Sustainability of sari-sari Stores in Barangay's of San Miguel

Chapter 1
The problem and it's setting

Background of the study

Even before many sari-sari stores are struggling on how they will
maintain their business because of so many hindrances to their stores.
One of this hindrance may also become the reason on why their
business is going to an end. We first mention all this problems of sari-
sari stores, but can we first ask ourselves what are sari-sari stores?

A sari-sari store, anglicized as neighborhood sundry store, is a

convenience store found in the Philippines. The word sari-sari store is
tagalog meaning "variety" or "sundry". Such stores occupy an
important economic and social location in a filipino community and are
ubiquitous in neighborhood and along the streets.

There are also types of businesses in accordance to their

ownership. The four main types are corporations, cooperatives,
partnership, and sole proprietorship. Corporations refers to a business
which have shareholders as the owners. This type of business puts the
least risk on its owners because it is legally separate from its owners.
Corporation have an advantage when it comes to raising capital
because they can raise funds through the sale of stocks. However, the
cost to form a corporation is definitely higher than other form of
businesses. A cooperative is a business or organization owned by and
operated for the benefit of those using its businesses. Profits and
earnings generated by the cooperative are distributed among the
members who are also known as user-owners. Usually, an elected
board of directors and officers run the cooperative while regular
members have voting power to control the direction of the
cooperative. Partnerships are businesses which are owned by two or
more people. In partnership, owners are liable to the risks their
business may face. Meanwhile, sole proprietorship is owned by only
one person. It is easy to form and gives the owner a complete control
over his/her business. However, sole proprietorships do not produce a
separate business entity meaning that the owner isn't separate from
his/her business. The business assets and liabilities are also considered
as the owner's personal assets and liabilities. Even if all the profits of a
business goes to the owner, he/she can be held personally liable for the
debts and obligations of the business. Sole proprietorships can be good
choice for low-risk businesses and owners who want to test their
business idea before forming a more formal business. Still, it can be
hard to raise money in this type of business because one cannot sell
stock, and banks are hesitant to lend to sole proprietorships.

An example of sole proprietorship business which is common in

the Philippines is the sari-sari store. Sari-sari store, from the word sari-
sari which means variety, is a small neighborhood retail shop that
caters to the members of a certain community. The store usually carries
basic goods such as canned food, instant noodles, coffee, soda, and
other things that Filipinos get on a daily basis. They also sell candy,
chips, and beer but can have literally anything of commodity the
community needs. Almost in every barangay in the Philippines, one can
find a sari-sari store when going out of the house
 A sari-sari store is usually run by women mostly by housewives.
These stores are a huge help to find an opportunity to elevate the
economic status of their family without needing to leave their home.
Their daily expenses such as food, the allowances of their children, and
others can be taken from the profit of their stores.

However, it is also noticeable that there are sari-sari stores which

are slowly going out of business that can be seen through the declining
number of the products that they are displaying/selling. There are
many reasons as to why this is happening. One of which is the lack of
knowledge when it comes to managing their store. They must
remember that a sari-sari store is still a business that needs to have a
good management to flourish.

It is definitely important to sustain a business. Sustainability in a

business refers to doing business without negatively impacting the
environment, community, or society as a whole (Harvard Business
School, 2018). This means that to in doing business, one should also
consider the environmental and societal factors, and take actions
without harming the environment and affecting the society negatively.
Many corporations have made such sustainability promises in recent
years. For example, Google has pledged to operate carbon-free by
2030. However, sustainability in this research pertains to the ability of a
business to maintain or support the sari-sari store continuously for a
long time.

It is important to know the factors affecting the sustainability of

the sari-sari stores to be able to address the discovered problems.
Remember that sari-sari stores are also businesses. And businesses are
important, it is the backbone of an economy. Through this study, the
researchers might be able to help improve sari-sari stores in the
community.

Sustainability pertains to the ability of a business to maintain or

support the sari-sari store continuously for a long time. This means that
in doing business, one should also consider the environmental and
societal factors. And businesses are important, it is the backbone of an
economy. Remember that sari-sari stores are also businesses.

Statement of the Problem

The objective of this study is to determine the sustainability of sari-sari

stores in the barangays of San Miguel, Catanduanes.

The study also aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the profile of the respondents in terms of

a. Age

b. Sex

c. Education

d. Marital status?

2. How are the sari-sari stores established as to;

a. Capitalization

b. Management

3. What difficulties did the sari-sari store owners encounter?

4. How did they resolve such difficulties to sustain the operation of
their sari-sari stores?

Scope and Delimitation

The study would involve sari-sari stores in selected barangays of San

Miguel, Catanduanes. It also includes the management applied by the
owners in their stores, the difficulties the store owners encounter in
running their business, as well as the solutions they made to overcome
these. The researchers limited this study to the municipality of San
Miguel.

Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is important for it conveys the reader why
the research is needed. It describes a particular contribution made and
who will profit from it for furthering the academic knowledge of the
recipient. The following group of people are the ones that the study will
be of service to:

Sari-sari store owners. The findings of this research will be helpful to

the sari-sari store owners in improving their operations of their
business.

Barangay LGU officials. Since business is important to the economy,

sustained operation of sari-sari stores in their barangays could generate
additional tax:

Customers. Continuous operation of sari-sari stores would provide the

customers easy access to their necessities.
Young Entrepreneur/Business Minded Individuals. This research may
give them an idea on how to better manage their business.

Municipal LGU. Sustained operation of sari-sari stores will generate

additional tax.

Definition of Terms

Sari-sari stores-a sari-sari store is a small neighborhood retail shop that

caters to the members of a certain community. These stores sell variety
of things, from the word itself san-sari which means variety, which are
commonly needed by the people in a community. Sustainability
according to the Harvard Business School, Sustainability in a business
refers to doing business without negatively impacting the environment,
community, or society as a whole. However, sustainability in this
research pertains to the ability of a business to maintain or support the
sari-sari store continuously for a long time.

San Miguel-is a landlocked municipality in the island province of

Catanduanes in Luzon. It consists of twenty-four barangays namely
Atsan, Balatohan, Boton, Buhi, Dayawa, J.M. Alberto, Katipunan,
Kilikilihan, Mabato, Obo, Pacogon, Pagsangahan, Pangilao, Paraiso,
Poblacion District II, Poblacion District III, Progreso, Salvacion, San Juan,
San Marcos, Santa Elena, Siay, Solong, and Tobrehon.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Related Studies

The study authored by Webber, P. (2017) entitled "Small business

growth: strategic goals and owner preparedness" aims to examine the
significant relationship between perceived small business success and
the Small Business Organization's preparedness to grow their business.
The survey of 340 business owners revealed that there was a significant
relationship between perceived success and growth preparedness. Only
11.8% have higher desire for continued growth and success which in
turn make them worthy of assistance because of their good disposition
in the group This entails that the more prepared the business owners
are, the lesser the problems were for them. They were more likely to
head towards growth and were more attractive to investors or
policymakers.

The research done by Malapit, HJ (2007) aimed to describe the business

mode of Filipino Sari-sari stores as well as the underlying problems of
the system. The research described sari-sari stores were prevalent on
low to moderate income communities. The common struggles faced by
sari-sari stores were collection of debts and insufficient funds due to
lack of accounting. Sari-sari stores offer credit on goods as well as credit
extension as a sales generating strategy. The business owners were also
debtors themselves by asking "bumbay or Indian money lenders to lend
them money. These money lenders offer "5-6 which means repaying
the loaned amount of 5 with 6 or 20% interest The research described
the unique model of sari-sari stores where products may act as capital
or payment for credits. The research concludes that the primary reason
that hinders survival and sustainability of the sari-sari stores were lack
of record keeping, inability to manage the store scientifically, diversion
of inventory and product use, and the small mentality.

According to De Lange (2017), investors prefer to invest in a socially

responsible model at a national context than those environmentally
sustainable firms. The research reasoned that this was because of the
slow payback of investment related to environmental sustainability but
a country with socially responsible policies were cheaper, offer good for
well productive labor, and creates a better place to live in while their
investments grow.

A study conducted by Osborne, S. W. (2013) aims to do profiling of

business owners in rural Pennsylvania and determine their awareness
of publically funded business assistance programs using 364 business
owners, the study revealed that profile of the respondents was not
significant with their awareness of the programs. However, awareness
of the program was higher among companies that have reported
growth plans for the next three years.