MANILA, Philippines - Engineer Belyn Prades clearly remembers that fateful day in September when she and her husband lost their hard-earned money to a pyramiding scam.
It was during the early 2000s when they were lured by an executive to invest in a money-making business which turned out to be a scam.
“I’ve realized that there’s really no such thing as easy money. People shouldn’t trust pyramiding ventures which offers easy money,” Belyn told The STAR in an interview.
“After losing our lifetime savings, we vowed to never trust those kind of businesses (pyramiding scams) again,” Belyn added.
But the misfortune did not dishearten Belyn to start another business enterprise. She was determined to get back her hard-earned money and start all over again.
This time, she decided to open a computer shop. Unfortunately, it folded up because of an ordinance prohibiting schoolchildren to play in Internet shops during school hours. She lost her customers and eventually decided to close her business.
Again, Belyn did not lose hope and thought of opening another business.
“I just know that one day I will find the right business,” she said.
The right business came along when one day Belyn’s husband told her about acquiring a water purifying business. Her husband wanted to franchise the business venture but Belyn thought of developing a much more improved and better water purifying equipment.
“I thought what if we design our own water purifying system, it could be much more better. Since I am a chemical engineer by profession I know that I can design a prototype. So instead of franchising, I told my husband let me build the machine first and then maybe we can start our own water business. After doing extensive research and perfecting the equipment, we finally launched our own business which we eventually called Living Water,” Belyn said.
She knew there was a goldmine in a water business because it’s a basic necessity at a time when most Filipino households no longer can rely on tap water as clean water.
From opening a water business, Belyn thought of expanding and franchising Living Water.
Unlike other franchises, Belyn does not charge a franchising fee or any royalty fee.
All you have to do is to buy Belyn’s invention, Living Water’s water purifying system for P275,000 and you’re all set for your new business venture.
“The machine is for lifetime already. It’s actually a three in one machine, first it’s a purifier, second it helps infuse minerals into the water and third, it helps infuse alkaline into the water for a healthy body,” she said.
From 103 water stations in 2004, it has now ballooned to 2,800 branches all over the Philippines, plus it has franchises in Palau, Guam, Papua New Guinea.
“From the time first we started until this year, we have grow around 2700 percent. It’s a big leap” she said.
Belyn believed that people continue to patronize them because they assist their franchisers in the other aspects of their water business like marketing support.
Recently, Belyn commissioned top celebrity Anne Curtis and paid her a handsome amount to be the face of Living Water in its advertisements, a ploy that hopes to expand the business’ reach.
Most importantly, Living Water implement policies that protect the business of their franchisers, Belyn said.
“After buying the machine and setting up the franchise, we don’t leave them on their own. We make sure that they will profit and recoup what they have invested in the first few years. We are strict about the proximity of one Living Water from the next store. A store should be two to five kilometer away from another Living Water station so they can develop loyal consumers in the neighborhood. We make sure Living Water franchise stores do not compete with each other,” Belyn explained.
In return to the blessings, we also want other people to have a break, to have a chance to prosper. We want to help other people to start a business that will not be very expensive,” Belyn said.
Because of the success of Living Water, people would ask them if they are Chinese because of their good business acumen.
“We get that question everytime, but we always tell them Living Water is a hundred percent Filipino. We are proud to say that we are supporting Filipino employees and franchisees. We are proud to be a Filipino company,” Belyn said.