King Cooperative, one of the biggest coopreratives in the city
in terms of membership at 32,000, is targeting to grow its assets to P1
billion within the next three years from P750 million at present.
The cooperative is looking at increasing its membership to 40,000 within the period to hit its goal, said Nestor D. Ortigoza, its general manager.
“There is still a big untapped market,” Ortigoza told the TIMES, pointing out that the cooperative has started strengthening its campaign to increase its members so it would be able to reach its goal.
He said the cooperative, which already has 27 branches in urban centers in Mindanao, is studying to expand in some strategic areas within the island as it wanted to set up 13 more branches within the next five years.
But the cooperative will ensure that only “quality members” will be the ones to get accepted. “We will make sure that as we grow our cooperatives, our members will also grow with it,” Ortigoza added.
Engr. Jaime G. Adalin Jr., acting head of the City Cooperative and Development Office, earlier said that in the city alone, there are still a very big market for cooperatives. “We hope that within the next two years we will be able to achieve the 300,000 membership mark,” he earlier said.
Based on the record of the regional office of the Cooperative Development Authority, the city has about 204,000 residents who are members of cooperatives. The city has about 1.46 million population in 2010 based on the city government official estimates.
Ortigoza said that if the 30-year old cooperative, which started at the office of the Department of Agriculture, could breach the P1 billion mark in terms of assets, it could grow its assets to as big as P3 billion two years after achieving the first target. “It is easier to grow bigger when you have hit the P1 billion club because you already have a history (of being a well-managed cooperative),” he said.
Adalin said that many cooperatives were not able to sustain their operations because of mismanagement.
Unlike those that closed down their operations, the King Cooperative has been able to thrive because it has made sure that all members of its management team are “qualified and capable of being managers,” Ortigoza said.
The cooperative is also venturing into businesses other than lending in its efforts to increase its profitability.
Next month, it will pilot test its agreement with a remittance company, Western Union so it could start its remittance business as agent of the company. It will put up five remittance centers in key areas, but some branch managers outside of the five branches where these centers will be set up already wanted their branches to be included in the business model, Mr. Ortigoza added.
The cooperative is also finalizing its agreement with the city-based petroleum company, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, for the setting up of its first gasoline station in Digos City, Davao del Sur.
It is also studying the proposal to offer insurance coverages to its members. “We are finalizing this idea so that we can also offer a product that our members also need,” Ortigoza added.
He said the management has decided to come up with new business models other than lending so it could also grow faster than traditional cooperatives. “In the past, growing a cooperative was slower as members (of the board of directors) were conservative. They thought then that investments other than lending were risky,” he explained.
http://bit.ly/tLmSlE
The cooperative is looking at increasing its membership to 40,000 within the period to hit its goal, said Nestor D. Ortigoza, its general manager.
“There is still a big untapped market,” Ortigoza told the TIMES, pointing out that the cooperative has started strengthening its campaign to increase its members so it would be able to reach its goal.
He said the cooperative, which already has 27 branches in urban centers in Mindanao, is studying to expand in some strategic areas within the island as it wanted to set up 13 more branches within the next five years.
But the cooperative will ensure that only “quality members” will be the ones to get accepted. “We will make sure that as we grow our cooperatives, our members will also grow with it,” Ortigoza added.
Engr. Jaime G. Adalin Jr., acting head of the City Cooperative and Development Office, earlier said that in the city alone, there are still a very big market for cooperatives. “We hope that within the next two years we will be able to achieve the 300,000 membership mark,” he earlier said.
Based on the record of the regional office of the Cooperative Development Authority, the city has about 204,000 residents who are members of cooperatives. The city has about 1.46 million population in 2010 based on the city government official estimates.
Ortigoza said that if the 30-year old cooperative, which started at the office of the Department of Agriculture, could breach the P1 billion mark in terms of assets, it could grow its assets to as big as P3 billion two years after achieving the first target. “It is easier to grow bigger when you have hit the P1 billion club because you already have a history (of being a well-managed cooperative),” he said.
Adalin said that many cooperatives were not able to sustain their operations because of mismanagement.
Unlike those that closed down their operations, the King Cooperative has been able to thrive because it has made sure that all members of its management team are “qualified and capable of being managers,” Ortigoza said.
The cooperative is also venturing into businesses other than lending in its efforts to increase its profitability.
Next month, it will pilot test its agreement with a remittance company, Western Union so it could start its remittance business as agent of the company. It will put up five remittance centers in key areas, but some branch managers outside of the five branches where these centers will be set up already wanted their branches to be included in the business model, Mr. Ortigoza added.
The cooperative is also finalizing its agreement with the city-based petroleum company, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, for the setting up of its first gasoline station in Digos City, Davao del Sur.
It is also studying the proposal to offer insurance coverages to its members. “We are finalizing this idea so that we can also offer a product that our members also need,” Ortigoza added.
He said the management has decided to come up with new business models other than lending so it could also grow faster than traditional cooperatives. “In the past, growing a cooperative was slower as members (of the board of directors) were conservative. They thought then that investments other than lending were risky,” he explained.
http://bit.ly/tLmSlE
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