Griselda Flores (Pilot Entrepreneur)
Our first stop before meeting Griselda was APROS’s local office in the center of Milpa Alta, where we met with Alexandra. Alexandra is one of APROS’s best credit officers. She was the one who initially encouraged Griselda to start her own business and eventually connected her with microfinancing. 
Griselda is a hard-working, confident single mother of four. For the last four years, Griselda single-handedly opened and began running her own health clinic to serve the Milpa Alta community. Her clinic provides basic clinical tests (blood, urine, throat) to test for illness, x-ray service, and ultrasound. Her main office is located in the center of Milpa Alta but she also runs a sample-taking site 30 min away to reach those families living at the edge of the valley. Her life took a huge turn almost 10 years ago when her husband left her and her children. Griselda was without an income and to make money to feed her children, she began to sell tamales and other food on the street side. Her interest in chemistry from her school days led her to enroll in a lab technician program, which took her three years to complete. When her family asked her to quit and keep selling tamales, she simply ignored them and continued with the education. One of her peers later alerted her to the need of a low-cost, well-serviced clinic in the community and with the encouragement of Alexandra, Griselda saved money through a cooperative to start her own clinic. It took several tries to raise the funds, but Griselda slowly did it. Now, she has her son, a nurse, and a chemist working for her; her clinic serves about 12 residents per day.
With great enthusiasm, Griselda gave us a tour of her main headquarters and sample-site. She showed us with pride what she had established with her own hands. Her clinic has all the basics of what a patient needs but Griselda hopes to grow her business by investing in ultrasound technology and increasing her services.
Griselda says – her purpose is more to serve the community than make money for herself. That is why Griselda’s clinic offers 1) lower prices than other private clinics in the area who pocket high profit margins and 2) better, quicker service than public health clinics that take months to return simple blood or urine tests. This woman is a true social entrepreneur and her value-add is her tremendous impact to her community. As inventure fellows, we want to help her expand her services by investing in ultrasound technology and health education. In the coming weeks, we hope to solidfy our financing plans and craft a detailed business plan to set Griselda’s business on the growth path.
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