Success comes to those who work hard and never give up, so the saying goes, and fish vendor Luzviminda Sunit of Medellin, Cebu is one shining example.
Sunit, fondly called “Nanay Luz”, was recently named Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year National Awardee, a far cry from her early days as a fish vendor with an initial capital of P4,000.
Launched in 2002, the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards (CMA) is a nationwide search for outstanding microentrepreneurs in the country organized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Citi Philippines, and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Inc.
“I would take the basin full of fish and peddle it around town to make a sale,” Nanay Luz recalled her humble beginnings in 1975, adding that she eventually ventured into making dried fish, commonly known as “buwad” in Cebuano.
Her determination, optimism, and confidence were Sunit’s strongest weapons, but she also received some major push from First Agro-Industrial Rural Bank (FairBank) in Bogo City, Cebu where she was able to get a loan to help expand her business.
FairBank, whose primary focus is to address the needs of rural communities by offering banking services for micro, small and medium enterprises, is an affiliate of City Savings Bank.
Since then, Nanay Luz’s business has soared to greater heights – with her product now available in the local public markets of Medellin and Bogo, as well as in Leyte.
She now has over 20 workers, including some who lost their regular jobs during the pandemic.
The success of Sunit’s business also paved the way for the realization of her dreams, including owning properties and the completion of her children’s education.
Resilience is another trait that has been synonymous with Nanay Luz that, even when the current public health crisis struck, she was unperturbed and instead became more innovative in her business approach.
“We had to shift to delivering directly to our customers to make better sales,” she said.
