According to a 2021 study of the Global Report of the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), socialized by the world financial organization, in Latin America there are 17,217,911 small and medium-sized companies, where half of them are founded and directed by women, contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) by 25%.

Highlighting how in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala or Colombia women are more likely than men to own a business, the World Bank underlines the need to increase support for this segment of women entrepreneurs, especially through training and strategies that promote inclusion and financing to make them visible and successful.

According to EFE agency, the lack of job opportunities and the pandemic opened a space for women to own their own business, with success stories, and many of them now have the support of financial, messaging, technology companies or startups, but the path is not always easy to access loans.

Featured success stories

These are some of the stories shared by the Spanish news agency about these entrepreneurs who make their businesses grow more every day.

1. The support of UPS's "Proudly Unstoppable" program, a training platform on foreign trade, which began in Mexico and is now available in 14 countries of the region, which supports entrepreneurs and mypimes with advice, education programs financial and shipments so that their products can transcend and be successful, has been a powerful tool. 

In Guatemala, Maritza Roque, a coffee businesswoman, partnered with Abbigail Graupner, an American living in Guatemala who knew the situation of the producers and was interested in this story. Along with her friend Alene Seiler-Martinez they founded Chica Bean, a small women's business that now exports roasted coffee to the U.S., Asia and Europe.

2. Fajas Tributo is a Colombian company by Viviana Millán, focused on girdles, not only for women with surgical treatments, but for people from the LGTBI community. Together with her daughter, Valentina Ramírez, head of communications and marketing of the company, today the product is in the European market, in Kenya (Africa), and even in Australia, with an output of 4,500 personalized belts per month with the support of UPS.

Support for women entrepreneurs

To continue replicating examples of successful women entrepreneurs in the region, UN Women is calling for many more to get involved and start prospering in male-dominated sectors, especially by making use of its TodosConectadas platform, with which they seek to expand training opportunities, entrepreneurship, and networking to 3.8 million women in the region.

For her part, Rosalva Rivera, director of marketing for UPS Mexico and Latin America, highlights the initiatives and tools that since her firm they have offered to entrepreneurs to be successful.

“We do it through alliances with both private institutions and government entities that help us promote and broaden the program as well as grow the content, and this year with the Tecnológico de Monterrey we have online training and we do a webinar. The priority is to promote the development of imports in SMEs and open the opportunity for them to go further," Rivera told EFE.