Cultura de Colores(Grupo de Artesanas)

Texas A&M UniversityAugust 21, 2014

Template provided by LBS Business Brigade, April 2013.

BUSINESS : Cultura de ColoresName Yasmila Bacorizo, President

Nuvia Faraquito, Treasurer

Araseli Cabezon, Secretary

Eneida Opua

Irsalia Bacorizo

Business overview

Cultura de Colores is a women’s artisanal group in the Pueblo Nuevo community comprised of five women with a President, Treasurer, and newly added Secretary among them. The women work together to create and sell handmade traditional Wounaan goods including baskets, chaquiras, parumas, and other artisanal products. The women originally started the group in order to receive a capital investment from the government meant to aid small businesses. When received, these funds will help the women purchase supplies to make the products and to host their community barbeques which are meant to raise capital. The primary goal of the women of Cultura de Colores is to save money to put toward their children’s education and improve their futures. They eventually aim to save enough through the caja rural to have a lit sign at the entrance of the community to attract passing tourists and to open a small store to further establish their business.

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The Business Brigade Experience

Propose Solutions

(Da

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Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Only two of the artisanal group members were present. Neither the President nor Treasurer were in attendance. This made it difficult to ask them questions and really get a sense of how the business was run. We were confused as to the purpose of forming the group in the first place. We found out the cost of the supplies, hours put in to making the products, and a general sense of the profit made for each of the products. They asked for ideas for names for the business.

All five members attended the meeting on the second day. Having all members made a huge difference. The President expressed their mission and vision for the business, as well as giving a more in depth history of the group. We presented our ideas for prospective names for the business, and the members chose Cultura de Colores. We also exchanged ideas for creating a logo and sign.

Having created signs the previous night, we met with Cultura de Colores and presented them with the sign. We also helped them to define the roles for each of the positions within the group, including the President and Treasurer. The women also decided to elect a secretary and we facilitated an election in which a member was chosen. The newly elected secretary was given an agenda to plan biweekly meetings to keep the group on track.

BUSINESS: Cultura de Colores  President Responsible Lending Member Unity Vision

Strengths - Strong communication

skills

- Leadership qualities

- Takes responsibility for

the group

- Has knowledge of their

purpose and the

benefits of being a

group

- Demonstrates a desire

to grow the business

- Leads her team to

achieve their overall

goals

- Cash profits from the

business kept at

members’ homes are

not to exceed $100

- Any money above

$100 is moved to the

Caja de Ahorros

- Money is lent to

responsible candidates

who will be able to

repay the loan

- Exhibit trust for all

other members

- All members are

motivated by providing

education to their

children

- Help to hold each other

accountable

- If a member chooses

to leave the group, the

funds will be evenly

divided

- Plan to put anticipated

government money

toward eventually

opening a small shop

in the community

- Despite, competition,

they feel they can

compete with other

communities to attract

tourists to buy their

goods

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  Commitment Marketing Budgeting Raising Capital

Challenges - Keeping members

accountable for

attending meetings

- Holding biweekly

meetings to keep track

of how member’s are

contributing to the

business

- Having members

consistently working

and making products

- Establishing

themselves as a

distinct, identifiable

group

- Attracting tourists from

the cities and other

areas to buy their

products, thereby

competing with other

communities

- Need to gain a better

understanding of their

customer base

- Members still seemed

to have questionable

knowledge of

budgeting

- Often seemed to not

know how much

money certain events

raised or how much

was in accounts

- Overbuying supplies

and not adequately

preparing for when

groups were expected

to visit

- Becoming complacent

after gaining large

sums, not realizing

they still need to raise

funds to grow the

business

- Coming up with

creative ideas aside

from the barbeques to

raise capital

BUSINESS: Cultura de Colores

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  Meetings Sign Budgeting Raising Capital

Proposed

solutions

- A secretary was

elected to take

meeting attendance

- The secretary was

given an agenda to

plan when meetings

would be held

- A minimum of biweekly

was established

- The roles of each

officer position was

written down and

established

- Created a name

(Cultura de Colores) to

identify the group

- Made a sign with a

distinct logo to market

the group and to

create a distinct

identity

- Further explained

budgeting concepts

throughout the week

both in the afternoon

and mornings

- Promoted specifically

planning for when

customers were

expected

- Emphasized the

importance of

constantly working,

even when there were

plentiful funds,

including trying to

implement a

contribution monthly

minimum

- Brainstorming other

organized efforts to

raise capital

BUSINESS: Cultura de Colores

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BUSINESS: Cultura de Colores

Further details / observations

Useful Information:• Aside from the President, member participation was very limited and it was difficult to get them to

contribute to the group• When describing the business, it often seemed more like a hobby than a job, as they would make the

goods in their spare time and were hesitant to implement any monthly production quota

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Information gathered after initial questions

• Pricing• Time required to make products• Materials costs• Member roles• Mission/vision• Raising capital (barbeques)

BUSINESS 1: Cultura de Colores

Next steps

Immediate changes • Check and see if they have had biweekly meetings • Have maintained their roles (President, Treasurer, and Secretary) within the group• Have an updated agenda

Short-term changes(within 3 months)

• Creating a sign by the road to attract customers to Cultura de Colores• Spoke with Mel about opening a business account in the Caja Rural specifically for Cultura

de Colores

Medium – longer term changes (+3 months)

• Opening a small shop within the community to further establish their business• Growing in members• Growing their customer base and marketing

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Advice for Future Brigades:

Useful Information:• Always be patient• Always have a smile on your face• Be as creative as possible• Keep things simple• Repeat important information• Be open-minded• Encourage members whenever possible• Be approachable and attentive

Best practices for delivering workshops

Useful Information:

• Keep the discussions simple and engaging• Have ice breakers to help the community members open up• Try to have the community members up and moving at some point • Use graphics when possible

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BUSINESS 1: Cultura de Colores

Contact details

Business owner • Name: • Phone number:

• Name: • Phone number:

Coordinator • Name: Mel Brown• Phone number: • Email:

Translator • Name: Carolina Garron• Phone number: 62178195• Email: carolina.garron@gmail.com

Texas A&M Business Brigade Team

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