Business Overview

Yina Pérez is mother, wife and young entrepreneur with a booming Kiosk business in the community of Ipetí Guna. She is also a dedicated member of the caja rural through which she has been able to receive 3 Kiva loans. The most recent loan Yina received has been partially used to expand the inventory in her Kiosk.

Yina Perez Kiosk - Ipedi Guna, Panamá

Economic Challenge

The community of Ipetí Guna is made up of a population of over 1,000 people and has continued to grow throughout the years. It is located right off the Panamerican Highway, providing them a strategic location for those travelling to the east of Panamá City. With the large growth the community has faced, demand has gone up, causing a increase of competition and thus resulting in Yina’s sales to have gone down in the Kiosk. This, in combination with family financial issues, has put a large burden on Yina to ensure the businesses success. She is eager to learn more about how to manage her inventory, and to develop new ideas to get a competitive edge in the community.

The Business

Previous brigades have discussed budgeting and saving with Yina, but she would like additional guidance on how to manage her business better. In addition, she does not keep clear track of the inventory or her sales which makes it difficult to get a clear grasp of the value of inventory or managing her expenses appropriately.

Competitive Advantage

Yina has recently received a Kiva loan of $3,000 of which she has used $1,000 to increase her stores inventory. This loan has allowed her to expand her kiosk and could potentially help bring in a larger amount and range of clients. In addition, Yina is an active member of the community bank which provides her further access to savings and loans for her business.

Obstacles

Competition has grown significantly over the past few years within the community. Around 2013 only 3 stores existed and since then, it has flourished to 10 which has caused client retention to become extremely difficult. Furthermore, Yina does not have a daily ledger which makes it difficult to assess the value of her inventory, cost of sales, or any other business expenses.

Business Snapshot

Revenue
18000.00
Employees
1

Next Steps

The tasks thatYina Perez Kiosk has prioritized are:

1: Conduct an inventory review and analysis
2: Identifying marketing strategy
3: Training on how to keep a daily ledger

Business Brigades that have consulted this business:

Chapter
Date
# of Volunteers
Chapter
Date
# of Volunteers
Texas A&M
2019
10
West Virginia University
2019
Arizona State University
2018

Page Last Updated:December 03, 2019