I started out small, and alone actually. Building the shops name to what it is now, all by myself and will always be thankful to the people who have helped me along the road. Actually, I thank them via SMS or FB message every March 22, to simply remind them that, number 1, longevity is still on the top of our list as we enter the 11th year, and 2: that I am completely and utterly thankful of their help since the day the actual idea was conceptualized. It was, in many ways a long road for me, being the independent person that I am, I completely exiled myself from the easy route, from a big salary or extra allowances I would have from my parents. Rather, I lived independently, financially on most cases, and survived from what I earn in my business, and even questioned and prayed on what possible future I would have by doing this. Nowadays its not actually about pride anymore, of being able to do such, or reach this height. Its actually being thankful to God, to what I have reached at this stage in my life and more importantly, being able to employ and feed their families. Ganun na ngayun. Magisa, at wala ng iba. That is my edge, nothing more, nothing less
Its amazing that sometimes, as tight as the competition gets, all you have to do is carefully detail and explain to the client your background and why you know what you are doing.Through that, by telling whats true and never going for a hard sell, you gain the client's trust and you make him realize things even without having to explain or narrate to him. This is about an unfortunate experience I had, kinda nightmare-ish if you ask me. Imagine your client being led to the competing shop, bringing the stuff he bought from you, asking advice from the competing shop and receiving negative views I guess you already know. Our edge this time is that we have been doing our job since 2007, another edge would be a motorsports background wherein we can share an ideal street or track wheel and suspension setup for him, actually based from the people we deal with from FORS and Touge. Lastly is proofing, by using our elaborate and orderly album and wide inventory of pictures, we have a clear cut illustration on why is this and that, and what fits and what doesn't. The problem with other sellers is that they rely on habits and hearsay. That whatever is applied to the other one, can also be applied to the next client. No actual data. no figures to prove. I guess that is the result of a generation who never "searched". That knowledge is mostly sourced from Facebook and a few reads from FB pages and groups. Truly, the ones who have labored through the forum days exhibit much diligence and persistence. Our connections and roots in the North is also a key and essential part of dealing and serving clients in the South. A simple example would be these A**** tires which were bing sold to my client for 2*,000.00 Pesos, only to reveal to him that such is only being sold by our friend's tireshop at Banawe at only 14,400 for a set. Ang saklap diba.
Napakasimple lang ng ginawa ko, I built it myself, I rented a space and never relied or asked favor by using my parents huge warehouse or lot for operations, paid my taxes, delivered the stuff by myself, I also did the accounting by myself. I had an old, small brown table and called myself plainly a "manager" Some business are built with love and passion for the sport, that each day you really look forward to rather than tire out or burn out from.
