ALTHOUGH both are busy in their profession as lawyers, Rizza Marie Gariando and Maria Dee del Rosario still manage to run their fashion accessory business. For this, they credit resiliency and a willingness to learn the changing trends in fashion that keep the business alive despite tough competition.

Gariando and del Rosario, owners of Et Alia Designs Inc. in Labangon, Cebu City, said the idea of coming up with a fashion accessory business surfaced while they were waiting for the Bar examination results.

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“We both wanted to have a business and we just thought that fashion accessories are good since these require a minimal capital,” Gariando said.

The two started the business with P25,000 in 2003. Gariando handles the marketing side of the business while del Rosario takes charge of finance.

Et Alia produces costume jewelry like necklaces, earrings and bracelets made out of eco-friendly materials, all locally sourced, like wood and shells. It focuses more on wholesale trade, exporting the products to countries like Japan, Canada, Venezuela and the United States.

Learning curve

“We are new in this business so we really learned the hard way,” Gariando said. They spent time learning what the market demands and how fashion trends change. “It’s stressful but manageable,” del Rosario added.

For their products to gain more exposure, the two also joined shows, like this year’s 2nd Bijoux Cebu show last September and the Manila Fame last October. Gariando noted that of their buyers, about 95 percent are from the shows they joined.

Amid a global economic slowdown, Gar-iando said the business was affected. “Fewer people visited the October show because of typhoon Ondoy,” she said. But in times like these, businesses must learn to be resilient.

“We have cut costs and we didn’t go much into expansion. But, the products are still of high quality at reasonable prices,” she said.

What advice can they share with beginners who want to venture into the fashion accessory business? Know more about fashion trends, invest in managing workers well and establish sources for materials, Del Rosario said.