Sari-Sari Store Owner Shares Hardships She Want Through to Keep Business Alive
A small sari-sari store owner shared the struggles she and her family went through just to keep their humble business running.
Recently, Rosalina Sanchez, a Facebook user, shared the hardship and challenges she faced to keep her sari-sari store running. The inspirting post quickly elicited reactions from the internet users.
According to Sanchez, their store used to be well-stocked and busy, but after being robbed several times, their capital slowly disappeared. Hoping to recover, they took out a loan from a lending company.
At first, it seemed like things were improving since the store was once again filled with goods. But daily payments on the loan became overwhelming. Before they could even pay off the debt, the store’s shelves were empty again.
Rosalina and her husband eventually decided to close the store. With no capital left, Rosalina didn’t think they would ever reopen. She started selling snacks and baked goods online to make ends meet.
Business picked up during the pandemic, especially with many people ordering food from home. Still, there were slow days too.
In a similar post, a lady netizen shares her struggles in running her small sari-sari store
One day, a loyal customer reached out and asked if she was willing to run a store again. Not expecting anything, Rosalina said yes. Months later, she was surprised when their local government awarded her with livelihood assistance.
The supplies she received came close to their expiration date, so she bundled and sold them online. The strategy worked, and she used the earnings to buy more items and slowly rebuild the store.
Currently, Sanchez continues to run her store while still accepting occasional food orders.
Here is the full post:
“Dati na kaming may tindahan puno ng paninda pero ilang beses din kaming nilooban at dahil dun nabawasan ang puhunan namin sinikap naming ibalik ang dating punong tindahan nagbakasali kaming mangutang sa lending. Ang inakala naming solusyon ay napakahirap kasi sa simula napuno ulit pero ganon pala araw araw kang magbabayad kaya bago pa matapos ang utang mo ay ubos na din ang laman ng tindahan mo. Kaya napagdesisyunan namin ng asawa ko na isara ito. Hindi na namin inexpect na magtitindahan ulit dahil wala na kaming puhunan. Nagsikap akong magtinda ng iba’t ibang paninda online partikular ang mga pagkaing merienda at baked items nagklik sa simula lalo nung pandemic andami kong mga paorders pero dumadating din ang mga panahon na matumal. Hanggang isang customer ko tumawag at tinanong nya kung gusto ko ulit magtindahan sabi ko na lang “oo ” inalam nya contact details ko at may tulong pangkabuhayan daw ang lgu namin hindi ko na inasahan yun kasi after 6 months saka nila inaward sa aming mga napili. Tuwang tuwa ako sa mga items na binigay nila pero napansin ko na close to due date na ang expiration kaya sabi ko gawan ko ng paraan na maibenta agad ang mga ito, binenta ko sya online na bundle pack at pumatok. Dun na nagsimula ang puhunan ko sa tindahan ko. Yung napagbentahan ko ay ibinili ko ng mga items na wala sa binigay sa akin, hanggang sa napaikot ko na sya hanggang sa ngayon.
Marami akong tiniis sa sarili ko at nagconcentrate ako sa pagtitinda at paminsan minsan tumatanggap pa din ako ng mga paorder na bilao packs. Sa pagnenegosyo dapat may disiplina ka sa sarili mo at matyaga ka wag susuko sa mga suliranin sa buhay at higit sa lahat magtiwala sa Diyos at patuloy na maging mabuti sa lahat ng oras. May awa ang Diyos lalo na sa mga nagsusumikap sa buhay”
The social media users expressed their reactions to the post:
