“NEVER underestimate small people with big dreams,” was the favorite quote of one inspiring lady from Iloilo who pioneered the spa business in the province in 2000, back at the time when the wellness industry in the country was at its infancy.
At the time Anna “Babes” Rivera, owner of Spa Riviera, was also taking care of a 2-year-old child of her own as a single mother. No one was taking care of her as she was also an orphan since her parents have already died.
Trying to make ends meet, she would work as a gym instructor teaching aerobics and a manicurist doing facials to be able to feed herself and her child. It broke her heart to see her daughter not eating when at times they could not afford it, living in a small house with no lamp and no electric fan.
To earn more, she would make cold calls, offering facials and telling clients she would return their money if they didn’t like her services. On her spare time, she would read inspirational books at the National Bookstore which became her “library” since she had no money to buy them. Reading these business books of successful people made her work harder and apply their wise advice.
With her hard work and determination, the demand for her facial treatments and manicure services steadily grew while she offered free hand massages. One day, she asked another therapist to help her provide home-service massage to her clients. It was one of her customers that gave her the idea of putting up a spa, since she was good at what she does.
But having no capital, she did not know how to start. Taking a bold step, she found herself selling the idea to her students at the gym and home service clients, offering them spa memberships at P1,500 each (around $35). At the time, the spa has not been conceived but it was already in her heart. And so she raised over P100, 000 from 75 friends in just one month and at the age of 25 opened Iloilo’s very first spa, with four foam beds and three bean bags.
Babes decided to offer the spa services for the common man, and pioneered the budget spa concept in the province. Although many massage centers have since sprouted, her spa remains the favorite in Iloilo because she focused on the working class, knowing that they were the ones who were tired most of the time but do not have a lot of money to spare on a massage. She knows because she has been there.
An angel investor put in money to help expand her business. “He changed my life simply because of his generosity,” she said and used the money to rent two floors in the building and to put up 32 beds and separate common rooms, sauna, and steam cubicles, and eventually hired therapists and an in-house trainer.
She also opened a Chair, Foot and Back Massage by Spa Riviera, with a branch inside a mall for customers in a hurry, offering 30- or 45-minute foot and back massage at affordable prices.
Today, she is married and continues to dream big. Looking back, a decade ago, she said she felt desperate. “I was young and I felt so wasted, but God gave me hope and I’m just so grateful,” she said. Indeed, with a little faith and taking action on your dreams, all things are possible.
Rivera’s big dream now is to open a spa on Guimaras Island, a tourist destination. She now has the money to buy all the books she wants.
According to Babes in a magazine interview, the books that inspired her in starting her dream business were the following:
– Passion for Excellence by Tom Peters and Nancy Austin: “It all started with this book. I took their advice to start small but think big. You don’t have to have a lot of money to start your own business. You can start with yourself and what you have.”
-7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey: “If you want to succeed, you have to sacrifice, to learn, and to build your character. 7 Habits taught me how to become a better person.”
– Discipline of Market Leaders by Michael Tracy and Freed Wiersema: “You can’t be everything to everybody. You must choose the specific market you want to serve.”
– 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell: “I learned from here that to grow the organization, I must grow leaders. It is they who will determine whether the business succeeds or fails, so I must teach them well.”
– Built to Last by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras: “They say you should never compromise on quality, never underestimate small people with big dreams, and never give up.” Their advice has helped me to become successful.
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Prof. Soriano is the Turnaround Advisor of wongadvisory.com and the Chairman of the Marketing Cluster at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. For comments please email writer at [email protected]