A Business Opportunity is a Transformational Opportunity By Partnership Manager David DeYoung Nasario Valasquez is a minor player in an industry that imports damaged or totaled cars from the United States to be fixed up and sold in the Honduran used car market.  Since there is high demand for used cars and low labor costs (minimum wage is $291 per MONTH), the industry is quite profitable for the “car dealers.”  Nasario’s Auto Shop provides painting and straightening of car frame services to these car importers.Mr. Nasario has to use the machine (pictured) to pull and bend the car frames back into place.  He currently rents a machine at a cousin’s shop.  His rental costs per year are around $1,250.  He has the option of purchasing the machine new for $2,170 (before shipping costs from the USA) or used for $1,325. It looks like the machine would pay for itself in two years, especially if he rented it out to other workshops in the industry.  Nasario, however, does not own the workshop where he has his business, and a rough calculation of installation costs suggest there would be an additional investment of $1,000 to anchor the pulling post to the workshop ground.  These details are sometimes forgotten in the moment of an exciting new business project. For Nasario and many other small business owners in Honduras, reaching his dreams and goals involves taking new risks.  Nasario is not familiar with internet searches to find equipment available in the United States.  And even if he found a machine that was needed, how would he purchase it?  He does not have a credit card nor has he heard of PayPal. The North American affiliate validated his dreams.  They told him that owning this machine could help his business grow.  They asked him about the options to purchase the machine and the risks of not owning the shop where he wants to install it.  Following the initial discussion, they searched for the equipment manufacturer, and provided Nasario with information about purchasing options.  He now has more information to make decisions, and working with the Honduran In-Country Affiliate, he can receive delivery of the machine and be paying back his loan without a credit card. Beyond the business growth advantages of business mentoring is the opportunity for holistic life transformation.  It may seem obvious, but there are more opportunities to evangelize during workshops or business mentoring than through a small business loan program. Please pray for the development of the network of Christian Honduran businesspeople who have recently begun to meet.  Pray that they will mutually support each other as Christian brothers and sisters and that they will be able to give advice to small business owners like Nasario. Click here to support business training and mentoring in Honduras. On the donation page put "Honduras" in the special instruction line. For more about Partners Worldwide's work in Honduras, you can follow  David DeYoung on his blog. Partners Worldwide Homepage