At the age of 29 in a small shared apartment and a garage in Malate, I began to dream… made it a reality and kept it going. 17 years after, I am lost. I hope you can help me.
Edwina “Weena” Leyran’s call for help made us fish her out of the applications we received for business mentoring. Like many exporters, Weena is hurting from the steep appreciation of the peso against the dollar and the onslaught of a virulent price war with China, which in recent years has become the world’s factory.
It hasn’t always been this hard. Weena recalls enjoying plump demand from American importers and department store retailers and confectionary manufacturers who use her boxes as premium packaging for their goods. Her decorative boxes made their way to Spain, France and the Middle East. She believes that the quality of her products, timely deliveries and a good sense of creativity and professionalism allowed the company to breach the $1-million mark in sales in 1999.
“The years that followed, however, saw a steady decline in the orders that were coming in. A major cause was the stiff competition with China where our designs and concepts were being copied and sold at as much as 70 percent of our selling price. I believe in our designs and our capabilities but what good will it do if we cannot sell at the right price?” Weena says.
She responded to the challenge by trimming down her workforce by more than half and trying to find new niche markets, even locally. Some of her local clients include a wine company which orders wine canisters from her every year, a big pharmaceutical company and a telecoms firm.
Weena hopes that the business mentoring activity will help her figure out which road to take through an honest and professional assessment of where it stands. She is hoping that it will inspire the company with fresh marketing direction and revive the glory days of brisk sales.
“I once dreamed. Now, that dream has been passed on to people who’ve worked for and with me for so long. Some sixteen years. Most of them, ten to twelve years. I cannot fail them nor wane in hope that there is a way to be back on track,” Weena says.
Is there hope for companies like Sigel and for dreamers like Weena who is pained with the possibility of hanging the towel? If she gets into the business mentoring session, we will all find out
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You may vote for Weena by commenting on this blog and letting your thoughts be heard. Unfortunately, we will only be choosing eight candidates who will be receiving expert advice from our consultant Willy E. Arcilla for one year. Our panel of judges will be choosing the final eight based on their business propositions, overall personalities and commitment to the business and your votes. We will give one last day for voting today and Thursda, we announce the final eight.
If you want to review the other candidates, follow the links below.
Rica Pawnshop and Jewelry Store
Cancer Council of the Philippines
QMA Outsource Corp.
Comteq Computer & Business College
Mandilu
(Business Mentoring is a one-year project by Open For Business of INQUIRER.net. The eight businesses that will be chosen from those who applied by email will be mentored by Willy Arcilla, regional director of ZMG Signium Ward Howell and president of Business Mentors Inc. Willy is an industrial economist from the UA&P-CRC with a 25 year career in corporate planning, marketing, sales and general management across Asia-Pacific, and is a recipient of the Agora Award for Marketing Excellence.)
