Guatemala, April 2022. Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI) celebrated the graduation of 126 entrepreneurs who participated in La Casa del Saber, a program aimed to build the business skills of partners of La Casa de Pollo Rey. The program was supported by Fundes Latin America and was financed by IDB Invest, a member of the IDB Group (Inter-American Development Bank).
"With your entrepreneurial spirit and as partners of La Casa de Pollo Rey, you are protagonists of development in your communities and provide the opportunity to grow together, through job creation and by bringing good quality food to different parts of the country", said Alfonso Bosch, CMI representative, during the welcome speech at the graduation ceremony.
The training lasted 10 weeks and, during this period of time, the entrepreneurs had access to virtual sessions, tools to promote their growth, personalized technical assistance and other incentives for the benefit of their personal, family and business development. In addition, the program was taught by facilitators who covered the different topics virtually, as well as with the accompaniment of an advisor to support the advancement of audiovisual content, through an App.
“This is one more step in that process of personal and business growth. They have the foundations to strengthen their relationship with customers and grow their businesses. We wish them prosperity and hope that they continue reaping fruits”, added Randall Hidalgo, Fundes Project Leader.
More than 76% of the graduates were women, reaffirming CMI's commitment to the empowerment and development of women in Guatemala. “I am putting everything I have learned into practice in my business and it has helped me to have more administrative order with my employees, since they now have opening and closing routines. The main objective is for our customers to be as satisfied as possible”, assured Ingrid Lorena Marín, one of the entrepreneurs who participated in La Casa del Saber.
“This program represented a lot of work and effort on the part of everyone involved, but it guided and inspired us with the goal of supporting the growth and development of entrepreneurs in our region. This is an objective that IDB Invest, CMI and Fundes share in order to carry out this training,” said Romina Ordóñez, IDB Invest representative.
After this first experience and, with the aim of continuing to create sustainable development with impact, La Casa de Pollo Rey plans to continue its training programs with more partners.
La Casa de Pollo Rey is a project that promotes the economic empowerment of small businesses through authorized points for the sale of the brands Pollo Rey, Toledo and other products. Currently, there are more than 700 points of sale in the country. 80% of the partners are women; they earn more than the minimum wage and more than 50% of the stores have employees.
Among the benefits for being strategic partners, entrepreneurs receive, from CMI, the setup of their stores, refrigeration equipment and training on customer service, finance, innovation and marketing, safety and quality. In this way, they build the skills that allow them to grow their businesses and have a positive impact on their communities.