ABOUT YOU
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Name:
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Julie Ann Nolasco Soriano
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Email Address:
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julie.lcgsolinemarketing@gmail.com
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YOUR BUSINESS
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Business Name:
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LCGS Online Marketing
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When was it established?
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2016
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How did you come up with
this business name?
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LCGS means Light Connection Group Support.
This name was taken from our small group named CG (caring group) and later on
become LG (Light Group) in this small group we pray for our dreams this small
group is under Light of Jesus Community I was inspired because through this
small group I feel bless, empowered and loved.
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What is your business about?
What are the products/services that you offer?
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LCGS is a non store retailer of office furniture
and equipment. We also do customized tables and cabinet (carpentry works)
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Where is your business
located? What kind of office do you have (e.g. home office, coffee shop,
co-working space, etc.)?
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It is a non store
retail of office furniture so most of the time we market it online through
different social media platform.
LCGS Online Marketing is a start up non store retailer of office furniture we
have no physical store yet, we maximize the resources that we have. We work
online and we can work anywhere yet even digital, we also need a
personal touch to our clients.
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What made you choose this
particular trade/industry/line of business?
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My paternal side (grand father and father) are
both carpenters and when I was young my play ground is a construction site
and later on most of my jobs is in a furniture firm.
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What do you believe makes
your business stand out?
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We can customized cabinet, fast delivery and
also price is negotiable.
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Is it always necessary to be
passionate about what your business is about in order for it to succeed?
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(Mandatory: Tell us your story) What ignited the spark in
you to start this business? When did this happen?
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LCGS Online Marketing was started because of Jomel a
skilled worker who needs job so he can provide for his family, that moment
when he asked "Mam do we have project?" wow I thought I'm just a
freelance who can work on my own time but hey wait Jomel one of my skilled
worker associate, whom I called every time I have project but that project is
not consistent, I remember that moment year 2012 and promised myself to be more
consistent to find project because it's not just me but there's a person like
Jomel with a family to feed for. That's the start of LCGS it is not just an online store of office furniture but it
helps to give jobs to skilled workers like carpenter, welder, electrician and
other skilled worker.
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How did you obtain capital?
Were there investors? If yes, how did you entice them into believing in and
investing on your idea?
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Capital? I borrowed Php 20,000.00 from my
brother I used this money to get all the legal and necessary permit to
operate. The investor are my loyal clients who even I’m a freelance and work
for different companies they still call me every time they have office
requirements. Every time we deliver and installed modular partition and other
office furniture I feel satisfied and can say I’m part of this company. We
are not only a supplier but we are a part of every company that we work with.
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YOUR STRATEGY
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How did you build your
customer base? What form of marketing has been most effective for you so far?
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Saturation, giving flyers and brochure to
every construction site, offices. Visiting Trade fair and exhibit.Email
blast, text blast, telemarketing, social media platform, fb, ig, twitter,
blogs, linked. Online Marketing is the most effective and cost efficient.
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How do you generate new
ideas for your business’ growth?
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I always read books, attend seminars, look
for good mentor and always observe and asked what is the need of our clients.
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What kind of company culture
are you implementing/would like to implement? What are your core values?
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Open and clear communication with our associate
Our priority is quality rather than quantity.
Trust and good relationship is our core value
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How do you deal with major
mishaps? What would you say is one of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
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I always pray that the good Lord give me
wisdom and enlighten me. Biggest mistake is trusting too much and doing
things without careful planning.
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What skills do you believe
are necessary in handling a business?
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Aside from technical and soft skills, it’s a
combination of common sense, problem solving, people management, balance life
is a must ( healthy
physically,mentally,spiritually, financially, socially, emotionally)
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What would you say are some
“do’s” and “don’ts” in starting one?
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Be creative.
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Even how small you are pay
your taxes on time if you can’t do it delegate it to an accountant.
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Don’t give up.
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Was there ever a time you
felt afraid that this might not work? How did you manage this fear?
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Every time I have difficult decision to make
I pray and ask wisdom from Him, I also asked advised to the elders then I
just do it and on the process I realized every problem has its own solution.
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If you have any interesting
facts/trivia about your business that you’d like to share, kindly share them.
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The original name supposed to be is CG
Enterprise
Taken from the name of our small group caring
group but it was already taken. Until it become LCGS, but LCGS was not
accepted by DTI and I put Online Marketing thinking that the documents is
lesser than with physical store but I was wrong J
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YOUR DAY + MORE ABOUT YOU
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Describe a typical day for
you.
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Typical day? I prioritized the most urgent
and important ones.
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How many hours of work a day
do you put in? How many days per week?
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If I have rush project I work 21hours and
take just 2-3 hours of sleep. I work 6 days and Sunday is for community service.
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What is your greatest fear?
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My greatest fear is death.
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What sacrifices have you had
to make to get here?
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One of the sacrifice that I made is working
alone, understanding the skilled worker on their own language and you have to
do the physical hard work if necessary so they will do understand and do it
by example. Working with men most of the time you have to sacrifice your
pride, work for it and prove that women can also do carpentry work and not
just a typical modest woman who do the house hold chores. We women can do
more.
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What can you consider is
your greatest success?
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My greatest success for now is I can provide
for my family and help to give jobs to the skilled worker and last July 2019
LCGS was recognized as one of the top 40 social enterprise.
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What would you say is the
"secret to success"?
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The secret to success know why you are doing
it and make it meaningful. To be successful you have to dream and to achieve
it but to be a significant person you must empower others and help them to
achieve their dreams.
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What is your favorite aspect
of being an entrepreneur?
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Favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur is
the freedom of choice. I can manage my time freely, choose whom to work with and
you can help to create jobs to the community.
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What motivates you? Who has
been your greatest inspiration?
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What motivates me first my family. My
greatest inspiration is my Lola Juana I love her but she died poor in my
early 20’s and promised to alleviate the life
of our family. Now I’m working on a digital trash bin project with a
hash tag #JuanaShootThatKalat in memory of her. The success of this project
is a gift for my Inang lola Juana.
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Where do you see yourself
and your business in 10 years?
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10 years from now we direct import our
product and also export our local produce furniture. Have Physical Store and
have regional branches. Uplift the life of skilled workers.
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FINALLY…
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Do you consider yourself an
ambitious person? Explain why.
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Yes. Because I don’t stop learning new
things in order to grow myself, my business and give impact to the community.
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Do you think being ambitious
helped/helps you in business? How?
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Yes. Because it helps me to think
creatively, innovatively and create new business ideas and development as
well.
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What piece of advice can you
give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
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Have the grit. Be humble in order to learn
new things even to the dull and seems ignorant to the eyes of people you can
learn from them. Have that hunger for success yet always keep grounded and
have faith with yourself and acknowledge that you can’t do it alone you need
the help of others and yes your God.
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