Selling what one believes in makes a good livelihood
MANILA, Philippines - Alina Sabang was an ordinary housewife who never thought she’d be able to start, much less manage and grow, a business such as the successful one she owns today.
“I had zero knowledge and experience in business,” admitted Sabang. An opportunity came knocking in 2008 when a fellow churchgoer offered to finance a small retail business and asked Sabang and her husband to look after it. She recalls being hesitant about accepting the offer, knowing the immense responsibility she would be putting on her shoulders. But there were bills to be paid and children that had to be sent to school, so the offer for a livelihood came at the most opportune time.
“Pinagkatiwalaan ako, kaya sabi ko sa sarili ko, bakit hindi ko subukan? (They trusted me, so I told myself, why don’t I try?).” Banking on sheer guts, Sabang opened a small grocery store in her community of Kaybiga, Valenzuela, in May of the same year. The store had very limited items as they started off with modest capital, she recalled. Aside from the basic household essentials like toiletries and condiments, RC Cola was one of the first items on their shelves.
They had been patrons of the cola brand long before the idea of going into business came up, Sabang recounted, so when it was time to choose a softdrink brand to offer customers, they didn’t think twice about getting RC Cola. Overseeing the daily operations of the store, she observed how passersby would frequently walk in and buy a bottle of RC Cola to relieve their thirst. “Many people would buy it because it quenches thirst for a low price,” she explained in the vernacular. It is their bestselling cola brand to date, she said, breaking into a smile.
What Sabang lacked in business knowledge, she made up for in perseverance and hard work. She would constantly take inventory to make sure that the store had sufficient amount of stock to meet the demands of consumers, yet not too much for capital to be tied up unnecessarily. She ensures the store is tidy and well-lighted, and that items are neatly arranged to facilitate easy access. They may sound simple but such practices should not be forgotten, she explained. The 43-year-old retailer, albeit unschooled in formal business classes, knew the value of customer service on instinct. She emphasized the need to be courteous to customers and to offer them the best value for their money.
“You can depend on RC Cola for that,” she says about the distributors that regularly do the routing in their area. “They never forget to update me on the promos and deals.” Promos and deals that, without a doubt, translate to bigger profits for the store. It also ensures the item remains within easy reach price-wise for the common consumer. Fortunately, the grocery business has proven to be sustainable even in difficult times. While Sabang recognizes that the hard work she put into the business did matter, she also points to the importance of picking the right brands to display and having the right people for support.
Since RC Cola’s entry into the local beverage market in 2003, ARC Refreshments Corporation — the licensed manufacturer and distributor of RC Cola in the Philippines — has endeavored to provide consumers with products that don’t scrimp on quality. The local softdrink brand remains on a par with international standards set by RCCI, its global parent brand established in Columbus, Georgia. And while staying true to its commitment to provide quality refreshments at a low price, ARC has also found ways to give back to the communities in which it operates, through entrepreneurial and livelihood opportunities such as RC Cola dealership and retailing.
ARC continues to cater to the demands of both city centers and other regions and has created thousands of job opportunities for Filipinos — from employees to dealers, and retailers at the grassroots level. Stories like those of Alina Sabang illustrate this spark of hope and a chance for the common Filipino to make a dignified livelihood, one bottle at a time.
