José Luís Guerrero Ramírez

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to José Luís Guerrero Ramírez by Fundación para la Vivienda Progresiva in Mexico. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 months, Fundación para la Vivienda Progresiva will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Update by Brendan McBride, Kiva Fellow with FVP in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico:

Mr. Guerrero worked for more than a decade as an employee at optical shops in the city. At his last job, he was running all aspects of the business for the owner. This led him to decide to open his own shop a little over a year ago. His shop, Óptica Guerrero, is located next to a small park in downtown Nuevo Laredo, only about a quarter mile from the bridge over to the U.S.

Shortly after starting his own business, a friend referred Mr. Guerrero to FVP, Kiva’s microfinance partner in Nuevo Laredo. He met the loan officer, FVP reviewed his loan application, approved his business, and uploaded him to the Kiva site for funding, all in the course of less than a week. He said he did not go to a bank for the loan because he thought the interest would be higher, and that the requirements would be too stringent for a small business like his. He also added that he did not trust banks the same way that he could have a relationship of trust with FVP.

He originally was going to use the loan to purchase a special chair for vision tests, but decided instead to purchase a used computer for the business. He also used a smaller part of the loan to repair some leaky windows at his house.

Mr.Guerrero explained that one of the big challenges to his business is the amount of competitors that are located nearby. As in many trades in Mexico, nearly all of the optical shops are located in the same area of Nuevo Laredo, so that consumers can easily compare prices and services. For this reason, Mr. Guerrero recognizes that better service means more customers. The computer, he told me, allows him to process clients much more quickly than when he only had a paper filing system.

Mr. Guerrero’s next step in developing his business is to purchase contact lens and eyeglass stock in bulk directly from the producer, so that he does not have to order piecemeal at higher prices. When he is finished paying off his first loan, he plans to request a second loan to purchase stock.

This is the first time Mr. Guerrero has ever had a loan. He has been very happy with the experience, and sends his heartfelt thanks to Kiva lenders for giving him an opportunity to take his business to another level.

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