Monday through Friday she sells new and second hand clothes, fruits and vegetables, dry goods, and household essentials. On the weekends, Margarita also cooks food such as hamburgers, crazy corn, and typical Salvadoran food.Ever since Margarita was a young child, she was interested in sales. Her father was also a salesperson and sold products door to door. Her father taught her the in’s and out’s of managing a business and best practices of sales.
Margarita had other sales jobs with larger companies, but she prefers being her own boss! Over time, she has innovated the ways she promotes and sells her products. Instead of just waiting for her clients to come to her storefront, each morning, she visits her clients in the neighborhood and offers them products directly at their doorstep. In the afternoons, Margarita returns to her storefront to sell more products from there.
The option to sell door-to-door and operate out of a stable storefront was not always possible. For years, Margarita only sold products door-to door. This type of business is very common in Central America, but under the hot sun and carrying products for 8 – 10 hours a day, the work is very exhausting. One benefit of being a successful street seller is you can gain many customers. This is true for Margarita, because her clients from years ago are still buying products from her today.
Margarita believes that business owners must adapt to what their customers want. Her products vary according to the season, in December her inventory will also include coats and sweaters while in February, she has teddy bears and chocolates for Valentine’s Day.
Despite all of her knowledge around sales, she still faces the difficulty of managing her revenue stream. If she had more capital, she could expand the variety of merchandise, increase her sales, and ideally, earn a profit that she could invest back into her business. We hope to support her in this process of growing her business!
