“I had never helped anyone like this in my life, for fear of not knowing what to do, now with the acquired knowledge I received from the Learning and Mentoring Center. I have discovered more confidence in myself, and I have a greater desire to help my neighbors in a more positive way to achieve self-reliance.” Roxana Ayala, Volunteer Mentor from Guatemala. (Pictured above in the gray shirt)
Roxana completed our mentoring certificate course and now she is paying it forward and performing her service hours by mentoring Nereida.
Nereida has a small tienda in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She was struggling to grow her business and make it successful. (Pictured above in the pink apron)
The first thing Roxana did was to inspect Nereida’s business. She discovered that there are many competitors in the area, which resulted in lowering Nereida’s sales. Together Roxana and Nereida completed a price comparison of the other stores. They found that Nereida’s products were 10% more expensive than her competition. Roxana recommended to Nereida to lower and match the prices of her competitors.
As part of Nereida’s mentoring lessons, basic accounting principles were taught to regulate cash flow and track expenses. Nereida was able to see for herself the importance of keeping good records. Even after lowering the costs of her products, she was able to still maintain a good percentage of profitability.
Roxana advised Nereida on the importance of having a better business presentation of her products. Together they reorganized her products on display to give her tienda a better appearance. Customers were able to better see items for sale, and Nereida’s sales increased.
There was still much competition so to help Nereida’s store to stand out better Roxana suggested that she implement some new products that no one else was selling. Nereida decided to start selling fried chicken with potatoes and making “chicharrines”.
The results of these changes and improvements have increased Nereida’s sales by 30%.
Roxana has experienced a gratifying feeling of being able to assist other people through voluntary mentoring and creating positive impacts on the lives of the people she has mentored.
Roxana will continue to share the knowledge she acquired from the Learning and Mentoring Center to support others.
