Business Overview

Located in the community of Curtí in East Panama, Jimmy Gonzalez and his entrepreneurial family are active members in the Community Bank and are looking to expand a bakery business.

Jimmy's Bakery - Curtí, Panama

Economic Challenge

Jimmy González is an experienced and proud baker in the community of Curtí. When he moved to Curtí from Panama City in the early 1990s, he tried to start his bakery business here. However, it just did not work at the time. In his own words “people here had their own lands, they had cassava, potatoes, plantains… they did not want to buy bread, it was a luxury.” Now almost 30 years later Jimmy is ready to go back to his business since, based on his analysis, people do not grow their own crops anymore so a bakery may be profitable. The main challenge for Jimmy has been to afford the equipment, just about 1 year ago, he got a second-hand equipment worth $1,800.00 USD. He started using it but it had some malfunctions that made him stop producing bread, as it was also a hazard for his own house.

But this is not the end of the story. Now, 1 year later Jimmy’s bakery is back! He has invested approximately $400.00 USD in repairs and he is planning to start his operation during this first quarter of 2020!

Business Solution

The Business

Total investment to date: $700.00

Current outstanding balance (for his bakery equipment): $1,400.00 USD

Projected revenue (approximately): $60.00 USD per day ($1,800.00 USD per month)

Cost of sales (approximately): $35.00 USD per day ($1,050.00 USD per month)

Profits: $750.00 USD per month

Note: besides the bakery, Jimmy works on a wide set of economic activities, the main one being the sale of plantains and other agricultural goods.

Competitive Advantage

His main competitive advantage is the fact that there are no bakeries in Curtí or nearby areas, the closest bakery is in Tortí (about 10 km away from Curtí), which makes it costly for most people in Curtí and nearby communities. His approach won’t be to sell at his place, but to partner with a little bus to bring the bread to different communities, whether those are local stores or family households.

Obstacles

The main obstacle was to get the equipment and then to repair it. Jimmy is confident that the market is there and he has means to reach it, he is planning to start small and not sell in his house because he does not have the conditions to keep bread there for sale, as there are some Ministry of Health regulations, but he hopes that as the sales increase, he will be able to improve his household conditions to be able to sell both at his store and delivery.

Next Steps

The tasks thatJimmy's Bakery has prioritized are:

The tasks that Jimmy’s Bakery has prioritized are:

1: Conduct a business assessment (SWOT analysis)

2: Conduct basic market research and create a sales plan

3: Post-brigade, conduct a business follow up to define the next steps

Page Last Updated:February 28, 2020