A Dose of Training Makes a Healthy Business
Leni Dalin is a passionate community leader and successful entrepreneur in the city of Cebu, the Philippines.
Her husband works as a train operator overseas, coming home only every two to three years, leaving Leni to manage a busy household of six daughters.
Despite making a great sacrifice to work far from home, Leni’s husband’s income alone is still not enough to sustain their family.
To make ends meet, Leni began selling health products such as herbal ointments and supplements.
As Leni was struggling to launch and manage her business, she reached out for support from our LCI partner CCT Credit Cooperative and attended a Partners Worldwide Business Training.
Leni shares that the training significantly benefited her, noting that she has since begun paying herself a salary, holds a better understanding of financial management, and has learned to set boundaries between her business and family budgets.
In the Philippines, setting boundaries is one of the biggest challenges of running a business. In a culture that embraces strong loyalty to family, entrepreneurs often feel pressured, especially if they are the sole breadwinners, to provide significant financial support to extended families – often at the expense of their business.
Through attending the training and as a member of CCT, Leni has grown from being a retailer of health products on her own to handling a network of four distributors and 40 retailers, most of whom are also mothers and housewives.
Leni is earning enough now not only to provide for her family but also to employ others and contribute to the needs of her church and its children’s program.
As part of her ministry to the community, Leni started a CCT savings and fellowship group.
People who initially shied away from her because she is a Christian now come to her group to talk about business and money matters. Through CCT, Leni has not only been able to meet her financial goals but has also found new friends who encourage her. She shares:
“I know this is God’s plan. Without God, I would not be involved in this ministry and I would not run the fellowship group. The group members and CCT loan officers do this work because they believe in it. So I am encouraged to do the same.”
With such a strong role model to look up to, it is no surprise that Leni’s second eldest daughter hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
Her dream is that one day, with the help of CCT and Partners Worldwide, she too can contribute to the business enough that her father can return to Cebu – and their family will be whole again.
September 12, 2016