Getting Down to the Numbers
Yesterday was an extremely productive day for us here in Mexico. We went back out to Milpa Alta to visit the entrepreneur we are working with, Griselda Flores. The purpose of our meeting was to follow-up with Griselda about our investment in her business. We really want to target an investment that will help her business grow and serve the community at the same time. Our analysis has led us to conclude that what her clinic really needs right now is an ultrasound machine. Yesterday’s meeting was about acquiring some quantitative data from Griselda to support our investment.
From our work and with speaking to Griselda, we found some striking results. It turns out that Griselda attends to 12 patients each day, half of which ask for ultrasound services. Right now, Griselda hires a doctor who comes in three times a week for 1.5 hours each time with his own ultrasound machine to provide the service. When people come to her clinic for ultrasound on days when the doctor is not there, she has to turn them down and ask them to come another day. Of the roughly 42 people that come to Griselda’s office each week for ultrasound, the doctor is only able to help 6 to 8 given his time constraints. If Griselda had her own machine, she could help all 42 clients and more per week!
We also talked to Griselda in detail about how she will price her services once she owns the machine, what her operating costs will be like, and how she will use her profits to support and maintain her services. Again, she is planning to keep her prices lower than the two other clinics in the area and she is also hoping to acquire an ultrasound machine with more capabilities than the competition. We did not realize that ultrasound machines are used to diagnose health issues throughout the body - not just pregnancy.
We were impressed by the fact that Griselda herself works at the clinic 7 days a week. And on weekdays she is there from 7am to 8pm every day! We are inspired to keep working hard to help Griselda meet her goals – right now, we’re at our favorite cafe in La Condesa with our laptops open! It is a two-floor bookstore/cafe with live music on Sunday brunch. Check it out below (with Manvi hard at work)!
