Maricel

Maricel is a 39-year-old single woman entrepreneur who lives alone in a town in Cebu province. She owns a grocery store inside the public market, which she manages to sustain her daily living.

Maricel’s grocery store has been operating since 2021 and is located inside the town’s public market. She sells a variety of items including seasonings, vegetables, canned goods, fruits, and more, with the help of five sales assistants. The stall is open daily from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., with weekends being the busiest, reaching maximum sales of up to £910.

She proudly shares that many of her customers are vegetable vendors, to whom she offers wholesale prices. They are one of the main reasons her sales remain consistently high. On regular weekdays, her sales reach up to £520.

She purchases her products from Cebu and Dalaguete through delivery vehicles that visit the market every other day, helping her save on expenses such as fuel and transportation fares. Maricel consistently pays for her stall rental and annual permits to ensure smooth daily operations. She shared that this business has become her primary source of income since the death of her parents.

Maricel has requested a loan from LAMAC-MPC, Lendwithcare's local partner, to be used as additional working capital to fulfil orders from her newly found customers, particularly prioritising seasonings and vegetables. She needs extra funds to support bulk orders from some of her customers. The loan will be repaid in three monthly instalments.