Business Spotlight: Sweet Success
Originally published in FedEx's 2022 Global Entrepreneurship Report
Karen Yesenia Torres Villamizar and her sister run their family’s confectionary business “La Torre Dulceria” using recipes handed down from their mother, but the pandemic threatened the success of their retail business.
Before the pandemic, Karen was one of 15,000 Colombian microentrepreneurs who participated in the Ovante interactive training program. Ovante users build healthy financial behaviors and the resiliency to plan for a better future. Through Ovante, Karen increased her customer base through online sales and promotion through social media.
Participants can take Ovante’s courses from home on their mobile devices and on a flexible schedule that works for their lifestyle. Months after implementing the new business model, Karen says sales have even gone up and she remains optimistic.
“The pandemic also made me understand that we must adapt and not stop dreaming. You have to keep moving ahead no matter what.”
Karen Yesenia Torres Villamizar, La Torre Dulceria
FedEx + Ovante
In 2018, Accion and FedEx digitized Accion’s award-winning classroom business education program - Ovante - in Colombia. Digitalization made the program less expensive to deliver, more flexible, and more accessible. Ovante, has since expanded to over 6 countries in Latin America and currently reaches over 52,000 microentrepreneurs in the region, with plans to expand to Mexico in 2022. FedEx has also supported Ovante’s global expansion to India, where the platform is incentivizing micro - entrepreneurs to improve their businesses and join the formal financial system. Ovante in India launched in October 2021, and reached over 1,200 registered users by the end of the year.
