Small-timers go over big

by Benigno D. Tutor, Jr.

Cherry Honda	Sheilla Okabe

“Tungkol po sa pagiging milyonarya mula sa barya ang ating interview (The interview is all about becoming a millionaire from small business),” was how we approached Rosalina “Cherry” Honda and Sheilla “Sachico” Okabe on separate occasions in Ibaraki and Chiba, respectively.

“Ano po ba ang milyonarya (What’s a millionaire),” was the embarrassed reply of Cherry, proprietress of Fiesta Restaurant in Ibaraki Pref. “Wala po akong milyon (I don’t have a million).”

Our explanation about net worth did not help much. If numbers don’t seem to add up for our interview subject, it’s probably because she is used to counting small bills in her retail business. Deducting all her short-term debts (she has fully paid up her mortgage) from the value of her mansion sprawled on a 1,400-sqm property in Bulacan as well as other assets, Cherry is easily worth about P20 million.

Sheilla also happens to be a Bulakeña, but her property is in another posh part of the province. The two Bulakeñas have never crossed paths in Japan, but they share many traits, are almost of the same age, and have had similar experiences in Japan. Sheilla likewise refuses to be conferred the honor of being a milyonarya, preferring to remain the low-profile, small-time viajera businesswoman that she is in Chiba.

She runs the Mabuhay Store and Boutique along a busy thoroughfare in the heart of Chiba City. She travels every week to Manila, bringing sundry merchandise and packages for business. But at home in Bulacan, she’s every inch a doña as she takes command over an exquisitely constructed palatial residence on a 600-sqm prime real estate property that is valued at no less than P20 million.

Cherry and Sheilla don’t act their part, that is, as owners of multi-million real estates. In fact, if you bump into them in their place of business, you’ll probably see them clad in dusters serving the customers barehanded themselves. They are not in the habit of telling others about their huge investments at home, except to those they trust enough to invite them.

Cherry came to Japan about 18 years ago in a desperate bid to settle a P25,000 debt from her failed fish business in Navotas. Having five children to support single-handedly after her common-law husband abandoned them, she worked for a rich Japanese household as a maid. Although used to hard work, Cherry was so humiliated by that experience that she wanted to go home except that she did not know how. She eventually overstayed her visa. It was then that she tried her hand at business, something that she always had confidence in. She started by activating her Avon membership in the Philippines. Not having enough capital, Cherry admits that it was Avon that gave her the break, as she took advantage of the one-month payment cycle to purchase other fast-moving products like tuyo, bagoong, balut and other Filipino staple items.

At that time, there were very few competitors. She could mark up her items by at least 100 percent.

Riding on the wave of the entertainment boom in Japan in the mid-80s, she then moved on to high-margin products like garments and jewelry. She used profits from these products to buy land and build her home in Bulacan.

It was also at about this time that she met a Japanese whom she eventually married. This marriage enabled her to stay and do business in Japan formally. Not wasting time, she expanded her enterprise into the export of second-hand cars and automotive parts.

Continue to next page

Back to top