Nicaragua: Lead a horse to water
A while back (maybe five months ago) I wrote about a women's cooperative in my community which was in its beginning stages. The idea behind the cooperative is to create a culture of saving money and making wise financial decisions. A teacher at one of the schools where I work is the visionary of this project, and she asked me to help her get organized, form a board of directors, set up a bank account, and start various income generation projects.
"Be patient," she would tell me, "people here are slow to start and not very motivated. Once we have a few months under our belt, the interest among members will increase and our group will grow."
The bank account has been opened and a bunch of different ideas about how to make money have been thrown around. What are the ideas these ladies have?
1. Buying flowers in Managua, transporting them six hours by bus to our community, and selling them outside the cemetery on All Saints Day.
2. Making and selling party decorations.
3. Selling food. This has been the only activity which has actually happened, and it has happened only once. One day we prepared and sold "baho" (a typical plate here which consists of yucca, plantains, and beef). In my opinion, it was not nearly lucrative enough for the amount of work that went into it.
In my role as a business adviser, I suggested opening a small business in the community which could be run by the group members and help the cooperative to grow. We discussed it, and the group proposed a goal of opening a "Refresqueria"...basically a place where people can go to drink a fresh fruit drink. They have hopes of eventually selling coffee and baked goods as well. We created a budget, searched for deals on locations and freezers, and investigated different drink recipes which utilize fruit found in our region.
Then one day I received a phone call from the president of the group. "There is a kiosk is available for rent. It is right along the highway in front of the supermarket where a lot of people pass. The owner wants an answer from me right now. Should I take it?" After she told me how much she would have to pay for monthly rent and given the lack of an established business plan, I told her to wait another month until we had more funds and were better organized.
My advice was perhaps considered but not followed. She began renting the kiosk and hired one of the group members to run the place. After its first week and a half of business, it was brought to my attention that money was being lost in various ways. The president let the worker go and decided that the only person she could trust with the operations of the "Refresqueria" is herself. Now the only problem is that this woman does not seem to have adequate time to dedicate to opening the kiosk for business. We could be selling lots of refreshing fruit drinks, coffee, and baked goods; however, a variety of excuses keep popping up as to why "we won't be able to open the kiosk today."
So there the kiosk sits, closed most days, eating up the rent money and not generating any income. I hate to say, "I told you so." It continues to rain quite a bit around here, and only if it happens to start raining money there will be no problem covering the rent for next month.
As I was told months ago to "be patient," I shall continue searching for ways to help this group launch successfully.
"Be patient," she would tell me, "people here are slow to start and not very motivated. Once we have a few months under our belt, the interest among members will increase and our group will grow."
The bank account has been opened and a bunch of different ideas about how to make money have been thrown around. What are the ideas these ladies have?
1. Buying flowers in Managua, transporting them six hours by bus to our community, and selling them outside the cemetery on All Saints Day.
2. Making and selling party decorations.
3. Selling food. This has been the only activity which has actually happened, and it has happened only once. One day we prepared and sold "baho" (a typical plate here which consists of yucca, plantains, and beef). In my opinion, it was not nearly lucrative enough for the amount of work that went into it.
In my role as a business adviser, I suggested opening a small business in the community which could be run by the group members and help the cooperative to grow. We discussed it, and the group proposed a goal of opening a "Refresqueria"...basically a place where people can go to drink a fresh fruit drink. They have hopes of eventually selling coffee and baked goods as well. We created a budget, searched for deals on locations and freezers, and investigated different drink recipes which utilize fruit found in our region.
Then one day I received a phone call from the president of the group. "There is a kiosk is available for rent. It is right along the highway in front of the supermarket where a lot of people pass. The owner wants an answer from me right now. Should I take it?" After she told me how much she would have to pay for monthly rent and given the lack of an established business plan, I told her to wait another month until we had more funds and were better organized.
My advice was perhaps considered but not followed. She began renting the kiosk and hired one of the group members to run the place. After its first week and a half of business, it was brought to my attention that money was being lost in various ways. The president let the worker go and decided that the only person she could trust with the operations of the "Refresqueria" is herself. Now the only problem is that this woman does not seem to have adequate time to dedicate to opening the kiosk for business. We could be selling lots of refreshing fruit drinks, coffee, and baked goods; however, a variety of excuses keep popping up as to why "we won't be able to open the kiosk today."
So there the kiosk sits, closed most days, eating up the rent money and not generating any income. I hate to say, "I told you so." It continues to rain quite a bit around here, and only if it happens to start raining money there will be no problem covering the rent for next month.
As I was told months ago to "be patient," I shall continue searching for ways to help this group launch successfully.
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