Sustainable micro-entrepreneurship

AES is committed to the communities in which we operate and to forming partnerships that promote inclusive economic growth. Anticipating the adverse economic effects of the pandemic, we proposed, together with the community, developing a program to reactivate and strengthen the local economy through micro-entrepreneurship. The program was implemented in the communities near the Mesa La Paz Windfarm in Llera, Tamaulipas.

Of the entrepreneurs who participated in the program, 63% are women, and 87% are families. 39% are food services. Course attendance has remained above 90%, and homework assignments at 100%.

The program focused on enhancing the use of community investment, and was designed in three stages:

→ Social Immersion
→ Community Co-design 
→ Implementation

The process sought to understand the communities in-depth (their motivations, opportunities, problems, risks, guiding values, etc.), to design, in partnership with locals, an economic reactivation project that made sense to the community and had a positive and sustainable impact.

During the community assessment, various secondary sources of information were analyzed, generating a general understanding of the three communities. Subsequently, to validate the information and assumptions, we carried out a three-month social immersion.

With the social immersion, it was possible to learn more about the dynamics, rhythm, and social life directly from within the communities, learn more about the culture and the way of life, and to craft a message that would resonate with the communities. With the immersion, it was possible to identify the relevant lifestyles in the communities, as well as the key segments of the economically active population in the county.

A valuable partner in the design were Llera’s existing entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs value the importance of having a support network, which allows them to interact, collaborate and grow their businesses. They understand that entrepreneurship is a means to meet their objectives (eg pay for their children's studies, improve their quality of life, etc.). When they perceive that they are not in the economic situation they want, entrepreneurs consider key actions that could help them reach their goals and dreams.

Entrepreneurs agree that soft skills are a very important asset in a successful business (customer service, quality, consistency, punctuality, etc). They considered experience, product and service quality, goals as well as relevant soft skills when selecting the participants for the entrepreneurship program. They also considered the need to strengthen different specific areas in terms of entrepreneurship, marketing, and finance. And finally, they consider that under a scenario of greater availability of resources or access to affordable credit, they would invest in productive assets, infrastructure, and resources.

After all options had been analyzed and resources, challenges, and opportunities identified the result was a more sustainable economic development project and a higher impact for the selected entrepreneurs and local small businesses. The main goal of the project was to increase the quality of service within the communities and improve the quality and feasibility of the entrepreneurs’ businesses. The main actions taken in the program were to:

→ Strengthen existing soft and hard skills to boost the local entrepreneur eco-system.
→ Provide assistance and productive inputs to selected micro-enterprises so that they could reach their greatest potential.
→ Achieve a gradual transformation of the community to improve the quality of life of the people (family income, health, education, housing, etc).

In the design stage of the project, prominent leaders, local entrepreneurs, and small business owners were invited over to participate in the co-creation of the syllabus. In the sessions, they presented the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship, specifically in the region, their experience, success stories, and what they find useful.

The Micro-entrepreneurship Program  had  30 entrepreneurs participating . These are being followed up with on an individualized basis, with more than 360 hours of training and technical support invested.