BUSINESS FRANCHISE. Beneficiaries of the free business franchise by the Honest Opportunities for Philippine Entrepreneurs (HOPE) Foundation under their Project HOPE listen to the orientation at the Hotel Kinaray-a in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique on June 21, 2023. HOPE Foundation turned over free business franchises to some 130 identified beneficiaries affected by the pandemic for their financial recovery. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Some 130 Antiqueños whose livelihood were affected by the pandemic have been given to opportunity to launch their own business of selling rice online to help them in their financial recovery.
The Honest Opportunities for Philippine Entrepreneurs (HOPE) Foundation, in collaboration with the Antique provincial government through its Project HOPE, helped launch their online business.
Cherylyn Quanico, Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion officer of the provincial government, said on Friday that on June 21 the HOPE Foundation turned over the free business franchise to the identified beneficiaries, among them who are displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), persons with disability (PWD), solo parents, students and even businessmen who went bankrupt due to Covid-19.
“The beneficiaries were initially provided with 50 sacks of rice that they could sell online,” Quanico said.
She said before the turnover of their business franchise, the beneficiaries were oriented by the HOPE Foundation on how they could do online business.
In a separate interview with Jennifer Argoncillo, Project HOPE executive director for Panay island, said the beneficiaries will need no physical store because what they are providing is a social enterprise that the beneficiaries can bring wherever they are.
“The beneficiaries will need no startup capital for we are giving them business for free,” she said.
She said that the beneficiaries' only obligation is to connect with their consumers or their buyers and the HOPE will take charge of transporting and warehousing of the rice.
She said that the beneficiaries could get a commission of about PHP12,500 for the 50 sacks of rice that they can sell monthly.
“The beneficiaries could sell a sack of rice at PHP1,300 or whatever is the prevailing price in the market,” she said.
Argoncillo said the rice trading is just an initial product being introduced by them because they have other products such as electronic loading and bill payment.
“We have 21 in 1 business franchise, but we are initially starting with rice trading in Antique,” she said. (PNA)
