By: James Limar
Director
(Yap SBDC)
Jeffrey Adalbai always
dreamt of owning a business. His passion was to provide a service to the people
and he managed to do so in business and customer-related fields for over 26
years. Since 7th grade, Jeffrey worked as a store clerk for a local
and family owned business. With a lot of hard-work and commitment, Jeffrey
worked his way up to become a cashier, book keeper, and on to a sales executive
in handling sales on vehicles, communication equipment, and various others. He was
fortunate enough to receive sale training from Tele-Mobile Inc. in Torrance,
California. Then, in 2002, he quotes, “with God’s grace, mercies, and leadings,
I was offered a managerial position for an agency” which he still holds today.
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A's Enterprise founders, Jeff and Marzy Adalbai, with their
children: Mike, Jemmy, Chelley, and Jemboy.
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In February 2004,
Jeffrey and his wife, Marzy, along with their four children Mike, Jemmy,
Chelley, and Jemboy the Adalbai’s opened Adalbai’s Enterprise as a home based
business providing various items, equipment, used automobiles, and products at
their customer’s request. Jeffrey went to the Yap SBDC in 2006 for technical
assistance. Though his first project never materialized, he was determined to
open a water bottling company. In May 2013, his plans started to form with the
guidance and encouragement of the Yap SBDC. The Yap SBDC assisted with the
critical role of granting him a space at its facilities in downtown Colonia to
launch his sales and bottling operations.
“Starting up the
business was very challenging,” Jeffrey stated. He also mentions, “Dreams can always be a
dream and can remain a
dream for the rest of your life. Forming that dream and steering it to reality is a different story.
It takes commitment, perseverance, faithfulness, and of course with lots of
prayer.” The biggest challenge during the start-up process was the lack of
funding, being impatient, and creating trustful relations with his customers.
Jeffrey’s funding came from money saved and invested back into the business. In
his recent ventures, he thanks God for wonderful friends and family who trusted
in him and his wife and invested their time and money to make their dreams a
reality.
Jeffrey talks about how
the opening of a water bottling company discouraged him to open his own. He
thought that because of the small market, opening another bottling company
would not be viable. However, a good trusted friend of his who is now part of
his family encouraged him to pursue his dream. The day that they opened their
doors for business was frightening yet their most memorable triumph.
The Aldalbai’s plans
are to seek for ways to increase their supplies so that they can boost their
inventory. They hope that someday when they have earned the trust of their
customers, they would like to seek the opportunity to reduce the importation of
bottled water in Yap. The imported water could be a hazard for consumption as
no one knows how long it may have been in transit and if it may have been
exposed to extreme heat. He parts the interview by saying, “Starting a business
may be a bit more challenging nowadays. However, don’t let it stop you from
turning your dreams into a reality. Don’t give up when others criticize you and
say all sorts of things to distract or discourage you. Save and invest back
into your business.”
Aldabai’s Enterprises
is a water bottling, laundry service, and electronic sales/services. Logistics
with freight forwarding and door-to-door service will soon open. It is located
in the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Room #102 in Worwoo’, Rull
& Yinuf, Rull. For their bottling services they are open from 9:00 a.m.
until 5:30 p.m. from Monday through Friday and on Sundays from 9:00 a.m. until
12noon. Their laundry service is from Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m.
until 11:00 p.m.; Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.; Saturday from 7:00
p.m. until 11:00 p.m.; and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. For more
information, you can contact Jeffrey Adalbai at 691-350-4381 or by e-mail at contact@adalbai.com. You can visit their FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adalbais-Enterprises/497918986988303.
For more information on
how the Yap SBDC can assist you, please contact James Limar at 691-350-4801or
e-mail them at ysbdc@mail.fm or jamesl@pacificsbdc.com. You can visit our website at www.pacificsbdc.com to learn more about our services.
