73-year-old street vendor builds dream house with earnings from Shopee

At 73 years old, Lolo Pops, a small business owner from Angeles City, still works hard to earn money. Despite being quite hard of hearing, the sprightly man still strives to run his online store together with his son Angelo. 

Lolo Pops was a former street vendor who enjoyed a steady stream of customers, thanks to residents who used to be sukis when they were still students. However, as the pandemic set in last year, business slowed down. Lolo Pops did not give up, citing his wife as his source of strength. With the help of one of his sukis, Lolo Pops and Angelo decided to take their business online to reach more customers. 

Since opening a store on Shopee over a year ago, Lolo Pops was able to sell homemade goodies, such as pastillas and polvoron, as well bagoong and chili garlic to Filipinos nationwide. Although they initially struggled to adapt to new tools and technologies, Lolo Pops and Angelo eventually found success. They also consider being able to take their business online a blessing since Lolo Pops is now too weak to go out too much, especially amid the pandemic. 

For the father-and-son duo, selling on Shopee has been a big help. They were able to leave their ramshackle house and start building a new one in Bulacan with their earnings, a far-off dream that Lolo Pops never thought would come true. “Hindi namin inakala na makakapagpatayo kami ng bahay sa ganitong panahon. Dati ay pangarap lang namin ito. Nagpapasalamat kami ngayong natutupad na ito dahil sa pag-asenso namin sa Shopee,” he said.

Although it took a while since they also had to cover daily expenses, Lolo Pops made sure to save bit by bit for his dream house every few months. “Kung ano ang sobra, inilalaan namin sa pagpagawa ng bahay. May mga araw o linggo na hindi ganoon kalakas ang benta, pero nagtatabi talaga kami. Awa ng Diyos ay sana makalipat na kami bago matapos ang taon.” Now, as the construction nears completion, Lolo Pops remains in awe of how much his humble business has grown on Shopee and feels excited to finally see the fruits of his hard work.  

Inspired by Lolo Pops’ story of hard work, Shopee partnered with Appliance Hub, Firefly, Gaviscon, Globe, Strepsils, Sustagen, and Unilab to surprise Lolo Pops and his family with a few gifts and essentials for their new home. They received a new laptop, phone, and router to use for the online shop, on top of the multivitamins, protective masks, and grocery items for their daily needs.

“Malaking bagay ito para sa amin. Dahil sa Shopee, may sumusuporta sa akin, maraming tumutulong sa akin. Ngayong pandemic, marami tayong ika nga ay mga problema. Pero walang imposible kay Lord. Habang nabubuhay ang tao, tuloy ang pag-asa,” Lolo Pops said.

Support Lolo Pops’ online business by visiting his Shopee store here.

The post 73-year-old street vendor builds dream house with earnings from Shopee appeared first on Speed Magazine.

Source: Speed Magazine PH