More than 4,000 migrants have been trained to start a business in Colombia

4,578 migrants have already completed training (picture).

Photo: Pexels

“Numbers are light,” a master’s professor used to say in the first class of a postgraduate business school in Bogota. After a few days, the second teacher delivers a document in which he teaches, more words, less words, how not to get lost in the numbers. Then there are those who help determine the price of goods and services. He is followed by one who teaches how to record income, expenses and expenses through accounting. And so, little by little, entrepreneurs with more than 10 years of experience in management positions are taking the business route. And like them, everyone who needs to start a business one day will need it at some point “Specialized training for the birth of new enterprises and strengthening of business.”

Don’t miss: Passion, the determining factor in the success of an entrepreneur

And this is the reason for the Productive Entrepreneurship for Peace program, Empropaz, which works for “productive reintegration accompanied by financial integration” and which has just presented the balance of the work they have done with migrants in Colombia, as they reported that “more than 4,500 migrants have passed specialized training to create new enterprises and strengthen business” and that “19% of entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs who went through the whole process of the Program managed to overcome financial poverty”.

The program reported in a press release that “according to Bogotá Como Vamos, 62% of Venezuelan migrants who intend to stay in the city live in financial poverty. Of these, 65% do so in layers 1 and 2. In addition, a study published by Dane shows that 81% of the population who want to start a business claim that they experience difficulties in doing so; Among these obstacles, 79.6% noted that the main one is getting access to credit, and women are most often unable to get it. Therefore, the focus of the work is the population.

In the information published for the press, they report in detail that the program “is present in 21 municipalities of the country, where there is a significant concentration of this population.” And that these people received “socio-emotional advice, social-business support and opportunities for financial inclusion”, that of them “38% only graduated from high school, and 37% of the group of entrepreneurs who came with a business idea have already succeeded to materialize it.’ They detail that “76% are women” and that on average “households consist of 4 people”.

Miguel Achuri Jimenez, manager of Empropaz, says that they have succeeded in “accompanying the migrant population on their way to social and economic integration in Colombia, promoting their human and productive potential to grow their businesses.” And that with the residents of Bancamía “the process has been facilitated for migrants to start their financial history with savings or loans and, in addition, they have received tools that promote social and public inclusion to create a real sustainable transformation of their living conditions. .”

One of the most talked about cases that followed this process is that of Irma Seres, who moved from Venezuela with her mother to Bela, Antioquia when she was 7 months pregnant. Four years later he created Mima’s pastries – How delicious!’, he subscribed to the call and began his process in 2022. He wanted to “position his brand, modernize and standardize production to be able to reduce costs and gain economic growth.” He was trained, put together an “effective business plan”, understood the market, learned how to “segment his customers” and “create a unique value proposition”. Yes, while maintaining the correct proportions, he received such training as in a business school. “I have clear goals, I am going to buy a molding machine to produce more bread and in a few years I will be an even more famous brand. I want to have three outlets and even turn it into a franchise,” says Irma.

If you know stories of entrepreneurs and their businesses, email us at Edwin Bohórquez Aya (ebohorquez@elespectador.com) or Tatiana Gomez Fuentes (tgomez@elespectador.com). 👨🏻‍💻 🤓📚