The second in a family of six, Rey Calooy—whose last name actually means "pitiful" in Bisaya-was born in the agricultural town of Libagon, Southern Leyte. Not an auspicious beginning, but through hard work, Rey went from selling scraps to supplying companies like Starbucks, Bo's Coffee, Jollibee, Chowking, and Manila Hotel, among others. Now he is helping spread the secret of his success.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Rey's father was a farmer, and his mother helped augment the family income by selling bibingka on the side. By the time he was in grade 4, Rey, too, had to contribute. "'Pag manghingi ako ng pera, hindi ako bibigyan. [I was told:] Kailangan magtrabaho ka, kailangan tumulong." Rey would go with his mother to the local cockpits to sell the rice cakes, and collected bottles and other scrap to sell at junk shops, earning a peso for each day from his earnings. "Nakita ko dun, 'Ah, masarap pala mag-work hard!'" Rey learned that when you work hard and you sacrifice, "there's always a reward."
After Rey graduated from high school, his mother told him that they had no money to send him to college. However, she allowed him to cross the waters to Cebu to try his luck. Rey had an aunt there who had a store at Carbon Market, and he could work as a helper there and in the household.
In 1986, 16-year-old Rey packed his belongings and boarded the boat to Cebu City. He worked as a porter at Carbon Market during the day, and as a helper at his aunt's house at night. Later, asking his uncle for permission to study, he was allowed to take night classes, and was advised to take up accountancy, because "kahit punerarya, may accounting." Rey heeded his uncle's advice and enrolled at the University of Cebu.
To make everything fit into his schedule, Rey worked tirelessly every single day; it would be midnight when his head would hit the pillows, and he would still wake up at 3 am to work at the market. "Tatlong oras lang ang tulog ko, kaya inaantok ako sa klase," Rey recalls. Still, he took three subjects per semester and enrolled during summer term as well.
Aside from working for his aunt and uncle, he made bookmarks and traded stationery that he sold to classmates and teachers. He was also able to sell some to supermarkets like Gaisano. That was his first exposure to such enterprise.
On his senior year, he started another sideline—as radio reporter for a local station, DYLA. "I needed more money for school expenses, and had to earn extra." And when Rey finally graduated in October of 1990, none of his parents nor siblings were at the ceremony, as Rey did not want his parents to spend on traveling to Cebu and celebrating with a feast. Right after graduation, he went home and told his parents: "I graduated yesterday, dala ko pa ang toga ko para dito nalang tayo magpa-picture." Being practical would stick with him through his adult life.
UNSURE FUTURE
Before Rey graduated, fearing that he would not be able to find a job, he sent out 50 application letters to different companies. But after graduation, he was hired as a radio reporter. "Though the salary was small, I was okay with it because I came from having nothing." He lived on his own and got by for a while, even hosting Youth Forum, a weekly program.
When he was retrenched from the radio station in 1991, Rey reviewed the replies of ten companies out of the 50 applications he sent out. Since he wanted to go into sales, he took the job at a pharmaceutical company that assigned him to work in Metro Manila. He was eventually assigned to the Mindanao office, and then to the Visayas office. When, in March 1995, the company wanted to promote him to assistant sales manager, Rey decided it was time for him to resign. "'Naisip ko: 'di naman ako magiging may-ari nito."
What gave him confidence was his promising enterprise. One day in 1994, as he was on a jeepney from Talisay to Cebu City on his way to work, he observed children who were selling rags to drivers for P1 each. He thought of innovating: selling rags not to drivers but to a new market. He found out that exporters of wrought iron furniture used the same rags. Rather than buy from hardware stores, he wanted them to buy from him instead. He found out where the rags were being made (as part of a company's livelihood program) and convinced the person in charge to let him market the rags. "That was where my communication skills, honed from working on radio, came in," he says. Since he did not have any money to use as capital, he was able to get the rags with 15-days terms.
Rey did the math. The cooperative sold the rags at P15 per kilo. The exporters bought rags from hardware stores at 30 a kilo. He could sell them at 25 per kilo and make a P10 profit for each kilo. Now, one company would order up to 100 kilos a week, and through referrals, he supplied rags to more and more companies. "When I computed it, what I earned became even more than my salary!"
He did not stop there. He tried to find out from the purchasers what other needs they had. They looked to him to supply allied products like lacquer thinner. With this, he made P100 from each tin. An average of 20 tins per week resulted in P2,000 a week for him, on top of earnings from supplying rags.
BOLD STEPS
So it was that RNC Marketing was born, and the family went from a one-room affair where they would share floor space with rags and other products to an apartment at their present location in Tambunok, Talisay City, just a few minutes from Cebu City.
Rey continued to look for other business ventures. He thought about supplying to hotels. He tried to find out what it was that they needed. They told him they needed sugar, coffee, and creamer in sachets. Their supply from Manila was frequently delayed. From his savings, Rey found the supplier in Manila and became the distributor in Cebu. He would get the shipment from the pier and deliver them to the hotels. Tourism started to boom in Cebu, and hotels and resorts provided good business.
However, inevitably, shipments were delayed. This led Rey to ask: what machine did they use to make those sachets? He researched online and found just what he was looking for-on a website of a company based in Taiwan. After further research, he was referred to their distributor in Metro Manila. He made plans to make the trip when he was informed that the company was participating in a machinery exhibit in Ayala Center Cebu, saving him time and money.
When he saw the automated form-fill-and-seal machine in action, Rey was overjoyed. It was exactly what he was looking for. Until he saw the price tag: P300,000. He collected brochures, and decided to save—though it was still a big question mark how long he would have to work to save enough money. Months? Years, maybe? He approached banks, but they would not grant him a loan. "Kawawa talaga 'yung mga maliliit na negosyante," his eyes cloud over as he says this.
Around that time, his wife's parents sold some land in Cebu, and he asked if they could borrow the money, with interest. He issued them a postdated check and was able to contact the office in Manila to order a machine. The repacking machine has an output of 100 pieces a minute, or up to 96,000 per day. The sugar was not hard to find, as there are two azucareras in Cebu, and Negros is very near. Rey bought in bulk from wholesalers and dealers.
When Rey set his sights on expanding in Manila, he chose to knock on the door of the Manila Hotel. "I sold the sachets to them at cost. My goal was to make them a model customer." Other companies followed. He now supplies sugar and cream sachets to branches of Starbucks, Bo's Coffee, and Figaro nationwide. 
ShareThis Average (0 Votes)  |
No comments:
Post a Comment