An investigation carried out by the Interactuar Corporation with the purpose of knowing the economic and social conditions of entrepreneurs in Colombia showed that micro-enterprises in that country are showing “signs of recovery” after the pandemic since they managed to generate an “average 2.7 jobs”. The figure is equivalent to 2019 before the emergence of Covid-19.
Andrea Zuluaga, director of business transformation at Interactuar, explained that “microenterprises have been recovering after the pandemic in terms of employment.” As well as in the time of permanence in the market of “going from an average of 8.8 years in 2019 to registering 12.8 years in 2021”.
The purpose of Interactuar Corporation is to accompany microenterprise entrepreneurs and businessmen in Colombia with a comprehensive model and currently accompanies 49,000 entrepreneurs and supports the creation of microenterprises in 220 Colombian municipalities.
The study also made it possible to determine the inequality gaps suffered by Colombian entrepreneurs served by the Corporation, where “51% of micro-enterprises are in conditions of poverty and vulnerability, since0 7.8% of these entrepreneurs advised are in conditions of extreme poverty with a member of the household with an income of less than 163,000 pesos per month (about 43 dollars).”
Improving the quality of life of microentrepreneurs
The study also made it possible to measure the evolution of sales in the Colombian market and determined that they are below the figures achieved before the pandemic. There was a decrease in the monthly average of sales from “5.5 legal monthly minimum wages in force in 2019 to 3.4 in 2021”.
According to what was expressed by Zuluaga, “there is growth in sales, but it has not reached the levels it was in 2019” who highlighted that there are in the country “many gaps in the part of income equity and gaps in quality of life“.
The data provided by the study also show that entrepreneurship can be an option to improve the quality of life of entrepreneurs. The figures indicate that “90 % of the entrepreneurs consulted considered that their business has helped them to have a good diet, while 63.5 % stated that it has allowed them to improve their health conditions and 53 % their housing conditions.
Another variable addressed in the research was labor, which is quite complex and the figures show it. Barely 12.3 % of microentrepreneurs indicated that their workers are affiliated with social security and only 7.8 % are affiliated with the compensation fund. While 62% of entrepreneurs indicated that their business is the only source of income for their households.
Zuluaga highlighted “the micro is the great engine of employment generation in the country, but it also has the highest levels of informality”
M. Rodríguez
With information from efe.com and other international agencies
