Cebu Daily News / Enterprise

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/enterprise/view_article.php?article_id=176029

Making it big time in Carbon By Cris Evert Lato Cebu Daily News Posted date: December 04, 2008 He repeatedly failed his Filipino and Physical Education subjects in college. It did not come as a surprise that the name of Erwin Gok-ong was not in the list of graduates in March 1981. Gok-ong, who hails from barangay Magdugo in Toledo City, did not finish Mining Engineering at the Cebu Institute of Technology. Instead he got married to Saturnina Ramos at the age of 21, on the same year that he was supposed to graduate from college. “Naa man pwesto sa Carbon (market) ang pamilya sa akong asawa mao nga nakadesisyon mi magnegosyo na lang pud (My wife's family had a stall inside the Carbon market so we decided to go into business),” said Gok-ong, now 48, father of five and grandfather of two. The couple put up a sari-sari store in 1982, using the P2,000 they borrowed from Gok-ong's late grandmother, whom he fondly calls “Mama Toring.” The store was located at the most peripheral area of the market's unit 2, where previous stall owners often go bankrupt. The business did not run well between 1982 and 1986. Gok-ong decided to apply for a job in Saudi Arabia. He got accepted as a construction foreman and worked there from 1986 to 1992, while his wife ran their business in Carbon. “In 1992, I felt homesick so when I came home. I told my agency that I am not interested to go back. I'd rather stay here (in Cebu) and make the business prosper,” he told . Gok-ong and his wife went on with their sari-sari store business, selling bottles of ketchup, soy sauce and shampoo sachets. But then, he started to observe the other stores. He noticed that for the opportunities to grow, the business should focus on selling the basic needs of people such as rice grains and corn grits in volume. He then made some changes in stall by selling rice. He renamed his stall as Mariss Grains Store. His initial stocks: 10 sacks of rice. “If I buy four bottles of ketchup at P50, so that P12.50 per bottle, I can only earn a one-peso profit for each bottle. But you cannot be sure also that you can sell all of them because you have many competitors,” he said. But when he started selling rice, Gok-ong said he earned more. An 80-kilo sack of sticky rice is sold at P2,560 or P32 per kilo. He sells this at P48 per kilo. This means that he enjoys a profit of P1,280 per sack. But just when business was doing well in 1998, fire hit the Carbon market. Gok-ong’s stall was destroyed in the fire along with P800,000 worth of rice stocks, which he had not paid to Chinese traders. Gok-ong said he only had 200 sacks of rice left in his house in barangay Mambaling. “So I talked to people whom I owe money and asked if I could pay my debts on staggered basis. They agreed. At that time, we were also transferred to the relocation area, our present site,” he said. Gok-ong said he chose the stall where most people would pass by so that he could easily sell his goods and recover. Two years after, he was able to pay his debts, rebuilt his house in Mambaling and buy three more vehicles. In 2004, he was elected president of Carbon Market Vendors Development Cooperative, which obtained P60 million worth of total assets in 2007. The cooperative expects to close 2008 with P70 million of assets. Looking back, Gok-ong said it was the feeling of being a cast-away that pushed him to go out of the stall and approach people to buy his products. His attitude to be true to his word in paying debts and being prudent in spending helped in growing his business. “The trade secret in Carbon is to really sell the basic needs of the people. But you also need to look at the other businessmen.” “The principle is simple: Observe and learn from others. Do good to others because good things will be returned to you as well,” said Gok-ong.