Breaking through with balut

She ventured into territory seemingly ignored by many and ended up doing remarkably well.

Milagros Dorado, an average mother who wanted to be a good provider, had a little start-up capital but a big desire to earn more when she initially tried her luck in entrepreneurship.

She started duck-raising and balut (duck egg) production, and supplying eggs to balut makers in the town centers of Asuncion, Kapalong and in Tagum City.

It was hard at first as she had to be very observant on how the business runs but she remained determined to provide a better means of livelihood for her family.

Years later, Dorado was able to buy a residential lot of around 1,000 square meters and farmland measuring 1.2 hectares. She was also able to send her children to school. The eldest son is a graduate of an agricultural course. She also bought farm machinery such as tiller and threshes. A modest house stands on her residential lot and the family now owns a motorcycle.

Apart from duck-raising, she now buys whole or unhusked coconuts from local farmers, processes the coconut meat into copra and converts the coconut shells into charcoal. Dried copra is delivered and sold to traders in Tagum City. Charcoal is sold to barbecue vendors in the town centers. As a means to help her neighbors in the city, she employs six out-of-school youths as caretakers of her 1,500 ducks.

Despite the success of her enterprises, Dorado still sees huge opportunities in the horizon. Since duck-raising can be very dependent on the season, Dorado wants to give priority to her copra processing and palay trading business. She plans to expand it in the days to come.

Aling Mila, as she is fondly called by her townsfolk, also serves as chair of the Irrigators Association in her barangay. She is the current treasurer of the Women’s Club in the barangay and she once served as auditor of the electric cooperative, local chapter.

For her inspiring entrepreneurial story, Dorado will be conferred the Maunlad Award (National Category) in this year’s Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year (MOTY) Awards, slated on Nov. 13 at the BSP Galleria, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, by Citi Country Head Sanjiv Vohra, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco and Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III. The Maunlad Award is given to microentrepreneurs that have grown a business to a level that is now generating employment for people apart from household or family members.

In partnership with the Microfinance Council of the Philippines and the Go Negosyo advocacy of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, the 2007 MOTY Awards is a project of Citigroup Inc., one of the world’s largest financial services organizations. The program’s pilot run was conducted in 2002, during the celebration of Citi’s centennial year in the Philippines. The awards aim to elevate awareness of and provide support for microfinance by recognizing outstanding microentrepreneurs.