Business Profile: Jose Gutierrez

Business name: Crearte
Type of business: Woodworking
Years in business: 11
Number of employees: 5
Production per month: About 500-600 products per month

How and why did the business get started: Jose learned the craft from his father at the age of 11, and set up a family business. His wife markets the products and sells in Honduras, and his son, Jonathan, works with his father when he is on break from school.  Jose and his wife handle the business with their own funds.   He uses different types of wood that he gets from other parts of Nicaragua.

Recent successes or changes:  During this past year, sales were up versus previous years.  December was an especially good month. They produced more, and were able to sell more. Jose went to Miami in November for a craft fair. He sells both regular pieces and custom made pieces, but he does not make any additional profit from the custom pieces. About 50 percent of his pieces come from custom orders.

Current challenges: He is having problems with employee attendance and punctuality. Recently, Jose had to terminate all of his workers and hire new ones.  Some of the new employees have worked with Jose before. He pays them a percentage of each piece they produce, depending on the type of piece.  Jose has to train all of the workers. They know basics, but he has to teach them better techniques. 

Description of most recent Wake Forest Consulting Project:  Jose would like help addressing the problems he has had with his employees, starting with designing a contract. He wants to emphasize workplace safety and for employees to understand their responsibilities as well as the benefits that come for both parties.  Jose would also like the students to create an excel spreadsheet he can use to track payments to employees. Jose also is interested in buying an air compressor that is larger than the one he currently owns.  It costs around $1,000 and would enable him to go from utilizing 100lbs of air to 1,000lbs with the new compressor. The new compressor makes the process faster and gives the wood better quality on the finishing.  The new compressor would also save money in the long run because it saves energy.

-Written by Tramell Zackary, MA '10, and Kathleen Ketchum, MBA '11