Once a businessman will always be a businessman. Ms. Thein Thein Oo, 46 years old, is an owner of a grocery store in Waw District. Before sh
e established her very own grocery store, she was engaged in trading. However, with the growing family that she has, she realized that the income they get from trading is not enough to survive the living.
“My husband and I have five children ages 30, 27, 24 19 and 13 respectively. My eldest and only son together with the next two eldest daughter are already married and the other two are still studying. All in all we are ten in the household. We are engaged in trading fish and crickets which is seasonal. That’s why our family needs to think of a way to generate income on a regular basis.”
Seeing the need for a nearby place where the people can conveniently get their basic needs given that the areas is a bit far from the market, Ms. Thein’s family decided to venture on a grocery store business in 2012. She decided to partner with a friend to start the business with a capital of 3 million in form of stocks/items from her partner from Thailand. She continued selling the items from Thailand until after quite some time, she was able to save money to operate the grocery by herself.
In mind 2017, CARD Myanmar CO., LTD.’s Branch Manager in Waw, Min Thura Win, approached Ms. Thein and shared about the CARD Myanmar’s products and services, as well as the mission of the company. Having the desire for continuous business expansion, she was motivated to join the group in June 2017.
“CARD, Myanmar was able to help me financially in my business expansion. I was able to avail two loan cycles which started from MMK 150,000, while my current is MMK 300,000 loan. Also, through CARD Myanmar CO., LTD., I was taught to have a discipline when it comes to saving. At present, I was able to save on a regular basis. What I like in CARD Myanmar as well is that the staff is very punctual, friendly, professional looking. The policies and guidelines are very clear.”
With the continuous effort of Ms.Daw Thein in improving her grocery store business, from zero investment (the MMK3,000,000 is her partner’s investment), she now has a capital of MMK2,000,000 and was able to manage the grocery shop all by herself. She now has the capacity to buy bulk of items from the nearby market.
At present, Ms. Daw Thein’s grocery store is the largest in their area. Her family members assist her in the business.
According to her problems are unavoidable in the business, however they were able to deal with it easily because they are already experienced and they have already learned from the past. They keep positive and so not worry about competitors because as they offer the customers variety of supplies than the competitors, which the customers prefer.
“For others who want to succeed in the business, I encourage you to have a good communication with the people around. The customers are the ones who sustain your business, so it is important to build relationship with them. Also, the key is if you want something and you do not have enough resources to fund it, think of partnering with people who trust and believe in your vision.”
