Gina Paris, whose business is in souvenir-making,
advises fellow microentrepreneurs like her not to
give up despite the hardships they face.
The first thing
that people look for when
they go to a new place is a
souvenir; a remembrance
that at least once in their
lifetime they had been to
that specific place. Fortyone-year-old Gina Paris
of Itogon, Benguet earns
a living by banking on the
idea of souvenirs.
Gina had no prior background in souvenir-making. She went
through the process of
trial and error. At first, she
tried making crochet coin
purses. However, upon realizing that the production
took too long, she shifted
her focus to making key
chains. This type of souvenir is patronized by tourist because they can be
bought in bulk at an affordable price. They are also
offered in different designs
and are very handy.
She handles everything about her business, from purchasing materials to delivering items.
Her children occasionally
assist her when they are
not in school, but she does
most of the work. As she stated, her five years in
this business have been a
mix of joy and hardship. It
was difficult in the beginning because most stores
did not want to display her
items, but quitting is out
of the choice. She continues to offer her keychains
until she found her suki
in Mines View Park and
in the marketplace. As a
result, it becomes easier
for her to sell her items; in
fact, she has been delivering her creations weekly,
depending on the number
of orders she receives.
Aside from her
hard work, CARD Bank
also aided her greatly because she was able to use her loan to increase her business’s capital. She has been a CARD Bank member since 2014 simply because as she said, CARD Bank has good
management practices
and the interest rate is
lower compared to others. She intends to grow
her business more in the
coming years with the assistance of the institution.
It is always the hard work
that bears the fruit of success. It might take a little
while to achieve what one
desires but everything will
surely pay off just like what
happened with Gina Paris.
PR
