Entrepreneurship rates are particularly high in Latin America and the Caribbean compared to other regions. According to a recent report by the World Bank, approximately 50% of businesses in Latin America are owned by women. However, many of these businesses result from necessity rather than opportunity, as women struggle to access formal employment.
The report also found that women tend to own micro and small businesses and are less likely than men to have a formal bank account, a savings account with a financial institution, or apply for bank loans. As a result, women-owned businesses often struggle to grow. Instead of becoming a source of employment for the community, these businesses are limited to being a form of self-employment.
Pro Mujer is committed to empowering women entrepreneurs in Latin America using a holistic approach to provide financial inclusion, skilling, and health services. We believe that with access to the necessary tools, women can transform their lives and become powerful agents of change that also impact their families and their communities.
Grounded in this belief, we designed a hybrid version of the entrepreneurial training platform Emprende Pro Mujer. Combining in-person and online sessions, the program uses an intersectional framework to respond to Indigenous and rural women’s particular contexts and needs in Southeast Mexico.
To reach our target audience, the program relies on straightforward, online content that is easy to share and access via WhatsApp and is available in Spanish, Yucatec Maya, and Tseltal. Additionally, women from local communities serve as program facilitators, providing personalized support to the participating women entrepreneurs. Local partners on the ground allow us to reach remote communities that don’t have access to entrepreneurship training or support initiatives.
A total of 2,050 women have graduated from the hybrid program since it launched in 2022. At the beginning of each cohort, we conduct a survey to identify the most important areas of focus to help the participating entrepreneurs improve their business skills. The survey found that many women entrepreneurs lack the tools to keep track of their cash flow and could benefit from strategies to improve their marketing and communications plans and savings behavior. Only 41% of women tracked their sales, while around 30% kept a record of expenses and a monthly budget for the business. These records were kept using pen and paper; hardly anyone used programs such as Excel or other bookkeeping software. Plus, 80% of women mixed their business and personal finances.
Over half of the women entrepreneurs who participated in the program were Indigenous women and had only completed secondary school. The participating entrepreneurs ran their businesses informally and from their homes, earning an average monthly income of MXN$4,412, less than the 2022 minimum wage (MXN$5,298), and struggled to balance the time dedicated to their businesses with their domestic and care responsibilities.
The content used for the hybrid Emprende Pro Mujer program focuses not only on business practices that can benefit women entrepreneurs, but also on ways to encourage women’s empowerment and improve their self-image. The program includes modules on self-esteem and empowerment, business practices, financial practices, digital tools, business performance and sales, and controlling expenses.
At the end of each cohort, we conducted a second survey to measure the program’s impact. We found that 84% of the participating entrepreneurs had adopted at least 3 out of 4 critical business practices (e.g., having a formal business plan, creating a budget, keeping track of sales, and establishing digital marketing channels). Plus, 49.6% of the respondents reported that they increased their savings capacity thanks to the program, and 73% of participants felt empowered to improve their businesses.
We estimate that the program will result in a 21% increase in the participating entrepreneurs’ total income, representing an economic impact of more than MXN$1.5 million over 10 years.
Impact like this motivates us to develop more projects that support women’s financial autonomy in Mexico. During our 33 years of working with women in Latin America, we’ve impacted the lives of more than 2.5 million women entrepreneurs, provided more than 10 million health services, and disbursed more than US$4.4 billion in microloans to women throughout the region.
We will continue strengthening our activities in Southeast Mexico thanks to new partners and projects that will allow us to continue transforming women’s lives. We are confident that these initiatives will provide women entrepreneurs with the support they need to strengthen their businesses and contribute to their personal development and the development of local economies.
