Business Overview

Mrs. Donatila, founder of Rosaquillas Donatila, has been running her successful small business since 2004. Rosquillas are quite popular in Honduras, and can be described as ring shaped cookie that are typically paired with coffee. After 16 years of operation, Mrs. Donatila graciously recounts the journey of her microenterprise. Without a job, Mrs. Donatila’s family relied completely on her husband’s seasonal work for income. When they realized that they couldn’t make ends meet, Mrs. Donatila determined that she would open a rosquillas business in her community of Guayacan. Although a common business in the area, Mrs. Donatila has a thriving microenterprise that has allowed her to continuously help provide for her family.

Rosquillas Donatila - Guayacan, Honduras

Economic Challenge

Mrs. Donatila has identified economic challenges that accompany being a small business owner. They are as followed: 

  • Population Fluctuations: Although the movements of families, community members etc. is common among small communities in Honduras, Guayacan has experienced a more severe decrease in the population. People are choosing to move to neighboring areas, United States, Spain, etc. which has drastically changed the population of Guayacan and therefore Rosquillas Donatilla business. 
  • Seasonal Work: Guayacan is a community located in El Paraiso, whose community members rely heavily on seasonal work. But challenges with this type of work include, inconsistent employment and therefore unpredictable sources of income due to a season that only lasts from December to May, working for sugarcane companies. These companies have the capacity to cultivate such a large area and therefore generates employment but only for six months out of the year. As a result, many community members struggle to find supplemental employment during the off season which puts strain on themselves, their families and the overall economy of their community and its local businesses such as Rosquillas Dontila.

The Business

Rosquillas Donatila has demonstrated substantial economical growth that has been able to sustain itself for over 15 years. This success has provided great stability and support to Mrs. Donatila and her family by providing them with increased access to goods and opportunities that were once unavailable due to financial constraints. Looking at the business more closely, Rosquillas Donatila revenue stream illustrate a sufficient increase. Mrs. Donatila’s increased levels of inventory and production ability validate the increased demand for her product therefore providing her with a generous amount of business and income. With such a strong business, Mrs. Donatila’s only major obstacle moving forward is the succession of her microenterprise. 

Competitive Advantage

Rosaquillas Donatila has proven to be a widely successful microenterprise, but Mrs. Donatila has been able to described in more depth the competitive advantages that made her business so successful. First and foremost, the main strength she identified was her clientele. Mrs. Donatila maintains steady sales to buyers outside of the community. The majority of her orders come from Tegucigalpa where she sells a good quantity of products each week. Additionally due to Mrs. Donatilla’s weekly trips to Tegucigalpa, she has a unique opportunity to expand her client base to other business’s beyond her community. With such consistent exposure to prospective buyers, and quality product and service, Mrs. Donatila can continue guaranteeing herself a reliable revenue stream from both old and new clients. Rosaquillas Donatila maintains a high demand for her product, a wide range of clientele, and quality service and through these advantages she is cultivate a strong business. As a result of these advantages, Mrs. Donatila is able to overcome many obstacles that plague other microenterprises in rural communities in order to become more successful.

Obstacles

Although quite successful, Mrs. Donatila has identified the below weakness’s that can pose a great threat to her business in the long run, if not eventually solved.

  1. Successors: Mrs. Donatila has proudly owned and run her own business for over 15 years and although she has hired employees, no successor has emerged with a passion for the business. Not even Mrs. Donatila’s children have expressed an interest in maintaining the business upon her retirement. With this predicament omnipresent, Mrs. Donatila does worry for the future of her business as her age does present a problem for Rosquillas Donatila’s future.
  2. Competition: Despite having a varying clientele list, Mrs. Donatila still must compete locally with other rosquilla businesses for local business.
  3. Revenue/Expenses Balancing: Although her business produces a steady revenue stream, in order to keep up with the demand, Mrs. Donatila had purchased an electric machine that kneads the dough necessary for rosquillas. This machine has proven to be quite helpful in her production but on the downside, the machine also drives up her electric bill immensely. With the cost of electricity so high in Honduras, Mrs. Donatila struggles to justify the use of the machine to increase production while having to pay her high bills in order to keep it running.

Next Steps

The tasks thatRosquillas Donatila has prioritized are:

1: Find a Business Successor

Page Last Updated:April 06, 2020