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 

Student Profile: Nick Coppola

Nick pictured volunteerig with children from La Chureca in March 2009

Program and year: MBA '10
Hometown: Wayne, NJ
Number of visits to Nicaragua: 3

Which seminars did you teach? Financial Budgeting and Record Keeping

Favorite Project Nicaragua memory: 

Helping Caleb Mendoza understand his cost structure.  During our consulting session, we worked through an Excel spreadsheet that we created to identify fixed and variable costs, contribution and break-even.  Caleb was extremely excited to be given new tools to help his business succeed.  Our group worked together to create a consulting deliverable that made a significant impact on Caleb and his mother’s business.  

What was your greatest learning moment on this trip?

The greatest lesson I have learned on my trips to Nicaragua is the importance of flexibility.  This past trip, we created a new answer key for the record keeping seminar on the fly.  Later the next day, the seminar was successfully completed in both the beginner and advanced sections.    

What surprised you the most about Nicaragua and your experience visiting the country?

The Nicaraguan business owners are extremely sharp.  They have practical business skills developed through many years of experience.  In the Organizational Behavior seminar, the business owners spent time teaching us!  Our job is to simply provide further technical skills and offer new perspectives for them to consider as they run their businesses. 

How has Project Nicaragua affected your business school experience?

Project Nicaragua has profoundly impacted me.  Never having traveled to Latin America, I was confronted with poverty and called to help.  I believe that many of us will continue to provide assistance through donations of time or money throughout the rest of our lives. 

Student Profile: Kathleen Ketchum

Program and year: MBA '11
Hometown: New York, NY
Number of visits to Nicaragua: 1

Which seminars did you teach?

Marketing Research; Motivating and Retaining Employees

Favorite Project Nicaragua memory:

Consulting with our business owner’s 15 year old son who came to the seminars.  I was amazed at how bright this kid was and so impressed by the responsibilities he was taking on at his family’s business while also still being in school.

What was your greatest learning moment on this trip?

While teaching the Motivating and Retaining Employees seminar we learned that due to cultural differences some of the things we were teaching the business owner’s didn’t agree with and didn’t feel would work for them in Nicaragua’s culture.  It was challenging to find common ground, but we ended up having a really great discussion about the differences and similarities in doing business in Nicaragua and the U.S.

What surprised you the most about Nicaragua and your experience visiting the country?

 It was really interesting talking with some of the business owners to see how similar things are between Nicaragua and the U.S.  For example, during our Motivating and Retaining Employees seminar we were talking about small businesses in both countries, many of the attendees were surprised that small businesses have a large presence in the U.S. -- they had assumed it was just large corporations.

How has Project Nicaragua affected your business school experience? 

It’s given me a great opportunity to get involved in something outside the classroom and share some of the concepts I’m learning with others.

Business Profile: Javier Lopez

Business name: Dulceria JenniferType of business: Churritos and candy
Number of employees: 8
Production per month: 200 lbs/day churros; 25 lbs/day candy

Recent successes or changes: As of December 23, 2009, he signed a contract with La Union and Pali to increase his distribution to them for both candy and churros. He is in negotiations with La Colonia to sell there with fewer restrictions. He continues to sell at informal markets, but is trying to increase the formal markets from 30% to 80% this year. He is undergoing litigation against his brother-in-law over a machine that will improve his costs of production and output.

Current challenges: The litigation regarding the machine will help him increase churro production from 200 lbs/day to 1000 lbs/day is underway. This machine is incredibly specialized and will decrease his cost of production from C$9.50 to C$3.50 per candy.  He already has paid a $2,500 USD down payment for the machine, but it was recently sold to a family member for $15,000 USD. He is confident that he will win with his evidence, but the process could take up to a year. Additionally, he is in the process of moving locations. He currently lives where he works and will move within 2-3 months, so that his business place is dedicated to production only. He hopes to be back at a regular manufacturing schedule by March. He is also working on increasing candy production. All of his flavors have been approved by the sanitation standards.

Recommendations from the most recent Wake Forest Consulting Project:

• Produce more candy and track sales; after 6 months, if you are selling out, then increase production of candy in the formal markets.

• Conduct market research to find popular flavors to reduce the cost of different candies.

• Keep the same branding/labels for churros and candy to create brand awareness. Ensure that they are sold near each other in the different outlets.

• Continue to increase presence in supermarkets and become less dependent on the success of churros since there is a larger profit made from candy (without the machine).

-Written by Ashley Bangan, MA '10

Student Profile: Curt Webber

Curt Webber (right) with Jeff Hughes
Program and year: MBA '11
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
Number of visits to Nicaragua: 1

Which seminars did you teach?  Operations

What surprised you the most about Nicaragua and your experience visiting the country?

I was mostly surprised by the resourcefulness of the business owners and the people in general.  Watching the business owners do everything that they knew how to and to strive to learn how to be able to improve their businesses and their own livelihood was not as much surprising as it was inspirational. 

While we were there to teach business seminars and help to uplift business owners, I feel that it was us, the MBA students, that perhaps learned the most from those that we taught.  If we, as students at a prestigious university, were to use our resources to the capacity that the Nicaraguan small business owner does on a daily basis the extent of our accomplishments would be virtually endless.

How has Project Nicaragua affected your business school experience?

Project Nicaragua was the first reason I even thought of coming to Wake Forest.  I have always had an interest in business development in Latin America and was seeking a b-school experience that would incorporate a relevant learning experience.

The best part of Project Nicaragua was getting to know my fellow students outside of the classroom and seeing how all of us that come from different backgrounds with varying concentrations were able to collaborate in a real world context. The friendships that were formed on the trip, both among the students and between the students and business owners, will no doubt be long lasting.

Student Profile: Christian Harry

Christian Harry (pictured on the right) with translator, Josh

Program and year: MA '10
Hometown: Pearisburg, Va
Number of visits to Nicaragua: 1
Which seminars did you teach?

Financial Budgeting; Motivatingand Retaining Employees; and Networking

Favorite Project Nicaragua memory:

Being able to teach the seminars, and seeing how eager everyone was to learn the material.  I love the energy and enthusiasm that people brought to the sessions.  Also, Caleb (one of the business owners) gave me some great advice on when to meet someone, when to get married, and when to have kids!

What was your greatest learning moment on this trip?

Visiting the actual work places during our business visits.  It was really interesting to learn how these business owners constructed their processes and to see how they developed their product after studying their business. 

What surprised you the most about Nicaragua and your experience visiting the country?

I was surprised at how the business constructs, frameworks, and subjects that we are studying here at Wake are translated into other cultures and countries.  It was really interesting to see how what we are learning actually affects existing businesses – even those in other countries. 

How has Project Nicaragua affected your business school experience?

Project Nicaragua has truly been a life-changing experience and has greatly enriched my business educational experience.  I am really glad I was able to participate in such a unique opportunity and an awesome project helping others.  It has also given me a better perspective of how business is crucial to keeping a company alive and its importance in different industries.  I really enjoyed my Nica experience and am grateful for the opportunity!

Sonia's Story

Sonia is the epitome of style.  Red fit shirt, hair styled just right.  And a smile that can sell anything.  Her story is a fight to constantly learn, to push into new markets, and to always keep growing.
In 1972, a friend of Sonia's gave this budding seamstress a gift of 50 yards of fabric.  With this generous gift, Sonia launched a small sewing business, continually selling what she made and buying a bit more each time.  By 1998, she owned 8 sewing machines and had paid for her three sons to attend university. 
 She continues to take business classes, sewing classes, and is learning how to use the internet.  Sonia's looking to expand her market for the clothes she makes, but needs a loan to get some flyers, web advertising, and additional materials.  The last loan she received was from Procredit and while she borrowed 6,000 Cordoba, she had to repay 15,000 Cordoba after 10 months.  This is the microfinance industry here. 
Sonia's brilliant smile can sell her all the clothes she wants, but until capital is much more affordable, things aren't going to change.