Family businesses aren’t a sure thing. Some last for many decades, while others go pffft when the second or third generation members take the helm.

One family business that’s gaining strength as the years go by is the jewelry business of the Sarabia-Gorriceta family of Iloilo. Amparo Sarabia started a jewelry store in Iloilo. Later on, her eldest daughter, Dr. Sandra Sarabia-Gorriceta (an optometrist following the footsteps of her grandfather, Dr. Federico Sarabia, the first optometrist in the Philippines), also went into the jewelry/pawnshop business with her own shop, the SS Gorriceta, which now has three stores in Iloilo. Now Dr. Sandra’s son, Felix Gorriceta III, is following tradition, heading the jewelry chain store Karat World.

“Growing up in Iloilo, I was exposed early to the business. I have a brother and a sister, but I was the only one interested in the jewelry business,” shares Felix. He recounts that when he was in grade 1 or 2, he already knew how to open the store vault. In high school, he helped out in the store, and listened in when his mom talked with suppliers.
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IT ALL started with a dream among friends. Karen Marek, Cielo Bulos, and Maya Madarang-Tababa were ‘hopeless romantics.’ “Cielo and I were not married yet at the time and we had ideas of what we wanted for our weddings,” says Karen, a former TV and movie star with the screen name Karen Timbol.

Since Karen and her then boyfriend (now husband) Ariel Atendido were mounting fashion shows and corporate events through their company Exuberance, it wasn’t far-fetched for them to venture into wedding planning and coordination as well. Karen broached the idea to Cielo and Maya who were with her in the single parents ministry of Christ’s Commission Fellowship, and the two agreed to join her and Ariel in a wedding planning business, after they prayed about it.

When they told people about their plans, many discouraged them in pursuing the business. “’It’s very detailed,’ they said. But the desire was there,” says Karen. Soon Blushing Bride the business was born in October 2005 with the tagline “We do your I do.”
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Sorry for the delay, guys. Here is the second installment of the 12 Rules for Microenterprise Success that the Academy of Creating Enterprise (based in Cebu City) teaches its students. I find that these principles are short and sweet and very much adapted to the Filipino setting (like “Don’t “eat” your inventory”). Students of ACE know these by heart; they memorize them and have a little pamphlet of this in their wallets.

If you are interested in part 1, click on this link.

7. Keep good records

One of the important ways to grow a business is to keep simple records. A small business should keep track of five things everyday: cash-on-hand, money you owe, the amount people owe you, sales for the day and the value of your inventory.

“Winners keep track of results, losers keep track of excuses.”
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