Growing a business requires a unique and good quality product.

Running a business is not something you learn overnight. Especially for women in rural areas, creating and growing a company is not an easy task. Business theory can help but, above all, it is practice that overcomes lack of experience.

In 2011, when we started our organization, Latza Velooa – Llano de Mariposa Sociedad de Production Rural Ltd – we were 30 women members who hoped to build ourselves an income through the production and sale of canned fruit. We are based principally in the municipality of Santa Maria Yavesía, in the northern state of Mexico’s Oaxaca sierra region.

Perhaps because of our lack of experience, several members withdrew from the organization in the early stages. Only eight of the original members remained, but we decided to continue working together using the lessons we had learned up to that point. We started slowly, establishing our company and trying to make better decisions. We were, however, willing to take some risks, and we tried not to be afraid to make mistakes because we knew that our failures would also teach us valuable lessons.

Lack of capital was our second challenge. We started production of our first jams from the strawberry, apple and peach harvests, but sales were not as good as we had hoped and we did not make the profits that would have helped us to grow and consolidate. We sat down to analyse how we could improve; the first thing we did was to focus on the quality of our product.

Finally, we updated our processes for market requirements, creating labels that carry nutritional tables, a trademark and a barcode.

Managing the company has been challenging, but full of learning. For instance, initially we shared the profits among ourselves every six months. Now we pay ourselves monthly salaries, and this makes it possible for us to invest in our business ourselves and really see the benefits of having a business and generating our own income. In times of high demand, the company employs other women in the community and this helps the growth and development of the town. This is important, because it helps to keep our community alive – so many people have emigrated to the United States because of the lack of job opportunities here.

In the short term goal of Latza-Velooa is to employ more women from the town, and to stock up on raw material produced by the community itself. We are convinced that with the support of our members, our work and dedication, and with the grace of God, we will.

As women entrepreneurs, we have learned many things. We know now that working together in a coordinated way makes it possible for us to do much more than if we work individually. We have also learned that if you want to get ahead, there are no barriers. There is no age limit, no education requirements, and no problem about being a woman. We only have basic educational qualifications, and the age of our members, all women, ranges from 20 to 65.

Our representative, despite being one of the youngest in the organization, she shows us day after day, how work and persistence are key factors to overcoming barriers and move forward factors.

So, as we said at the beginning, we have come to believe that while starting a business requires some theory, a successful business comes from a lot of practice.

Questions to the reader:

1. What steps did you take to grow your business?

2. Have you done a SWOT analysis of your company? Do you know your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats?

3. What is the impact of your company on your community?