Learning About Entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico
The first week of the SAP Social Sabbatical has already flown by. It was a week dedicated to understanding the needs and activities of our client, Centro para Emprendedores (Centro). Centro is all about supporting new entrepreneurs — and in Puerto Rico’s economy, there is definitely a need for more entrepreneurship!
Economic Crisis — I learned from the locals that Puerto Rico lost most of its agricultural industry due to industrialization. Soon after, much of its manufacturing industry was lost during recent legislation changes and the subsequent recession. Many of the remaining businesses were then directly hit either by Hurricane María in 2017, or by the migration flow off of the island afterwards. But Centro is here to provide some new impulses.
Centro Approach — Centro runs a broad range of programs for entrepreneurs in various stages of the entrepreneurship journey. They range from Startup Weekend for validating new business ideas, to consulting services for established small businesses. This week we had the chance to attend Startup Weekend as well as another Centro program, Emprendiendo en Puerto Rico. The latter is a classroom training where Centro teaches the practical skills needed to establish a business.
Startup Weekend — At the Startup Weekend in Aguadilla we met a diverse group of prospective entrepreneurs from millennial to baby boomers. Each person brought their unique background, education, and ideas to the table, including tourism, food, design, manufacturing and services. We observed them build teams and work long hours from Friday to Sunday to validate and refine their business ideas. After several pitches followed by feedback and mentoring, each group presented a substantiated final business proposal in front of the judges. The winning team, Puppies and Seniors, pursues a pet services venture and will hopefully be a well known program soon.
Emprendiendo Class — During the Emprendiendo en Puerto Rico session we met many energetic entrepreneurs in the next phase of their journey. Many of them have attended Startup Weekend before, and are now in the process of actually starting their businesses. We observed them openly share and discuss their business concepts and ideas with others. One startup to keep an eye on is Island Bound PR. They aim to bring more sailing enthusiasts to Puerto Rico. My fingers are crossed for their business success, and more boat diversity along Puerto Rico’s coasts!
Lessons — I learned a lot from the interactions with Centro’s clients about the broad potential for new businesses in Puerto Rico and left very inspired. Due to Puerto Rico’s position as a U.S. territory in the Caribbean, one can pull from two contexts as sources of inspiration. In some areas, there is potential to adapt and apply business ideas from the U.S. In areas like tourism and hospitality, you can can also model ideas used in the other Caribbean islands. I am hopeful that with this potential and the support of organizations like Centro we will see more entrepreneurship sprouting and blossoming in Puerto Rico for years to come.
Tongue in Cheek Final Remark — Let me close on an additional business idea for Puerto Rico. After one week of observing Puerto Rican working environments, I see great potential in lifting the hidden treasure behind the freezing air conditioning settings maintained in Puerto Rican office buildings. On a tropical island where energy is generated mainly from fossil oil that is shipped in, instead of people wearing sweaters at work and warming up outside during breaks — why not find a mechanism to turn up the islands’ thermostats a few degrees? Use the money saved on air conditioning for a better purpose, and contribute to humanitarian efforts to combat climate change at the same time. Any (social) entrepreneurs out there — ready to to tackle this challenge?
