Gabriela Enrigue & Leticia Jáuregui

In 2008, economists Gabriela Enrigue and Leticia Jáuregui launched PROSPERA in Mexico to aid women-led microenterprises, small businesses with 10 or fewer workers. Gabriela and Leticia provide the female owners with mentoring, training and business support services. Their goal: to empower women and eliminate the need for migration by creating sustainable employment opportunities within rural communities.

You’ve been friends since university. How did you become interested in helping people through business?

Gabriela: We’re both economists, but we wanted to do something with a bigger purpose. Leticia and I worked in government in the past, and we were disappointed in our experiences. We decided the best way to help people in a sustainable way was to start a company with a social purpose.

So why microenterprises?

Leticia: While traveling and working in China and the Philippines, we were excited to see how microenterprises could be used to bring about social change. In Mexico, there is a trend for men to migrate, leaving many women on their own. Thousands of them are setting up microenterprises to improve their quality of life. Their efforts inspired us to start PROSPERA.

Gabriela: We discovered that about 95% of all businesses in Mexico are local microenterprises. They employ 65% of the population, including 13 million women entrepreneurs. They tend to sell directly to customers instead of to retail stores, which limits their development. They also have a hard time finding affordable suppliers. We wanted to help with these issues.

You founded PROSPERA in 2008. What have you been working on since then?

Leticia: Social entrepreneurship is just beginning to gain momentum in Mexico, so we’ve spent a lot of energy getting people excited about PROSPERA and building the infrastructure we need to make it work. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot about Mexico’s hidden microenterprise market. We’ve built up a database with information on these businesses, which helps us find clients. It currently contains 45 different businesses, and it’s still growing. Also, we’ve been working out our revenue model. Aside from our management and membership fees, our income is based on the success of our services: if the women’s sales increase, we earn a small part of the proceeds.

Can you tell us more about your pilot project?

Gabriela: In October 2008, we started our first pilot project with La Casona Wines. We worked with the owner to develop a business plan and find distributors. We partnered with chefs to develop recipes using her wine. Her sales increased 47% a month during the market-testing phase alone!

You’ve convinced government officials and businessmen in Mexico that working with female entrepreneurs is important. What advice would you give other women business owners dealing with similar challenges?

• Helping women is good business: 31% of Mexican microenterprises are owned and run by women. These microenterprises have a huge potential to impact the country’s development and improve living conditions.
• Be patient and persevere: it takes a while to launch a company. Also, you’re not alone: there are millions of women managing jobs and families on their own. Seek them out, talk with them, support one another.
• Adapt your message to your audience: it’s much easier to talk about PROSPERA in the US because they’re used to seeing enterprises like ours. In Mexico, we rely on our international recognition to gain credibility and promote our work.
• Ask for help when you need it: we are aware of our weaknesses and know when to reach out to others. This ultimately makes us stronger.
• Form a strong team: we build up relationships with people working toward the same causes and rely on our extended networks.
• Be driven, but flexible: you need to be able to overcome challenges as they arise.

What is the best part of your job?

Gabriela: I like that we work with talented women who have not had their work valued in the past. Many of these women are from rural areas, and they’re surprised to find that there is demand for their products in big cities.

What is your ultimate goal?

Leticia: We want to encourage Mexican youth to make a difference locally, to grow up dreaming of starting a grassroots microenterprise instead of leaving the country as soon as possible.