San Salvador, El Salvador – Emma Martínez, a driven entrepreneur from San Salvador, has transformed her small sweets cart into a thriving business, Choco Express, thanks to her dedication and support from business development programs. Martínez's journey is a testament to the power of perseverance, creativity, and a little bit of "buena sazón" (good flavor), as she puts it.

Two years ago, Martínez was pushing a cart loaded with candies and treats through the bus stops of the capital, struggling to make ends meet. "Every day I went out very early to look for my livelihood and that of my family with what I sold, but there were not always clients and the frustration grew, because what I sold was not enough to cover the basics for me and my family," she explained.

Driven by necessity, in 2022, she decided to specialize in chocobananos (chocolate-covered bananas). Her husband built her a new cart, and together they began selling in the Historic Center of San Salvador. However, real change came when Martínez joined the "Mujer Apoyamos tu Desarrollo" (Women We Support Your Development) program.

This initiative, a collaboration between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Catalyze WBR, the LID Business School, and Banco Integral, provided Martínez with crucial business skills and financial guidance. "Everything improved when I entered the program," she stated. "At the beginning, I did not have financial control, I did not know how much I earned or how much I spent. I learned all that when I came to the project."

With the support of the LID School, she learned financial management, delegated tasks to her three children, and trained her staff. The program also opened doors to credit access, something she had previously been unable to secure from cooperatives and banks. "They always asked me for things I didn't have," she recalled. "This credit marked a before and after in my life. It was the push I really needed. If Banco Integral hadn't given me the credit, I would still be struggling, without seeing greater growth."

Now, just two years later, Martínez's Choco Express has grown from a single cart to a six-unit operation. She owns a storefront, a storage warehouse, and a growing client base that includes catering for social events. Her story is an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs in El Salvador, demonstrating the transformative power of hard work, innovative thinking, and access to support programs.

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