LiderAccion fellow from Puno opens Fruit Juice Store

“LiderAcción made me took the step to open my own Business”

Cynthia is a last year student of Business Administration from the University Néstor Cáceres Velásquez in Juliaca – Puno. But she is not an average student. With only 20 years old, on the 31 of January, with the occasion of the Virgin of the Candelaria celebration, she opened her own business, a Fruit Juice Store called DeliFru.

Last year she participated in the Program LiderAccion, she won one of the 15 scholarships that were assigned to the region of Puno after a hard selection process.

Cynthia tells us that the idea of opening her own Business has been crossing her mind for a few years already, but it wasn’t until she participated in LiderAccion when she decided to take the step. After she read an article in Fruit Juice Stores, and identifying a huge oportunity for this kink of Business in Juliaca, where there are no juice stores apart from the ones on the street markets, she decided to develop this idea and make it a reality.

The Fruit Juice Store operates in the first floor of her house, and thanks to a US$350 loan from the NGO Caritas, she was able to equip the juice store with all she needed in order to make it work.

“Since I read an article about juice stores, I was interested in this particular Business. I wanted to have my own business and I realized that in Juliaca there is not one single Juice Store with a nice store that offers hygiene warrantees and a large variety of juices. Apart from that, the Natural Culture and Light Life Style is growing faster and faster in Puno. Young people are now worried about calories and eating healthy, so I saw an opportunity and thanks to what I learned and lived in LiderAccion, I took it.

Cynthias Juice Store is located a few blocks from the University of Juliaca, and ir offers more than 30 juice combinations, as well as other products such as cackes, yogurts, I Ice Creams and other snacks.

“The next step is to invest in marketing and advertising so people can know about my Business. My idea is, once the business starts to grow, star serving sandwiches, hire more people and even start a Delivery Service. My goal is to have at least 5 Juice Stores in Puno”.

For a long time Cynthia daily prepared juices for her grandfather, who is diabetic. That is why she learned about the fruit’s nutricional information (which ones have more fructose, which ones have less, which ones are better for instestinal transit, etc.). Nevertheless, her experience in LiderAccion was what helped her identify the opportunity and specially helped her dream become a reality.

“If it wasn’t for LiderAccion I don’t i would have taken the step to open my Business. Not only did they give me valuable tools to make my business plan, but the also taught me very usful things such as how to understand the clients, how to treat them, and how to make a good marketing campaign. But what helped me the most was all the motivational aspects because the not only enphasized on the Possitive Effect, but the told us constantly that It is possible and that it is only up to us to achieve our goals and follow our dreams. They also inspired us with success Business stories of entrepreneurs that started with nothing and are now succesfull. On the other hand, my classmates told me all about the juice store Business in their regions, and finally I decided to open DeliFru. Thanks a lot to LiderAccion and all the people and institutions that made this program possible”.

Cynthia is convenced that thanks to her Juice Store she will contribute with the population’s health, making the young people change their habits and star consuming more fruit jueces instead of sodas or alcoholic beverages.

“I want my Business to have a positive effect not only for me and my family but also for my region and my country.”.