by: Shirley Indyra
Do you think it is possible to start a business today with an initial investment of $500.00 and generate high income?
One of the biggest concerns of most people when talking about starting a business is: “Can I start a business that generates high income if I invest a little money?” Books and “the experts” can be useful and give good advice, but there is no doubt that the most convincing factor is the example.
Look at the business started by Alma Delia Garcia, an entrepreneur who created a shoe store selling the Mexican brand, Andrea. She is a perfect example of a woman who started a business that has good profits with little initial investment.
Like most female entrepreneurs, Alma Delia is creative, a fighter and never gives up no matter what obstacles she has faced. With the desire to be independent and generate more income for her family, in 2009, Alma quit her job caring for children and cleaning houses to start a business selling Andrea-brand shoes.
With $500.00 borrowed from her oldest son, Alma purchased the catalogs she needed and started to build a network of clients in East Harlem, New York City. Alma began selling shoes through Andrea catalogs. Within weeks, she had several clients who sought to buy the shoes. She attributes her success to two very important things that anyone should have to start a business:
1) That your business is something you enjoy.
2) Do not lose patience when the business has just started; remember there are days when you win and others you lose.
If you are doing something you like, find a way to make it work. Creativity can help a new business succeed. Alma believes that it is very important to come up with several marketing ideas for how to deliver the product to a customer.
In 2010, Alma Delia began looking for more money to grow her business, because the only money coming in was from sales. She learned about Grameen America and the opportunity to earn credit. Through Grameen America, she would be able to receive capital.
His first loan with Grameen America was $700, which she invested entirely in the purchase of shoes to keep in her home to offer her customers immediately (in “business by catalog,” customers choose the product that they see from a sample, then they are ordered and arrive after a few days).
Having more of her product at home was of great benefit to Alma, as this allowed her to increase sales and provide better service to her customers through the immediate delivery of the shoes.
Currently, Alma has weekly earnings of over $600.00 of sales from approximately 20 to 30 pairs of shoes per week. She believes that to earn more, you have to increase sales, and to increase sales, you have to work hard every day and have a new strategy for finding new customers and keeping old ones.
Alma Delia wants everyone to feel the motivation, joy and pride that she has achieved. She encourages her friends to start their own businesses as well. When she first told her friends about Grameen America, they were not very convinced, but after a year of being members of Grameen America, they are now thinking about forming a larger group of small-business owners with Latin roots and create a “shopping mall” in which they can offer shoes, clothes, makeup, household products, food sales, among other businesses related to the Hispanic community in East Harlem.
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