lobby. I saw a leaflet about the services of RMF, and the benefits of becoming a member, or basically being RMF Nanay.” Josephine said.
Many Customers, No Equipment
According to Josephine, there was a time when she was would receive orders from new customers and she didn’t have enough equipment to bake all those volume of orders.
That was what urged her to borrow money from RMF so that she may invest in a reliable baking equipment, around Php 75,000.00 to buy the oven she needs.
“It was one of the biggest investments for my baking business, because of the high demand of order. I knew that I had to level up my equipment so that I accommodate all the orders. No orders missed out meant happy customers.”
The Power of the ‘Word of Mouth’
Josephine said that customer satisfaction is key to having a successful business.
“Aside from the support of my husband and family, I owe the success of my business to my customers, because every satisfied customer could mean referrals to their friends and family.”
“Every client is an opportunity for me to advertise my cakes and pastry effortlessly, if my clients likes my cake, there will be a huge chance that they will share their experience and recommend me to their friends and family.” Josephine said.
“Referrals — that’s how my business grew, that’s why we make sure that every baked goods we make are of the best quality, something that the clients would appreciate.” She added.
Success and Sacrifices
Like any other growing business, Josephine understands that there are sacrifices that should be made; flowing orders means sleepless nights for her and her family.
“There are many times that we have sleepless nights due to the huge orders, there were many times when we were given rush orders, but we think of it us a challenge…”
“Because for us, sleepless nights are better than having no orders at all; sleepless nights means that our business is booming, and the best we could do is be thankful to God and never complain.” Josephine said.
The Fruit of Labor is Always Sweet
For Josephine, their baking business is always a family bonding. Their family members have their own designated task – her husband helps her in the baking, and when orders are needed to be rushed.
“My family has always been part of my success. There were many times when my husband had to deliver orders to far flung places. Many times we would wake up early to deliver the made-to-order goods to events like wedding, baptisms, even wakes.” She said.
Family That Bakes Together, Stays Together
But complaining is the last thing Josephine will do, she has always been grateful for the benefits of her hard work.
“Through my baking, I was able to give the best life for my children. I was able to send them to good schools, and now, they have completed college, one finished Accounting Technology, and the other one finished a Business course.”
Credibility Will Bring You To Far Away Places
Josephine believes that having credibility will give you the opportunity to expand your business, but it something that is not earned overnight and should be maintained.
“One of the reasons that our clients keeps coming back is because of our credibility. That is one thing that business owners should know, if you agreed on a certain thing, you should always make sure that you will deliver.”
“In baking, anyone could make use of cheap ingredients because the clients never see the actual baking process anyway. But for us, credibility and integrity begins in the buying and using the right ingredients, from weighing to baking.” Josephine said.
The Secrets to Success: Clients Will Always Know Small Changes
Having been in the baking business for many years, Josephine already knows the secrets on how to be successful in her field of endeavor.
“I’ll share with you some of the secrets for free. First of course, is public relations — you should know how to mingle with clients, know what they want and do it, that is the best thing that you can do for them.”
“Second, credibility. Do what you have agreed on to do – if you say that you will deliver on this certain agreed time, you should really deliver.”
“Third, do not change what you have already made. Because clients will always, always know if you made some changes, if they prefer some changes in their orders, you should deliver that.” Josephine said
‘Taste is What Makes Us Different’
There are different bakeries in the market, and Josephine was asked on what makes them different.
“Our taste, of course, that is something that our clients keep coming back for. In the entire market, we are the only one who has the taste that our clients prefer. And we ensure we keep it that way.” Josephine said.
On Her One Memorable Baking Experience
She fondly recalls a memorable experience in her baking business.
“I remember this certain client. They lived abroad for several years and then eventually came back to visit. And guess what? The mother wanted to try our cakes again. And so they did everything they can to get in touch with us to order one specific cake she preferred.”
“If I remember it correctly, the client ordered a sugarless cake due to her diabetes. To make that happen, I had to dig into my pile of recipes just to find that specific cake she had ordered many years ago.”
“It only shows, that when you give what your clients want, they will give you the loyalty that you deserve.” Josephine said.
Her Biggest Life Motivation
For Josephine, her biggest life motivation are God, her family, and her loyal clients.
Her husband, Lucio De Lara, has been very supportive of their business.
“I am very thankful to my family who has always been there since I started my business.”
“To my children, and to my husband, Lucio, thank you for your support. I love you.”
“And of course, to God, I never thought that you will bless us with so much, I am grateful to everything that You have done for us.” Josephine said.
“And to RAFI Micro-finance (RMF), thank you for being supportive, you enable small businesses to flourish, you are really a good partner to Nanays or entrepreneurs like me.”
“To those who want to start their own business, be a good payer and trust RMF, they are good partners in making your business grow.” Josephine added.
“Thank you very much for this opportunity to be an inspiration to other Nanays. I am happy.” #IAMRAFI
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