After joining CEPAD’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, Concepción used her seed fund and grew it exponentially. She shares about her experience.

“I started my business with making and selling tortillas. I called it Tortilla Blessings. The first week that I was making tortillas, I only made about 80 each day. Two weeks later, due to high demand, I was making over 300. 

In my community, the electricity frequently goes out, and that hurts us because the mill gets shut down. One day, I realized the owner of the mill was looking for gas to power the mill. So I decided to invest some of the profit from my tortillas to buy 20 liters of gas. Now, I invest C2,500 ($70) in gas each week to sell. Little by little, I am growing my business. I try to save C50 ($1.35) every day from what I sell.

Using the profit from my tortillas and the gas, I was able to start selling phone data, which I can earn C3,000 ($84) from. With some hard work and initiative, I’ve been able to open my own corner store. I can offer gasoline, bread, sugar, rice, candy, and more. I do everything with the good habit of saving some of my profit, just like how I was taught in the program. 

Recently, I’ve signed an affiliation contract to sell perfume with a company called Sentía. They will deliver the products to me, which I will have a profit margin of 30%. I’m very happy with this achievement and continue to be very motivated to improve my daughter’s quality of life and to help support my partner in the home.

In December, I was able to acquire a small freezer, which has helped to improve my corner store. Now, I also offer sodas, popsicles, cream, and cheese to the families in my community.”

Starting out with a seed fund of $110, Concepción now manages hundreds of dollars each week, which will continue to increase as her business grows. Thank YOU for creating generational change for Concepción’s family. To help more families in rural Nicaragua, you can partner with CEPAD here.