Community Mart was a failed attempt. It was introduced in 2018 as an app where residents of Naga City can have their groceries delivered to their homes, like how people were doing it in Metro Manila.

But people couldn’t see then why they would want to have someone do their groceries when they could do it themselves. Very few used the app so Nueca decided to park it. But its founder Magno Edilberto R. Conag III still thought about it from time to time, and even mentioned the idea of partnering with public markets to Vice President Leni Robredo during Bicol’s 2019 Halyao Awards where she was a guest speaker.

He quickly forgot about it as Nueca was busy running two other successful e-commerce apps: Tindahang Tapat and Hungrily, as well as their logistics company, Nueca Delivery Services.

Tindahang Tapat’s clients are the sari-sari store nanays. Whenever they’re running low on stocks, they can order reinforcements from the app and have the products delivered to them for free. There’s no need to close down the store for long periods of time for “paninda” runs, saving these hardworking sari-sari store owners’ time, energy, and money.   

Meanwhile, Hungrily is Naga’s version of foodpanda or GrabFood. Just like its counterparts, the app aims to make food deliveries convenient to the public and at the same time help local Naga restaurants reach more customers. 

Unlike Community Mart, these two apps found their niche and continued to grow actively.

While Nueca dedicated all their energies to Tindahang Tapat and Hungrily, the pandemic happened. Everyone was asked to stay in their homes indefinitely. People didn’t know where or how to buy their essentials. Businesses didn’t know how they could continue operating when customers were locked down. 

Nueca thrives on solving problems, just like how they solved the problems of sari-sari store nanays as well as that of local restaurants who had to compete with the much bigger ones.  The effects of the pandemic on the community and the local economy are no different. It is a huge problem.  

With this they had to act fast. There was not much time to brainstorm for a breakthrough product. Good thing they already had one. It was time for Community Mart to shine. 

They reintroduced Community Mart to the market in February this year, expanding the services to include not just groceries but also department stores, drug stores, bookstores, hardware stores, and many more. It was starting to pick up. People were starting to see the value of an app where they can order things like wood, cement, plumbing, and electrical supplies conveniently. And when the quarantine happened, the value of Community Mart just shot up – the public realized they needed an app where they could easily order everything they needed.

“This was a decision point,” said Conag. “Half of our team was for pausing the operations of our 3 e-commerce platforms while some were for continuing. After two days of pause and reflection, it was clear that we needed to operate. Nueca, being an e-commerce company, was much more needed at that time not only by customers but by local businesses also.”

So while everyone else was slowing down during the quarantine period, Nueca was speeding up their hiring process, app development, coordination, and marketing efforts. They were working remotely but effectively by using digital tools like Zoom, Telegram, and Meet. They heavily relied on the strong internet connection provided to them by Globe myBusiness.

“[Globe myBusiness] has helped us in many ways. From my personal phone line, which they recently upgraded to allow unlimited calls and texts to all networks, what a convenience!” said Conag. “To Globe SMS API, which is practically what’s powering our eCommerce customer registration and notifications, to internet connections.”

This time, everyone was willing to sign up. Now home depots, specialty stores, water, LPG, restaurants selling ready-to-cook food to prevent spoilage, beauty stores, even internet providers, and more importantly, public markets, are on Community Mart.

It has always been Conag’s dream to get the public markets on board. Thanks to the support of Naga City’s local government, this vision came true. The residents were safely shopping from home, businesses started earning, and tricycle drivers who lost their livelihood were hired as delivery riders.

Conag was happy to see their city’s problems being addressed. But this wasn’t enough for him. He figured that other cities might be in need of their help, too. He messaged the Facebook pages of other local government units (LGUs) but didn’t get any reply. So he decided to level up his game. He went straight to the Office of the Vice President who, as luck would have it, already had an idea about what Community Mart was. 

“I waited for a response but when [Vice President Leni Robredo] herself responded, oh boy! It’s game time! I was starstruck! Within days, Quezon City’s Kamuning Public Market is on Community Mart. Weeks after, Pasig Mega Market followed with the help of Mayor Vico Sotto. Alabang Public Market opened as well,” said Conag. “All these 3 [public markets] have reached a revenue of no less than P10 million in just a short period of time.”

It’s not only Community Mart that’s thriving. Tindahang Tapat is now serving thousands of sari-sari stores in Naga City, Camarines Sur, Batangas, and Cavite while Hungrily is now partnered with more than a hundred restaurants.

It goes to show that when you fail, it pays to try again. That’s what Nueca as a company is all about. Nueca, derived from the original Spanish name of Naga City – Ciudad de Nueva Caceres (New Caceres City), is what Conag now calls the version 2.0. He previously built a tech startup but failed. And Nueca is his “try again”.

His motivation for doing so is the same. He wanted his students from the Ateneo de Naga University to have opportunities in Naga. He wanted the best and the brightest developers, animators, designers, to find a job without having to go to Manila or overseas. He just knows better now. He started from experience and now he’s reaping the rewards. 

That’s just the thing that aspiring entrepreneurs can all learn from. It’s always harder in the beginning. Failure is part of the journey. But success comes to the tenacious, to those who won’t stop trying, who persist until their moment arrives, and then leap at the opportunity. 

Keeping a business alive and thriving also requires openness to continuous learning and growth. And the best lessons can come from experts and fellow entrepreneurs who share real-life experiences at business resource portals like Globe myBusiness Academy.

The importance of agility, of being able to pivot a plan and change course midstream, especially during a time of adversity, is a lesson Nueca learned well. They used the pandemic to their advantage, using an urgent consumer need and their own know-how to legitimize their business by partnering with merchants, organizations, the office of the vice president, and other LGUs.

By being persistent, Nueca has now grown from less than 30 to now 97 employees. Their revenue has tripled and they have over 250 partners. And from only servicing Naga previously, they’re now in most parts of Bicol and even Metro Manila.

“Have a firm resolve never to retreat from this health and economic crisis. Keep committed to serving others above the self,” said Conag. “In this way, you will naturally discover ways to evolve. And in your evolution, you will become relevant, again. In relevance, you will be able to serve. In serving others, thriving is a natural consequence.” – Rappler.com

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