Chapter 27
No Job. We Started
Small Business, Making and
Selling Salted Peanuts
My letter of
resignation from CPBC due to conflict with its leadership was effective after 60 days.
This will gave me a little time to settle all the needed documents that
I will endorsed to the leadership. I would like to leave my work with all responsibilities turned over to the leaders who will take over my responsibilities..
Because, I have no work, we planned with my wife,
to start a little business in 1988.
We need to earn something for our food and other daily needs. We have two young children, the eldest 2 ½ years old and the 2nd,
was 5 months. I knew, it will will be hard to start work
with a church, given the recent
situations. It was hard to get employed
again.
I cannot think
of anything to earn an income, except sales.
Selling something to eat was, I
think, easier than selling
intangible things, like insurance.
That time, I have no money even
for transportation. It was hard to be jobless.
I talked
with my wife, Hesther. “We
are now jobless.
Our children were still small.
They need milk and good food. What do you think? Can we start a small
business to make a living? I think a
small business is a way for us. Let us have a dynamcis.Waht shall we do?”
We studied
our alternatives.
Then, Hesther said. “ Let us make
Salted Peanuts and Banana
Cakes. We have made these before. We know to bake
Banana Cakes.We will make Salted Peanuts and Banana Cakes at
home. Daday will help us make the, with Nato.” Daday was helped cares for our boys. Nato, was
a student in high school, who stayed with and helped us in some works.
Hesther with Nato
and Daday will help make Salted Peanuts and Banana Cakes. Will
also pay them.They will produce. I will take charge of selling.
Few months ago, we made
Salted Peanuts” and Banana Cakes.
We made just few pieces. We trained two Grade 4 students at Guihaman-Buntatala
Elementary School to sell our Salted Peanuts and Banana Cakes. The 2 students bring them to their classes.
During recess, the sold these to their classmates.
Every afternoon, the two girls, bring back the amount sold. We gave them their share. The
two students love their work. Every day they have little money. And they have a
free snack. They can get either a Banana Cake or a pack of Salted Peanuts.
I
made plans how to sell them at CPU, Jaro Plaza, Lapaz, Molo, Mandurriao, and Iloilo City.
We
made Salted Peanuts Saturday afternoons. We made Banana Cakes Sunday evenings. We deliver them
Monday mornings. Then we made Banana Cakes Wednesday mornings for delivery Thursday
mornings. Salted Peanuts can go on for a week. Banana
Cakes only for 3 days.
Hesther
manages our productions. Nato and
Dayday assist her. I do the selling
alone. I will just carry the products inside two Paper Bags.
I carried it in a public jeepneys.
We
have three kinds of salted peanuts. The “Ordinary
Salted Peanuts”. The “Hot
Salted Peanuts”. And the “Extra
Hot Salted Peanuts”. The very hot salted peanuts were
intended for those who
drink bear and liquors. We put
native peppers on our salted peanuts. The many the small peppers, the more hotter, the salted peanuts became.
The
returned Banana Cakes, I brought home as feeds for our two piglets.
I bought 2 paper bags to put the the items. Then, I rode a jeepney to the
stores. I carry the two paper bags to
the passenger jeepenys and deliver our
products to possible sales outlets. There were different outlets opened for our
venture – big, medium, small and very
small outlets around Iloilo City. We also deliver our salted peanuts and banana cakes to sidewalk
vendors.
I
studied the expanse and strategy for selling our products. We started with stores at the front of CPU. Then we enter
CPU Student Enterprise and some stores within CPU. At the
back of CPU, near the church, there were many homes and some stores. We
delivered Salted Peanuts and Banana Cakes to them on consignment.
At Jaro
Plaza and around, we sold to sidewalk venders. We consigned to them our products. Every Monday and Thursday. And made collections. We got back the unsold and bring home to our
pigs.
We
consigned our
products to 2 Iloilo Mission
Hospital canteens. There were several
stores at the back of the hospital.
There we consigned our
products. We delivered at 3
canteens of Iloilo National High School,
two canteens at Don Benito
Hospital, two canteens each at West Visayas State College and
Western Institute of Technogy. We
delivered also our products to street vendors along the way.
Inside and around La Paz Plaza and La Paz market, we were able to deliver our
goods both to small stores inside the
market and to street vendors. We delivered at
Provincial Capitol canteen, Philippine National Bank canteen, St. Paul’s Hospital canteens and at different stores along the
highway.
We delivered at the canteens of University of San Agustin, University of the Philippines-Visayas, Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital and nearby
stores like “4th of July Store” and other stores along southern street of San
Agustin University.
At Plaza Libertad we have vendors that sold
our products on the streets. We consigned at the canteens of Iloilo City Hall, Development Bank of the Philippines, to
vendors near Ker &
Brothers and vendors at the seaside
areas to the port going to Guimaras.
After six months,
we bought a 3rd Hand Jeepney
from my Mr. Reinerio Ramos, who stood as sponsors
on our weeding. We bought it for P20,000.
We paid P5,000 down payment. And
the remaining amount, payable in 6 months. We still carry our paper bags. But only from the jeepney to the stores.
The jeepney was strong. I found out, however, that
only the two rare brakes were working.
The two front brakes were disabled.
I have to make it really careful driving
in Iloilo City, with only
the rare brakes. After several weeks, I
have the front brakes repaired.
With our transportation, we expanded our small
business to Mandurriao and around the Housing Units. We proceeded to Molo. We also got business to two stores
at West Visayas Hospital in Mandurrriao. We went as far as Arevalo.
We also expanded
to the northern part of Iloilo City, down to Gran Planes Subdivision, reaching Leganes and Zarraga. We also reached out to
Pavia.
In six months
time, we have about 150 outlets selling our products. During all those time, there were
no outlets that were not able to pay the consignment we gave them. Every Monday,
our deliveries
of Salted Peanuts and Banana
Cakes were paid. And also every Thursday
our new deliveries of Banana Cakes.
Four months later,
Mrs. Rosea Saplada, the sister of Hesther in Bacolod City, started baking
Cupcakes and Brownies. She sold it to outlets in Bacolod City up to Kabankalan in south Negros. She also
delivers from Bacolod City up to Victorias, in north Negros.
She sent us,
Cupcakes and Brownies, every
Monday, for delivery in Iloilo
City. So we have new products to offer
our customers.
One time, at
Iloilo National High School, I met my former girl friend. She was going to the school canteen. We met. I was
just out from one of the canteens. I came to her. I was carrying my two Paper Bags
with some of our products. I went
to her, smiling. She looked at me. She smiled. She said. “What are you carrying? You seemed
busy? What’s that?”
I told her, I was delivering our products
Salted Peanuts, Banana Cakes, Brownies and Cup Cakes. I extended her my hands.
We shake hands. It was quite long, nearly three years, after our last meeting.
I asked her about
her husband. She told me he was alright. He was busy with his new assignments.
He was a police officer. I told her, we’re alright with my wife. We have no child yet. She told me, they have
no child also. I extend her my hands
again. Again, we shake hands. I bid her
good bye. I said, we will met again one day.
One time, at
CPU Students Enterprise,
Mrs. Tamayo, wife of CPU Vice President, saw me carrying two paper bags and putting my products at CPU Canteen. She came. “Pastor
Rudy what are you selling. Salted Peanuts? Why? You resigned from CPBC and
sold Salted Peanuts? Why?”
To boast my feelings, a little, I said.
“ Yes, Maam, I am selling Salted
Peanuts. We decided to start a small business.
"It’s hard to be an employee all our lives. We have
to punch a card, to show we were present in the morning and in the afternoon. I
have to start our own business. We will
work to make it grow and big. We produce
and sell our products all over Iloilo
City. We hope to make a million one day.” I looked at Mrs. Tamayo
and smiled. She smiled back. ”Pastor Rudy, I think you’re doing right.” I am not thinking of a
million pesos. I am thinking of a million seeds
of salted peanuts.
In less than a
year, we have about 150 outlets all over Iloilo City. Money,
just small amounts, came in tricking
twice a week – Mondays and Thursdays. The
challenge remains. It you want to make more money, go
business. But. I think, our’s was
not to make more money. Only, something, sufficient for our needs.
And, with a little success in our small business, I started to
think going into broadcast ministry again. I was in broadcast ministry
when I was Pastor of Central Maao Evangelical Church in 1973. I would like to
revive it. Speaking the Word of God, direct to people, face to face, or
reaching them through the Airlanes, were
the same. God’s words, whatever
the means, could reached minds and
hearts of people seeking for God and truth.
We prayed asking God for a way to start a
radio ministry, as He gave me at Maao Central Evangelical Church before. With a Radio Ministry, we can reached out to
churches, the members and pastors
in Iloilo, in Panay and in Negro Occidental.
We can reached out
to our Ecumenical friends. We will be able to reached our friends and partners
in the Farmers Association and the Labor Unions. We put the burden of starting
the broadcast ministry before the Lord. We believed, He will help us find a way.
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