MANILA, Philippines - If you ask Mercy Abayan, or Tia Mercy, how her bag business, Romina’s Bags, became successful, this incredibly down-to-earth lady will answer in her typical down-to-earth way, “It was just luck.” But a look at her story reveals it was a little bit more than that.
“I started out as a working student,” Tia Mercy narrates. “I went to PCC (now PUP), studying typing-steno. Then, after school hours, I would go to my aunt’s place to cut material for the wallets and bags she was producing. Later that same day, I would bring those bags and wallets to Quiapo and Central Market and sell them to the vendors there.”
That was in the early ’70s. In 1977, she got married, and in 1978, she and her husband started their own wallet business with a little capital and no business plan whatsoever. “You could say we just fell into the business by chance,” she says. “We just got lucky.”
She says that since she already knew how to cut material, they simply hired another person to do the sewing while her husband cut the patterns. She also designed the wallets, getting inspiration just by looking at the products of other wallet manufacturers. “We started with just wallets,” she said.
“What made you go into bags?” we asked.
The bags, it turns out, were born out of necessity. When the wallets from China came flooding into the country at prices even lower than Mercy’s already very cheap ones — her coin purses could be bought for as low as P4 apiece — she decided it was time to venture into bags.
At the same time, she also looked for ways to compete with China’s prices. “We went searching for cheaper materials. Our bags are made of leatherette, canvas or cotton, and cost only P30 to P120 each. These are very inexpensive bags that companies buy for promotional giveaways.”
She did not give up on the wallets, either. “We made our wallets cheaper by putting in fewer compartments. The China wallets have too many compartments anyway,” she laughs.
She admits that the business had its ups and downs. “The coming in of China products hurt our business,” she admits, “but luckily, we’ve always had orders. That’s something I’ve always been very mindful about. We should never run out of work to do. When we’re about to finish an existing order, I go out myself to give out samples, and actively look for new clients.”
Recently, they also put up a website, www.RominasBags.com, so that they can reach out to more people using the Internet. “Plantersbank affiliate SME.com.ph designed the site for us,” Mercy says. “We have been a long-time client of Plantersbank and through them, we got introduced to SME.com.ph.”
Does Tia Mercy plan to have her own stall or branches someday?
“Oh,” she says, “I have no plans of expansion, but if that’s what fate has for me, I have no objections,” she says in her characteristic self-effacing way. “As long as we always have work to do, I’m happy. Anyway, we already have everything we need.
“I’m not really much of a bag person,” she confides. “I seldom buy bags for myself, and I never buy expensive ones. I guess that’s one reason why our business is able to grow. We don’t spend a lot. Our biggest personal expense is on food!” she laughs.
For those wanting to venture into their own business, Mercy advises, “Treat people right. I treat my workers and clients the same way I want to be treated myself. I also tell my workers that when they are making a bag, they should always ask themselves, ‘Would I buy a bag that looks like this?’ If their answer is no, then they should not expect others to buy it either.
“Of course, hard work hard and perseverance are a given. I also pray every morning. It never hurts to have luck on your side,” she beams.
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To learn more about Romina’s Bags, visit www.rominasbags.com or e-mail info@rominasbags.com. To know more out more about website design services for small- and medium-scale enterprises, visit www.SME.com.ph.