A MOMPRENEUR’S JOURNEY

OUR society has long moved on from the time when women’s rights were limited and they were even prohibited from establishing a business as their roles were relegated to being a housewife. But even in today’s modern standards, the capability of women being entrepreneurs is not yet fully appreciated or even accepted in some cases.

For housewife, Antonia C. Ecoben, the need for additional income to support her family was the driving factor for her to try selling her homemade turmeric powder as processing turmeric powder was already a skill she learned from her mother. In the beginning, they were making it for their own consumption. Later on, she started selling small amounts or “tingi” to their neighbors until such time their barangay became aware of her products. She decided to also make ginger powder as suggested by one of her nieces who came for a visit and bought her products as”pasalubong”. From then on, she knew that her products have selling potential but she didn’t know where to start.

On one occasion, she was invited as a participant during an Entrepreneurship Seminar conducted by Negosyo Center Salcedo. At which point, she came to many realizations on how she could expand her current customers and improve her products. Seeking the assistance of Negosyo Center Salcedo, she was able to change her packaging from the usual iced water wrappers into stand-up pouches and canisters and register her business. Further, she asked assistance for the layout of her product label which greatly improved the marketability of her products.From then on, she was able to access more of the programs and services of DTI and Negosyo Centers especially trainings and seminars and participating in local trade fairs.

At present, she is already generating an average saleof Php 10,500.00 per month attributed to her products gaining a steady market in the municipality of Salcedo and even on outside municipalities which is a big improvement from her Php 2,000.00 starting capital. But for this “mompreneur”, this is only the start in the road to success of Antonia’s Food Products, vowing to continue working on the improvement of her products and aiming to penetrate larger markets in the country and beyond. Further, because she is her own boss, she is still able to dedicate time for her family and is able to prove that being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean that you have to stop being a housewife because often-times, you can do both.