Before he joined the Kapatid Mentor Micro Enterprise (KMME) Program, Sir Jerry was an Overseas Filipino Worker for four (4) years. He was forced to go back to the Philippines due to coup d’etat in a Southeast Asian country which affected his employment. Then he started retailing business and operated five (5) pasalubong stores for seven (7) years. However, he closed two (2) stores due to lack of supply of products to be sold.
He joined the KMME Program through a friend’s referral. He got interested with the mentoring sessions because he was expecting to learn how to properly run his remaining pasalubong stores.
Throughout the 10 module sessions, he was a retailer of different food products. Since they were advised to bring product samples every session, he was challenged to manufacture his own food product. He joined a bazaar after the graduation and introduced buko cassava de leche. He got an idea to innovate the usual cassava cake because he wanted to be different from his competitors which sell famous delicacies in Los Baños, thus, he combined them into one product.
“Unexpected ang naitulong sa akin ng KMME Program. Noong nasabi sa akin ng KMME classmate ko na nagkaroon siya ng extra income worth ₱50,000 a month dahil sa pagbebenta ng product ko, doon ko na-realize na profitable sa akin at sa ibang tao ang sarili kong produkto. Two months after the KMME Graduation, nadagdagan ang sales ko ng 70% dahil sa buko cassava de leche. Masasabi kong impact ito ng KMME Program dahil na-motivate akong gumawa ng sarili kong produkto. Bukod sa sales increase, ang isa pa sa pinakanatutunan ko sa KMME Program ay paying forward to community. Hindi ako nagdadalawang-isip na tanggapin sa trabaho ang isang tao kahit kulang sila sa pinag-aralan, o kahit na nanay siya ng buong angkan nila dahil siya lang ang breadwinner. Dahil naniniwala ako na may kapasidad pa rin silang magtrabaho at may pakiramdam ako na siya ‘yung tao na magiging loyal. Sa papamamagitan ng aking negosyo, natutulungan ko sila sa pagbuhay sa kanilang mga pamilya. At dahil din sa KMME Program, marami na ring opportunities ang dumating sa akin gaya ng OTOP Next Gen, HAFFI, at Sibol Pitching.”♦
Date of Release: 18 November 2019