THE saying “try and try again” may not mean much to most people, but for Milagros Hiyas, a rattan handicraft manufacturer based in Mabitac town, Laguna, it was the mantra that spurred her to overcome hardships and find business success.
Milagros Hiyas (center) was presented the regional award for Luzon by members of the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards National Selection Committee, Antonino Alindogan, Jr. and Marixi Prieto. Both are strong advocates of microfinance and have been serving in the committee since the awards program was launched in 2002
Last year, Milagros, 40, was named the Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year for Luzon at the 10th Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards for having transformed her home-based business into a million-peso enterprise.
Launched in 2002, the annual Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards aims to raise public awareness of microfinance. It recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs with assets of P3 million or less who have achieved significant growth based on their employment and sales generation, and have contributed to community development.
Funded by Citi Foundation, this nationwide search is a partnership among the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Citi Philippines, and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Inc.
Milagros and her husband, Isagani, started their married life with humble prospects ahead of them. For starters, they were both only high school graduates. “Kaya hindi kami puedeng mag-opisina pareho [We were unable to find office work],” she says.
But Milagros made up for her lack of higher education with ample determination and unmatched perseverance.
To feed their growing family, which would later be blessed with six children, Isagani worked as a jueteng cobrador, or bets collector, and a construction worker. Milagros sold puto’t kutsinta (rice and glutinous cakes), waking up in the early hours of the morning to cook, then selling her products around the neighborhood.
Milagros’ business did quite well, so much so that she later put up a small 24-hour karinderia, or food stall. But after a few years, growing competition was slowly swallowing up her business, forcing her to look for an alternative source of income.
In 1993 she decided to go into rattan handicrafts. She felt it was a good choice because, unlike food, handicrafts do not spoil or expire. Milagros mobilized a small group of neighbors and friends to help her make about two dozen small items, such as woven baskets and duyan (hammocks and cradles), a week.
In those early years, Milagros thought of giving up many times, but she held on for the sake of her children, all of whom she dreamed of sending to college and having a better life than hers. “Ayaw kong maranasan nila ang naranasan ko [I didn’t want them to experience what I went through],” she explains.
(From left) Citi Corporate Affairs Director Aneth Lim and TSPI Loan Officer Joenalyn Nanales join Milagros during a town hall in Mabitac, Laguna, celebrating her win.
In 2009, she approached Tulay sa Pag-unlad, Inc. (TSPI), a microfinance nongovernment organization, for a starting loan of P7,000 to strengthen her operations. After proving her good credit standing, she continued to be a trusted client of the NGO. Eventually she was granted a P50,000 loan that she used to expand her line to include children’s rocking horses, coffee tables, rocking chairs, divans, and complete dining and living room sets made of abaca and rattan.
Today, 20 years later, Milagros’s business is worth more than P277,600, with average annual sales of P4.8 million. The thriving micro-business gives continued employment to people in the community, and Milagros tries to help her workers raise their income further by giving them loans or supplying them raw materials so they can produce their own products that she then buys from them.
She now has two shops, one in Pila and the other in Luisiana, Laguna. She also delivers orders to nearby towns in the province, as well as to Batangas and Quezon.
Milagros’ two oldest children, both college graduates, now share in the business activities, while her husband drives their utility vehicle to deliver the products.
Needless to say, the years of struggles and sacrifices are well in the family’s past. The small kubo or makeshift house that the couple put up near their factory is now a concrete house big enough to accommodate the family comfortably.
But Milagros says she and husband Isagani are still amazed by their unexpected success. “Kapag matutulog na kami, minsan napag-kukwentuhan namin ang nakaraan at napapaiyak pa rin kami sa dami ng dinanas namin [At night before sleeping we sometimes talk about the past and can’t help but be emotional over what we went through].”
Milagros proudly showcasing the most popular products from her rattan handicrafts portfolio.
She adds: “Pag di nag-click ang isang negosyo, try and try lang hanggang sa may mag-click at ’yun ang pagtuunan mo ng pansin [If one business does not click, keep trying until you find one that does, then give it all your attention].”
At the same time, she says people can consider seeking financial assistance from microfinance firms, like she did, but warns: “Huwag lang nilang uunahin ang pagbili ng damit, appliance, at iba pang luho. Ang puhunan ay hindi dapat galawin at dapat lang ilaan sa negosyo para lumago. [They should not use the money for luxuries like clothes or appliances, only for expanding their business].”
Wise words, indeed, that aspiring entrepreneurs will do well to remember.
(From Business World Online)