A Discussion with Alex Jimenez, Entrepreneur, Commercial Kiosk, San Miguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina

With: Alex Jimenez Berkley Center Profile

June 25, 2013

Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in June 2013 undergraduate Sarah Baran interviewed Alex Jimenez, a commercial kiosk entrepreneur in Buenos Aires. Jimenez began his business with a loan from Protagonizar, a microfinance lender in the lower class Buenos Aires community of San Miguel. In this interview he discusses his business and collaboration with Protagonizar.

Can you please share with me a little bit more about your background?

I have lived in San Miguel my entire life. In my family, I have a father, a mother, and five siblings. I also have four children of my own, three girls and one boy. I live alone. Along with my parents, we have a business.

Can you please explain the type of microfinance business you run, how long it has been in business, and how you became involved in this type of work?

I run my own kiosk, one of the little shops on the side of the street that sells candies and snacks where you can recharge cell phone credit or your subte [public transportation] cards. I have one of those.

My old man has a business; he also has his own kiosk. A few years back, I needed a little money of my own, so I started my own kiosk in my house. It was more or less five years ago. I was accustomed to business from my father and used to help work in his kiosk when I was younger, so it made sense to start my own. It was what I was familiar with. I was never interested in it because I liked to go after more money, but because I needed money.

How did you become involved with Protagonizar, and what type of credit do you have with them?

A friend of mine told me about this organization. I have been with Protagonizar for three years now, more or less. I currently have one credit of 6,000 pesos. There were a lot of problems when I was part of a group because other people did not pay. I explained this to them [the credit assessors at Progatonizar] and was able to apply for an individual loan.

What type of investments do you make with your loans?

I invest in more merchandise. Almost all of my profits go back into the kiosk in order for it to grow. I borrow the money when I want to buy a machine and otherwise could not buy it. Protagonizar is good because the most important thing is the interest on the money. These loans have little interest. You do not lose anything from borrowing here, which is different from the banks. The banks also have different requirements.
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