How Two Filipino Sari-Sari Store Owners Grew Their Businesses Using Maya Business

Almost every Filipino neighborhood features a sari-sari store—a small, colorful shop usually located next to a family’s home. These stores serve as key community centers where neighbors briefly come together to buy essentials like rice, canned goods, snacks, and drinks, while exchanging friendly greetings and catching up on local news. Customers often visit to quickly top up mobile loads or pick up small items before continuing their day. Over time, these simple businesses have become an integral part of Filipino life, building trust and a sense of community through consistent service, personal connections, and shared familiarity, one customer at a time.

In photo (L-R): Nemia Rontal and Wilma Manalastas

Many small businesses are now evolving alongside their communities. Some provide additional services like bill payments, cash-in and cash-out options, and mobile loading, alongside their usual store offerings. Others are expanding into online sales, leveraging digital tools to handle transactions and meet increasing business demands.

For entrepreneurs like Nemia Rontal in Bocaue, Bulacan, and Wilma Manalastas, adapting to these changes became part of growing their negosyo while creating more stability for their families through Maya Business.

Before becoming one of the trusted Maya Business agents in their subdivision, 39-year-old Nemia spent nearly two decades in corporate accounting as an Accounting Supervisor. But after health challenges forced her to stop working full-time, she began focusing more seriously on the small sari-sari store she had started years earlier outside their home.

At the time, the setup was simple: two sacks of rice displayed in front of the house. “Nagsimula kami na para pandagdag lang sana noon” (We started it simply as a way to earn extra income), she shares.

By 2018, Nemia already showed interest in financial systems and business transactions. Interested in digital financial services and exploring ways to broaden her store’s offerings, she attended a Maya seminar in Guiguinto and applied to become a Maya Business partner.

Over time, Nemia’s store evolved into more than just a place to buy essentials.

Customers began stopping by not only for rice or groceries, but also for bill payment, cash-in services, and mobile load. During the pandemic, digital transactions became more common in their community as more people sought accessible financial services closer to home.

“Unti-unti siyang naging regular na serbisyo para sa mga tao rito” (Over time, it became a regular service people in the community relied on), she says.

As transactions became more consistent, access to additional puhunan also became important for keeping the negosyo running steadily. Through Maya Advance, Maya Business’s in-app financing feature that allows eligible businesses to access collateral-free revolving funds directly through the app, Nemia was able to secure additional capital for inventory, daily operations, and household expenses whenever needed.

Her first approved amount started at around P18,000. Over time, as she consistently grew her transactions, her loan limit increased to more than P200,000.

For Nemia, the convenience mattered just as much as the financial support itself.

“Kapag fully paid na, mabilis lang ulit magamit” (Once it’s fully paid, we can easily access it again), she says. “Malaking tulong siya lalo na kapag kailangang magdagdag agad ng paninda” (It really helps whenever we need additional capital for inventory).

Today, her store has helped support their family through years of change. From improving their home to purchasing a vehicle and continuously supporting their children’s education, the business gradually became a source of stability after leaving corporate work behind.

But success, in Nemia’s case, still looks grounded in everyday routines.

It looks like preparing the store early in the morning, before customers arrive. It looks like balancing negosyo operations with household responsibilities. It looks like assisting neighbors with transactions throughout the day.

For Wilma Manalastas, on the other hand, her business evolved differently, but with the same mindset of adapting little by little.

What started as a simple sari-sari store eventually expanded into online selling, with Wilma offering gadgets, cellphones, clothes, and other trending products through digital platforms.

Over time, her business became an important added source of income alongside her husband’s work.

Like many Filipinos who entered online selling organically, Wilma learned through experience: balancing multiple sidelines, managing inventory, and handling a high volume of transactions while gradually adapting to more digital systems.

“As the negosyo grew, syempre kailangan din ng pandagdag puhunan” (As the negosyo grew, we eventually needed additional capital to keep up as well), she says.

Before using Maya Business, Wilma often relied on credit cards to cover restocking costs or support busy selling periods. Eventually, she became one of the early Maya Business users and later discovered Maya Advance, which allowed her to access additional revolving funds directly through the app without lengthy paperwork and approval processes.

For Wilma, accessibility and convenience were especially helpful in supporting both her physical store and her online negosyo operations.

Today, years after starting with a sari-sari store, Wilma says her business has helped her family achieve milestones they once planned for only gradually, including purchasing a condominium unit and a vehicle.

But more than the bigger purchases, she says the business gave them greater financial stability and flexibility while supporting their long-term family goals.

Across the Philippines, sari-sari stores have long been part of everyday community life: places built on familiarity, convenience, and trust. But as customer habits continue to evolve, many small business owners are also finding practical ways to adapt.

Through Maya Business, entrepreneurs can access digital tools that support everyday negosyo needs, from accepting QR Ph payments from various e-wallets and banks to offering bill payment, mobile load, and cash-in and cash-out services, as well as additional revolving capital through Maya Advance. Maya Business also allows merchants to manage business funds through a digital deposit account designed for everyday business transactions.

For many Filipino entrepreneurs, growth doesn’t always happen all at once. Sometimes, it starts with a small store, a loyal community of customers, and the willingness to keep building steadily one day at a time.

Looking to level up your business with digital tools and services? You can apply to become a Maya Center and download the Maya Negosyo app on Google Play to get started.

Visit maya.ph or mayabank.ph, and follow @mayaiseverything on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to stay updated. Maya Philippines, Inc. and Maya Bank, Inc. are regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. www.bsp.gov.ph. For 24/7 assistance, visit the Help Center in the Maya app or call us from 8 AM to 7 PM daily at +632 8845-7788.

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Read: Discover Asia’s Best with the Maya Card

How Two Filipino Sari-Sari Store Owners Grew Their Businesses Using Maya Business

Melo Villareal

Out of Town Blog

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