Trayline Corporation is a multi-million enterprise that began as a rattan tray trader and later diversified and expanded into furniture production. Its products cater to the high end market here and abroad and can be found in a plush showroom cum coffee shop at Eastwood, Quezon City known as Unna Moebel.
Trayline owners Joel and Farida Aguiluz will not hesitate to say their business is not an overnight success. In fact, if they were faint-hearted they would have junked their business aspirations as early as their first weeks in business.
The following is an account of the frustrations they met when they were first starting out:
In the late 1970s, Joel found himself looking for a job, without too much success, after a stint as OFW in Saudi Arabia. For her part, Farida tried to help by tending a sari-sari store and going into small-scale trading.
It was Farida who showed more enthusiasm when her sister Rose, who works with a locally-based buying office for big companies in Switzerland, approached the couple one day with a business offer.
Rose had an order for 400 rattan trays from Germany and was looking for a manufacturer. “Why don’t I pass this on to you. You look for a tray maker,” she told the couple. She then handed them a sample of the tray she wanted: round, with handles and a base of capiz shells.
Farida went to Paranaque to begin her search for tray makers. While combing Quirino Avenue, her attention got caught by a man carrying a rattan tray similar to the sample Rose gave them.
When she talked to him, the man told him he had a tray production outfit in Dasmarinas, Cavite.He did not hesitate to take Farida to the factory right then and there.
Farida was amazed at what she saw: it was a small backyard, with several people at work using blowtorches and hammers. She thought the work looked so simple.
The next day, Farida, accompanied by Joel, went back to Dasmarinas to pay the man a down payment of P20 thousand so that work could be started immediately.
A week later, the couple dropped by the workplace, only to find work on their order had not started. They visited everyday, to no avail. The man just gave them one alibi after another.
Since there was no end to the excuses and the delivery date for their trays was drawing near, the couple cancelled their order and asked for a refund. The man wouldn’t budge; the couple had to ask help from friends to forcibly get rattan poles and other materials equivalent to the down payment they gave.
Meanwhile, Farida was frantically looking for another manufacturer who could bail them out from their predicament. It was sheer luck that led her to a Mr. Benigno, a former production supervisor of an established rattan products exporter in Cainta, Rizal.
At the end of their talk, they agreed Farida would rent a production area, buy all the materials needed, and make available blow torches, gas, hammers, and all other equipment needed to produce the order. Mr. Benigno would organize the work force from craftsmen he had worked with.
Like magic, the 12 sq meter backyard of the bungalow Farida rented in Kasibulan, Cainta, was transformed into a mini factory. The couple were fascinated to see how the experienced workers did the job. They made it look so easy — from bending the rattan poles to shape, smoothing the surfaces, attaching the handles and the laminated capiz, to finishing. Since there was not enough room for spraying, the trays were lined in the streets to be lacquer-sprayed. Neighbors began to complain and Farida had to assure them they would stop work as soon as the order was complete.
It took six workers working day and night one week to finish the trays.
When Farida informed her sister Rose they were ready to deliver the trays, Rose looked pleased but said she would have them inspected. Farida and Joel were not prepared for this. Much less were they prepared for the volume of rework they had to do, as a big number of the trays were rejected.
When the last tray was approved and finally sent out, the couple had almost no profit to speak of. But they were happy to have been able to deliver on their commitment.
The experience also taught them valuable lessons that served them well as they struggled and grew as entrepreneurs.
“Make good your commitments,” they would advice newbie entrepreneurs. “If you want repeat orders to come your way, be sure you honor your commitments. Do not promise what you cannot deliver.”
They might as well have added: “Don’t let initial setbacks discourage you.” Obstacles are par for the course.
Photo: from www.tootoo.com