Celebrating International Women’s Day with a story on breaking down gender bias

International Women’s Day is all about celebrating the achievements of women, whether social, political, economic or cultural. A day to embrace their facets and intersections of faith, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, or disability. A day to celebrate those who came before us, those who stand beside us now, and those who will come after.

In celebration of this important day, we’re publishing an incredible story about Viniana Loloyavura, a confident, goal-oriented businesswoman and the owner/founder of Vinny’s Mini Mart, located in Suva Fiji. We hope this story inspires and empowers our BLP community and beyond! 

Viniana Loloyavura is a confident, goal-oriented businesswoman and the owner/founder of Vinny’s Mini Mart, situated in a town north of Suva called Nasinu. As a market vendor, the main products she sells include fresh fruits and vegetables, hot tea for passers-by throughout the course of the day, and hot lunches (such as fried fish and cassava) for people who work around the area. Vinny’s business has been operational for about 11 years and has been growing as demand for her quality service and products increases.

Even though her business wasn’t significantly impacted during COVID (unlike many businesses that were) it did still struggle and Vinny knew she needed support as she saw a need in food supply (everyone needs to eat regardless of whether there is a pandemic or not). She found out about the Business Link Pacific (BLP) subsidy and became connected to Tubuna Business Services, a consulting firm that could help her with a variety of business-related challenges she was having.

Through a $4500 subsidy, Vinny received support from Tubuna Business Services in improving her supply chain, improving her customer service and diversifying her product and service offerings. These supports had a huge impact on her business. They led her to being able to identify fresh produce suppliers that were closer to her shop location and provided the produce at a lower price. She was also able to reduce the working hours some of her staff were working so that all of them could keep their jobs.

Finally, Tubuna helped Vinny identify other opportunities whereby she could supply hot tea and lunches to people working in the area. All of these changes contributed positively to her business such that she had to increase her employee numbers from three to six (four females and two males). Vinny has also been able to start planning for the future and has identified two new locations where she could set up more retail outlets: one in the newly built Laqere Market in Nasinu and another in Kalabu which is on Kadavu Island where she comes from.

Vinny wasn’t always a business owner. For a long time, she worked full-time for the local Garment Factory and during her annual leave every year, she would help her mother with the vegetable stall she ran. Over the years, she would observe the benefits her mother experienced of owning her own business which included having a flexible schedule, earning more for herself and her family, and being her own boss. One day, Vinny decided she would branch out and try it on her own. She was convinced that she could earn more as a Market Vendor than what she was earning from her full-time role at the factory. This, of course, proved to be true.

When asked what the keys were to her success, Vinny shared,

“Hard work, quality product and good customer service.” She explained that in this industry, you have to work hard and smart to make it – and she and her employees do. She also shared that the support she received from Tubuna in identifying quality and affordable products has also really helped her in the growth of her business. Finally she prides herself and her business on offering quality customer service. These three areas have allowed her to stand out from other market vendors in the area only further contributing to her success. 

Being a woman who owns and runs her own business, though is not easy, reflected Vinny. As a woman, she has faced various challenges including having to meet her family’s basic needs which she alone is responsible for. Furthermore, she is often the one who has to tend to many social responsibilities (rather than her husband) which can take away from her being able to meet the many demands of her business.

“I was not able to make the balance between family and business. In Fijian families the husband always makes the call and decision and we ladies or mothers have to be submissive and many times, it will affect the business.”

Overcoming these cultural barriers has not been easy. However, through business training and coaching that she has received, she has gained confidence as a businesswoman. She has also figured out strategies in how to balance business and family obligations by engaging her family and having them gain a sense of ownership in the business as well. 

Overall, Vinny is quite pleased with the direction her business is going. She shared that she would definitely seek business support again from Tubuna Business Services and they are in fact discussing other services that they could access including identifying a few investment packages that could help her grow the business and retirement packages for herself and other employees. 

For Vinny, her ability to stay the course has come from believing in herself and knowing that there is market demand for the products and services she has to offer. Also managing and planning her business activities well and understanding the costs involved at all levels has been critical.

This article was written by BLP’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Advisor, Kara Klassen.