Friday, March 28, 2014

A’s Pure Water: It all Began with a Dream


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.
 
A's Enterprise founders, Jeff and Marzy Adalbai, with their children: Mike, Jemmy, Chelley, and Jemboy.
 

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.