Electro Cute: An Electronics Store Where Employees are Encouraged to Leave
Merci invests in her staff by sponsoring their education.
Africa
June 05, 2026
“The truth is, we started from nothing.”
Every day was a struggle for María and her family. She, her husband, their four children, and her husband’s father, lived in San Salvador—capital city of El Salvador—grinding every day just to make ends meet. María worked in a maquila factory, assembling raw materials into a finished product.
But with every step forward came two steps back. Their home was severely damaged in an earthquake. “It became clear that the house was in terrible condition,” María said. “It was on the verge of collapsing right on top of us.”
In the Name of the Lord, It Will!
Certain her home could not last another quake, María took out a loan from the central bank—$1,000, part of which she used to make the necessary repairs and improvements.
Before she could pay back the loan, her eldest daughter moved out, leaving María with two young children still at home. “I really had no other choice but to leave my job and come home to look after them,” she said.
Determined not to “sit around idly with her arms crossed,” María decided she would start a business from home. Her former boss doubted her, saying it would never work. María replied, "In the name of the Lord, it will!"
Maria’s Business Growth: From 5 Pound Bags of Sugar to 100 Pound Sacks
She started out small, selling bars of soap. Then snacks. Then sugar. Before long, she was selling lotions, medicines, even socks and underwear. When she first opened her general store, María was buying 5 or 10 pounds of sugar to sell—today, she buys 100-pound sacks. “It’s a completely different situation.”
What made the difference? Partnership.
María turned to Credatec—a local partner of Partners Worldwide—for access to the capital she needed to expand and diversify her inventory. Her first transaction with Credatec was for a few hundred dollars. Since then, they’ve lent her thousands, a striking example of what entrepreneurs can accomplish when we invest in their vision. “I am deeply grateful to you all, because you placed your trust in me by entrusting me with such a substantial amount of money, which I have since put to use.”
But this partnership is more than financial—María has a trusted advisor with whom she talks often, receiving the guidance and support she needs.
The results have been transformational.
“I’ve felt that as my business has grown, my ability to help my family has grown right along with it,” María said. “We live a different kind of life now.”
Moving Forward, Together
María isn’t content to sit on her laurels. Like most entrepreneurs, she’s hungry to grow, to challenge herself. “You can’t just stay stuck in one place,” she said. “You have to find ways to keep moving forward.”
She dreams of helping her son build a house nearby, of buying a plot of land and raising chickens or opening a car wash. (She had wanted to launch a smoothie stand, but someone down the road beat her to the punch.)
Through faith in God and continued partnership with Credatec—a partnership built on more than 20 years of collaboration—María is confident she can handle whatever the future holds.
