Business owners share practical tips on how to overcome financial missteps

MANILA, Philippines — For some entrepreneurs, financial missteps must occur before business success takes place. So, when you are starting a business and you happen to hit a stumbling block early on, do not be disheartened. Keep pushing on, and success will start showing itself.

This is what happened to retail shop owners Jim Bacarro of Linya-Linya and sisters Roma and Maan Agsalud of Common Room, as they shared in RCBC Boz Sessions and admitted that they had to learn their lesson the hard way.

The RCBC Boz Sessions is a video series featuring Filipino entrepreneurs who share the story of their own journey, as well as practical tips and insights on starting and growing their own businesses.

Linya-Linya’s Jim Bacarro said their company experienced “a rollercoaster of hilarious financial missteps” before it became the renowned and popular apparel and lifestyle brand that it is today.

In the episode that premiered on April 3, titled "Nadapa, Natuto, Kumita," he shared on Facebook how their funniest financial mistakes became the company’s foundational strategies.

“Those epic fails were also the foundational parts of who we are as a company today,” Bacarro shared.

The Linya-Linya founder cited issues with cash flow and business capital as “bloopers” that eventually became “incredible lessons.” He admitted that they were like “kids in a candy store with our cash” during their first few years in the business.

“Sales meant celebration, right? Wrong! We pulled out cash without thinking twice. And guess what? When it was time to pay suppliers, our wallets were singing crickets,” he recalled. 

Bacarro added that Linya-Linya’s operations started “undercapitalized,” diving into projects with “pockets half-empty.”

“The result? We got smothered by interest payments and were left scrambling for funds,” Bacarro explained, adding that they were also prone to making unplanned and unnecessary big purchases that “led to us scrimping on our actual products — the T-shirts!”

Sisters Roma Agsalud-Agsunod and Maan Agsalud of the arts and crafts store Common Room likewise admitted committing basic mistakes during their first few years in business.

In their YouTube video, titled “Three