Geoff Andrews- Spring 2013

The Last Week: Geoff Andrews – Spring 2013

This week was a short week down here for us. Due to a Peruvian holiday that is on Thursday and Friday, we have only had Monday through Wednesday to work with the people. Yesterday and today we have been doing some office stuff. This week has flown by and it was our last week of work so we are wrapping up all of our work with the projects and preparing them for the next interns and the study abroad students.

This week I was focusing on re-writing a business plan for one of our loan applicants. Her idea for her small business is to open up an internet café in an area that desperately needs internet access. After visiting her location multiple times and having meetings with her in the office we have felt that it is a very good business opportunity for her. We have conducted all of the due diligence with her and I was able to re-write a more efficient business plan to present to the study abroad students. She is very excited for this opportunity. She is a very sweet lady and has no problem with doing the required work. She was a very good person to work with.

Today Andrew was able to meet with Luis in the morning here in the office. Luis brought Andrew all of the remaining bids and lists of his future inventory! Luis was originally going to open a store in his father-in-laws home, but after receiving an awesome opportunity, he was able to acquire a little town-home on the opposite side of Trujillo. This area is has a brand new neighborhood of town-homes. Luis had the idea to change his plan completely and open up a store in his future neighborhood. This was such an enticing idea because this is a brand new neighborhood with no other mini grocery markets. Luis would have little direct competition. Andrew and Luis had to redo his plan and reorganize things, but today they were able to finalize a decent part of it. There is still a little work left for the future interns, but Andrew has done great work with Luis.

This has been such an amazing opportunity to be here in Peru, working with the SEED internship. I am very grateful for all of the things that I have learned. I have learned things that will apply to me in school, my career and in my life. I will always remember working here and I know that this will provide a great foundation for my future goals. I am grateful for DanPer and the quality of employees that they have here that make this program function. It has been a humbling learning experience for Andrew and I. This next week before we head back to the USA we are going to take a detour and hit up Machu Picchu down south. We are excited to get out and know more of Peru. Thanks for everything!!!

Andrew & Geoff Spring 2013

Our second to last week is in the books.  Like they say in basketball, we've hit crunch time.  Geoff and I are frantically trying to iron out all the kinks in each of the six plans we're focusing on.  Each one presents different sets of challenges and opportunities that are exciting and motivate us to work.  Here is a brief run down on each of the potential loan recipients we're focusing on:

Plan #1:  is the plan that both Geoff and I agree is the best.  This week we focused on getting current price checks on all of the equipment this person requires to start her sewing business.  She is very excited about her potential loan and has been very helpful in making sure we get all the information we need to give her the best chance to be approved.  Last week we sent an electrician to her home to verify that her wiring could handle the machinery she will be using and found out that besides a few minor improvements, everything looks great.

Plan #2:  This person already runs a successful, well organized bodega that has very little competition in the area.  Due to the fact that her "bodega" (or mini convenience store) his attached to a large car wash that is very popular, we believe that giving her a loan in order to expand her business will lead to higher income and augmented success.  We are waiting on a few documents in order to have everything squared away for presentation and analysis this summer, other than that, her plan is good to go.

Plan #3:  Has a lot of potential,  however, there are a few complications that have risen over the last two weeks.  Here in Trujillo we have been having a wet summer. Lots of rain fall has caused this person's roof to become compromised and leak profusely.  Obviously this is a huge problem for a prospective internet cafe so we have had to add significant roof repairs to the  prospective loan total.  Although this obviously increases the required investment, the location is perfect, her and her husband are dedicated and knowledgeable, and the potential return is high enough that we think this is but a minor set back on the road to approval.

Plan #4: This person is very well organized and has experience in owning and operating a bodega.  We have spent the last few weeks revising her plan and getting updated prices on all her expenses.  The total appears to be very reasonable but we do have some concerns about competition.  Her prospective bodega is on a center plaza right beside a market.  In order to beat the established competition she will need to have the funds to purchase goods in high quantity to undersell their prices.  We have been working to find other ways to help get her clientele and will continue to do so in our limited remaining time here.

Plan #5: This person has been doing a major overhaul of his plan.  He is moving into a newly constructed neighborhood and wants to build a new bodega there.  Although his plan will surely be asking for the highest loan amount, the complete lack of competition provides a unique opportunity to capture a large market of approximately 300 homes. A lot of work remains to be done on his plan and we're trying to get as much done as possible before heading back to the US.

Plan #6: This plan has been a little disappointing.  This person has been very hard to get a hold of for meetings and her plan isn't coming together like we'd like.  She wanted to start a pharmacy, but due to legal restrictions and the complications (not to mention price) of employing a pharmacist, it looks like this plan won't be approved.  We plan to meet with her Monday to discuss potential options for shrinking her loan and narrowing the scope of her prospective business to health foods where she already has a consumer base.

In regards to current businesses, we have been visiting Juan Carlos at the bakery and Jeanette with her dairy on a weekly basis and have helped them improve their record keeping skills significantly.  We are still sorting out who among current loan recipients could benefit from additional funding.  I'll reserve details on that for next week.  Chau!

Elena Pajilla

The association Danper Sembrando Futuro and their program of "business entrepreneurship" is in its fifth year of operation, and is constantly working with low income entrepreneurs, which provides them with educational elements in business, funding, advice and support.  

In these first two months of the year we have worked with donors from Utah State University, Andrew Haws and Geoff Andrews, who monitor all the businesses, providing support and advice on any difficulties that might present themselves.  Their work in the past month has been the project of Juan Carlos bakery that has high growth potential.  They keep and bring financial reports to monitor the functioning of the business, allowing the bakery to be a more profitable business.

Executed by Sr. Marcos Obregoso Gutiérrez and her son Juan Carlos Orbegoso, who makes the bread products, such as pastries and cakes. 

This bakery serves the community well in Alto Salaverry.  The project enabled them to acquire machinery and working capital. 

Doin' Work

Geoff Andrews – Spring 2013

Andrew, Jacqueline and Irma

Irma, Jacqueline and I

This week has been really fun. We have been doing a lot of business visits, but what I have really enjoyed is that we have been focusing a lot on the proposed projects. On Tuesday we went out to a project that I have been working on. This project belongs to a woman named Irma and she wants to expand her mini market. She has a unique situation. Her mini market is in a small town that is about 40 KM outside of Trujillo. The current store is right next to her dad’s carwash. To get here we had to take a bus ride up into the mountains to get there. When we got there we walked into her current store and it was the cleanest store that I have been in while being here in Peru. I was very impressed with her organization and wellbeing of the store. She said that lots of semi-trucks and cars stop to get their vehicles washed and while they wait they buy a lot of things from her store. Her store is in a mountain community that doesn’t have a mini market. Everyone has to travel a good 30 minutes or more to buy groceries. We feel that she has a prime opportunity to be successful. We were impressed with the state of her current business and we feel that it would be a good investment to approve Irma’s project.

               
This week we also went out to visit Juan Carlos, who has a bakery in Alta-Moche. Every time that we visit him I am becoming more and more impressed with what he is doing. He is expanding his operations little by little. He also is starting to get a real feel for the importance of financial statements and the need for them. Every single previous visit we have had to mentor him in some sort of way about his financials, except for this week. He had everything filled out and he was on top of it. I was happy to see that he finally grasped the concept and hopefully he continues to fill them out and understand them like he did this past week! He is doing well.

                
We are making progress with the plans that we are working with. We have been working with 6 individuals in preparation for funding this summer. We are working super hard with all of them. We have made significant progress in the past two weeks and we will for sure have everything done within the next couple of weeks!

Andrew Haws-Spring 2013

Another week in the book as we push closer and closer to getting all of our potential loans ready for approval.  Our best loan candidate so far has her plan all squared away with the exception of a few things that need verification.  In the coming week we plan to send an electrician to her home to verify that the wiring is capable of supporting the sewing machines that her loan would provide.  Now that she is almost done we will start to focus on the other plans like those of Luis, Irma, Armida, Maria, and Anita.

Last week we were mostly confined to office work, but we did get a chance to do a little mentoring this week with Juan Carlos at the bakery and Jenette with the cows.  We explained to them the importance of record keeping and challenged them to focus on it throughout the month of March.

In the coming weeks we're looking forward to preparing the six plans we've been focusing on for loans, and finding opportunities to help the businesses we've already helped establish expand through additional loans.

Geoff Andrews, February 13, 2013

Geoff Andrews Spring 2013

This past week we have been busy mentoring a guy that has a bakery in an area called Alta Moche. He is a young father and husband that is just recently learning how to run a bakery. He is getting a good hang of how to cook the bread and other baked goodies that he sells, but he is still having troubles managing his small business. We visit his small business two times a month to help him control his expenses and track his raw materials used and costs of goods sold. In this first month that we have been here he has shown some improvement from our mentoring and he has a lot of potential to become very successful.

We also have been busy working with a woman who is an applicant that finished the classes in the fall and we are now working out all the details of her plan. Today we went out to where she is proposing to put her small business. We had her walk us around the local area to show us her competitors. She is very impressive and I feel that she has a good idea for her project. She wants to start a clothing manufacturing business that provides uniforms to local schools and businesses. She showed us a commitment letter that these schools and businesses have given her stating that they would contract her for their uniforms. We are working the due diligence part of her plan and hopefully we can help her progress and, in the summer, get her project approved.

Either the buses her are small or we are some big dudes???

I really have been enjoying my time here because of the work we are doing. I want to work in the business world, but also form personal relationships with people and help them out. In my career, I don't want to be locked in my office doing reports, files, etc.... I want to be out meeting people and making a difference in the work. The SEED internship is providing this opportunity for me and I am grateful that I am here doing what I am doing.

Andrew Haws and Geoff Andrews January 2013

Just over two weeks in the book and our time in Peru seems to be flying.  We are working with a number of potential loan recipients in the final stages of preparing them to submit all their information in the hopes of getting a loan to start their business.  One of the most promising plan so far is a woman who wants to start her own business making school uniforms and polos.  She already has a few clients lined up and is very excited and motivated to make her plans come to fruition.

We have also had the opportunity to meet past loan recipients and see just how far their businesses have come.  One example is the women of "Panificadora Mi Barrio Progressa".  This bakery was one of the first loans the program gave here in Peru.  Not only have the women established a successful bakery and paid off their first loan, but they are in the process of paying off a second loan and have plans to improve their business by taking out a third.

As I said, we've only been here a few weeks but we are already seeing how we can make an impact.  We look forward to continuing to help the people in our program improve their lives by teaching them business principles and helping them find a way to realize their dreams.