If you've read my header, you'll notice mention of the word 'sari sari.' Well, I guess I should give you a better explanation of what it is, how it benefits a community and its potential. The following, in my own words of course, is from the April 20, 2006 issue of Manila Standard Today.
The sari-sari store is a Philippine phenomenon that provides a means of livelihood for many families. A sari sari store definitely completes a neighborhood. There are even some high-end condominium units that have sari sari stores that are run privately without the knowledge (and sometimes, consent) of the building owner.
Only in the Philippines can a consumer buy 5 pesos worth of cooking oil that’s good for only one use. The same goes for other basic commodities like salt, sugar, vinegar and laundry soap.
You can think of the sari sari store like the water cooler at work - only you can buy stuff there. It is where people congregate in the morning to buy coffee, sugar and other breakfast supplies. It is where children go to in the afternoon to buy snacks and sodas.
“The trend in consumer spending is more frequent visits to neighborhood stores for daily needs and purchasing in small quantities or packs. This has led to increased demand for sari sari stores within and among neighborhood communities. However, these sari sari storeowners have not had formal training in running small businesses,” said Navneet Singh, Makro vice-president for customer development.
During a recent seminar jointly organized by Makro and Unilever Philippines, sari sari storeowners were asked, “Are you selling the right things?”
The seminar is part of a series of business lectures dubbed “Makronomics.”
“It is the first of its kind that is aimed at providing structured courses that are very targeted and relevant,” said Ralph Umali, Unilever’s key customer development manager for Makro.
“Some of these sari sari stores have grown into full-fledged groceries. With Makronomics providing tips and information, and Makro and Unilever selling low-cost quality goods, we are helping these people expand their businesses,” he said.
Singh said Makronomics helps participants improve their business management skills in a way that is simple and relevant with the use of short informative modules and workshops.
Considering the entrepreneurial spirit and sales abilities of the Filipinos the publicist Regalario wrote once: “Give a Filipino thousand pesos and he probably will use this sum as a start-up capital for a small retail business". This thesis seems to be confirmed, if you look in a typical street of a Philippine barangay. With few exceptions one sari sari store follows the other. You could gain the impression, that every house is or has a little street store - the Philippines as a jumbled cluster of small and smallest micro enterprises. The ubiquitous sari sari stores are also belonging to the typical inventory of the Philippines like the Jeepney, Barong or the Sampaguita garlands. They can provide the owners with an additional income.
Sari sari stores are often little wooden huts. A oversized billboard, emphasizing the importance, can contrast with a narrowly cut sales window. A look into the sales window shows a little room in semi-darkness filled with properly arranged goods. Here basic commodities are sold: rice, salt, sugar, preserved foods, calorie-rich candies, detergents, batteries, shampoo or floor wax. Very often soft drinks and surely also beer and gin are bestsellers. Cosmetics are bringing higher profits, so they are exposed in a favorable position. Fruits (for example bananas) and vegetables can be added, particularly if there is no “Wet Market " with fresh products in the neighborhood. A westerner might be astonished, seeing the sale of only one or two cigarettes. Sandals can be a special offer attracting possible buyers. Sometimes the exposed range of goods is thinned out to reduce the taxation by official and unofficial authorities. But the range of goods seems to be very similar even if there is a strong competition with other sari sari stores in the neighborhood. New products need further investments and the demand may be only small.
Sari saris have an important social function in everyday life. Just like the water cooler analogy above, you can hear the newest gossips and you can have a little chat. In the morning you might see women with their children, clinging on the apron strings and begging for sweets. Later, the pupils come for a Coke or a comic strip. And in the evening men can sit on benches smoking cigarettes or drinking beer and Ginebra, to help them forget the frustration of the day or to have some entertainment. With closing time the store gets very well secured... gotta protect the goodies!
Mainly, a sari sari store is a family business, which is open all day and late into the evening. For some sari saris, goods can come from a Tsinoy (Chinese-Filipino) Wholesaler or from supermarkets in the city. An important principle with regard to the volume of sold goods is: transform bulk goods into smaller quantities – so the sugar in a sack has to be redistributed in many, many little plastic bags. That’s the reason why a salesperson – if he or she is not selling or chattering – is mostly engaged in decanting, weighing and counting the goods. This sales strategy increases the profit of the storekeeper and offers to the buyer – what a wonderful world of trade - lower expenses viewed in the short term.
Sometimes you'll have people asking for credit. So now the owner has to ask: Should I give credits, and if so - to whom, what amount, and how often? Many owners try to evade this question by demonstratively putting up an information board, “ No Credit!.” But if they give no credits, they may lose buyers and if they give too much, the debtor may not come again. But despite of all information boards most sari sari shops, especially in the country side, operate as little creditors.
The Nielsen Company estimated for the year 2000, that there are round about 430 000 sari sari stores on the Philippines. If this number is nearly exact, it would mean that there is one sari sari store on 26 households. Even in the business and administration quarter of Makati there have been counted 3500 sari sari stores in 1997. But we should be skeptical about the data. The NSO-Census counted in 1975 nearly 750.000 sari sari stores, but this number decreased to miraculous 100,000 in 1996. One reason for this confusion of numbers can be that sari saris are still partly belonging to the underground economy despite pressures by the authorities responsible for registration and taxation. In 1996 there was a report that the unofficial GNP was estimated 30 – 40 % higher than the official GNP. A shop that isn't registered has a chance to evade fees and taxes.
From 1994 we have a statistic showing that the sari sari stores represent about eighty per cent of the retail outlets, but they took in cash only 12.4% of the consumption expenditures. About half of the consumption expenditure have been allotted to the supermarkets.
The above mentioned Nielsen data also delivers surprising information - that from 1997 to 2000 the number of sari sari stores increased by 88 %. That’s quite astonishing. In western countries we have a strong decline of corner shops in favor of chains of supermarkets (Wal-Mart anyone?).
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
What Are The Advantages Of A Sari Sari Store To People?
The Subconscious - Can It Reveal True Meaning Through Reverse Speech?
I always wondered about the validity of playing a recording backwards, where you hear subliminal messages. We used to do it for fun as kids but I really couldn't make out anything as I didn't have a way to slow it down. Can these messages be so shocking as to reveal the true thoughts of a person(s)? It's mind boggling how that can be connected to our subconscious; it's like our regular words and thoughts are a mask for what we really mean in our hearts.
I got the clip below from a friend at MySpace who was playing around with a few audio clips and what he heard after playing them backwards was pretty scary. I added another clip below that from Youtube... it seems there's a website called reversespeech.com that's totally into this. Is this a case of people having too much time on their hands? Do you think there's some truth to this?
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Alternative Way To Get Your Blog Noticed And Make Your Blogging Life A Lot Easier
Well, with a gazillion blogs out there, it should be no surprise that promoting your blog is half of the work. Sure you have great content, which should be the main priority, but without any knowledge on how to market your blog it's going to be the "shy guy at the party."
The given, well it should be a given, is to go to Ping-O-Matic to send out pings to places like Technorati and MyYahoo. Another is to get your blog in directories like DMOZ or Yahoo Directory. You can even pay people to review your blog and get noticed that way. Or, go over to Contest Blogger and promote your blog by advertising your blog contest. Sure you have to spend money and think of a unique contest, but maybe not as much as what you'd pay at Review Me.
A little effort goes a long way, especially in the blogosphere... so update your blog each day if you can and it will pay off in the long run. Is content king? What do you think?
More Cool Websites To Help Ease Your Life
Well, this website is about making your life easier right? So here are a few links I think will do just that.
If you need to get rid of a lot of junk, junk that might be someone else's treasure, go to chanceXchange. They focus on trading dvds, vhs, games, books and more.
If you're on vacation but don't like the being part of a group tour, go to tourcaster. They allow you to download a podcast audio tour of your destination and points out historic landmarks and notable sites. I'll be sure to check this out when I'm on vacation.
Lastly, go to travelicio.us to get a compilation of blogs, articles, and pictures from Flickr, BootsnAll, del.icio.us showcasing different travel spots around the world and get helpful hints and reviews as well.
Friday, August 31, 2007
If You Like Giveaways Then Read On
So I was looking around for a watermarking software for my photos and I came across this cool site that offers free, fully licensed software - Giveaway of the Day. The only catch is that you have a specified time frame to download the software. If anything, it's a good place to get some reviews on the software you're interested in testing out.
I did see a watermarking software they were offering for free, but I found a little software program, referred by one of the commentators, that does the job fine - and best of all, it's free!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Aftermath Of A Password Hack
A former colleague of mine emailed me the other day to catch up on life and just chew the fat. He mentioned that someone hacked into his Hotmail account and deleted some important information... but I'm sure he stole the vital information before the big deletion. And I'm talking social security number, a couple of credit card numbers and passwords, and most importantly, his freakin' address. He's paranoid now and looking to get a cctv surveillance system for his property. The house alarm's already installed... at least he's got that covered.
I had to say he had it coming. One thing you definitely do not do is keep sensitive information like that in an email account. Hotmail is not a safe. Yahoo mail is not Fort Knox. If you're in business, especially for yourself, you need to clean out your email account of any private or business data that can hurt you and your clients later on. I mean it's only common sense. He told me he was going to get around to it but had no time. Well, I guess he's going to make time now.
He's going to make time to research what is good password practice. His password was common, connected him to it and was most likely brute forced because the words in his password were commonly found in a dictionary. Do your own research and be safe.
I found some good information here that gives you the do's and dont's. You can learn about what programs people use to bypass passwords as well. It pays to educate yourself. If you need high security passwords, especially for wireless networks, go here.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
An Awesome Car - The Shelby GR-1
Like every other man, I always dream of driving those supercars, whether Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, etc. I remember taking a ride in a Porsche that was custom made for the track. That thing was a pain to get into as the seats really hug your body - and with good reason. That thing almost made me pee my pants. The acceleration was like nothing I've ever experienced before, and I've been in and driven a few fast cars. The tight seats are needed to allow you to take the G-force around a corner. The engine sounded like it belonged in a Mac Truck. And it really was made for the track. All the luxuries taken out to lighten the car.
I was watching the Discovery Channel HD Theater yesterday and it showcased the Shelby sports car. The father and racing legend, Carroll Shelby, talked about how his car was known as the "Ferrari Slayer" back in the 60s and 70s. Then they unveiled the new Shelby GR-1...all I can say is sweeeeet! The funny part of the show was when the design team took the Shelby to a Ferrari convention - a little silver car in a sea of red. But it got a lot of oooohs and awes.
The Shelby GR-1 American Supercar has the classic sports car look mixed with diamond cut
machined styling. With powerful rear haunches, polished aluminum skin and tear drop side windows it looks fast when standing still.
The GR-1 shares some components with the Ford GT, among them suspension and the 6 speed transmission. The 600 horsepower comes from the 6.4L V-10 giving the GR-1 a theoretical top speed in excess of 200 mph.
The exterior designer, George Saradakis, only needed one try on paper to get the design for the Shelby GR-1 approved. If he's that talented, I'm looking forward to all his future designs. Bravo!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Prevent Overheating And Monitor Your Computer's Temperature
If you work on applications that make your computer really work, like graphics applications, you might want to get a little program that monitors the cpu and hard drive temperatures and performance of your hard drive.
I found this great program called Speedfan that monitors your system's temperatures and can even control the fan speeds for you. I actually don't want to mess with another application controlling my fan speeds but Speedfan is great just as a monitoring device. Normally, the computer fan will kick in at certain temperatures but if you want to save the wear and tear on your fan you can get an external fan to help out - a chill mat.
I did some research and found a great chill pad that doesn't require any power - the THERMALTAKE I-XOFT. It uses what's called Gauber salt to dissipate the heat. At cooler temperatures it solidifies, but when the computer gets hot, the material inside the pad liquifies and dissipates the heat, bringing down the temperature of the laptop. It's portable and from all accounts and reviews, it really works.
I did some more research and decided that the Targus Chillhub would work better for me. I'm using more and more usb devices hooked up to my laptop and the added 4 port hub that comes with the Targus Chillhub was just what I needed. The Chillhub has it's own AC adaptor and the two fans run at about 2500 rpm.
So now whenever I run graphics applications, I make sure to turn on Speedfan and when it shows that the CPU/Hard Drive is going over the limit, I just turn on the Chillhub and it brings the temps down to the normal range within a few minutes. I even leave it on for most of the time and the computer fan hardly goes on, thus saving on wear and tear and extending the life of the computer.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Aaron Russo, Producer Of From Freedom To Fascism Has Passed Away
Aaron Russo, producer of From Freedom to Fascism has passed away this morning. August 24th, 2007. A great American Hero and patriot. God Bless you Aaron! He fought his battle with cancer long enough to inspire and educate countless people to learn the truth about the globalists' agenda. Aaron Russo was a Jewish-American filmmaker and produced the movies "The Rose" and "Trading Places."
This is sad news. I'm grateful for his passion and effort to educate us - we need to wake up! Condolences to his family, friends and volunteers who helped to spread his cause.
If you haven't already, watch From Freedom to Fascism - educate yourself.
Sony Develops Battery Powered By Sugar!
Sony has developed an environmentally-friendly prototype battery that runs on sugars and that can generate enough electricity to power a music player and a pair of speakers.
The bio battery's casing is made of a vegetable-based plastic. It measures 3.9 cm (1.5 inch) along each edge and works by pouring sugar solution into the unit, where enzymes break it down to generate electricity.
This is very cool. For now, it'll take many of these to light a bulb so it's a baby step. But baby's do tend to grow so I'm really looking forward to seeing this as the next viable alternative for everyday use. Indeed, a freely available, growable energy source is what we need now!
