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In Guatemala, the best is yet to come.
An interview with Manolo Marroquín. The President of the Association of Entrepreneurial Businessmen of Guatemala.
By: Gaby Sanchez
EMPREDEGUA is the association of entrepreneurial entrepreneurs in Guatemala, created to support companies – including micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in Guatemala – to offer their members representation and benefits of information exchange in terms of technical knowledge and local and international opportunities. An association that, since the beginning of the pandemic, has supported the resurgence and repositioning of Guatemala before the world. To learn more about the initiatives and actions carried out by this organization and to know the mind in charge of the presidency, we interviewed Manolo Marroquín. He is a proudly Guatemalan entrepreneur, father, and man of faith whose teenage years in Mexico shaped him as a resilient person, unafraid to think big and always willing to explore his creativity.
When talking about EMPREDEGUA, what factors have put the ventures at risk, and how have they faced them?
I am a faithful believer that Guatemala is a country of entrepreneurs. Today, more than 80 percent of jobs in Guatemala come from MSMEs. According to the latest study by the Francisco Marroquín University, 3.9 million Guatemalans make a living from micro-enterprises.
The entrepreneur is the warrior who works on his own. A core engine of our economy that, even during the pandemic, preferred to go out to work even by risking getting sick and not staying home. Because the risk of bankruptcy or even starvation was worse. Proof of this example of courage is that in 2021 Guatemala, during the pandemic, reached a GDP of 8 percent, which had not happened for 44 years.
The Guatemalan entrepreneur sees challenges more than problems and is suited to face all kinds of junctures. I am sure that this moment that is living in Latin America with the socialism of the 21st century gives a solid opportunity to Guatemala. We are an economy with good stable political and economic indicators, and the country’s risk rating agencies and credible institutions recognize this.
Guatemala is in a great time of opportunity with a stable currency and external debt among the lowest in Latin America. Surely a lot of foreign direct investment is turning to see our country. And that investment will require the support and specialization of many brave entrepreneurs who will undoubtedly support the arrival of these companies with their productivity and capabilities.
What are the industries or sectors that, from your business perspective, you consider most attractive for foreign direct investment?
I believe Guatemala has highly advantageous geopolitical and economic characteristics for investors against many other countries. We are the gateway by land to the great North American market, the outlet and ports in the Atlantic and the Pacific, which makes us strategic for large industries and corporations on the continent and the world.
An unbeatable tourist offer, being the cradle of the Mayan civilization where Tikal and other recently discovered splendid cities stand out, colonial history with magical cities such as Antigua Guatemala, and many other places that surprise visitors. Microclimates and a magical tourist potential with suitable facilities. But mainly, Guatemala has a human resource eager to grow and undertake, and that now is better prepared for the novel challenges that the future presents. The country’s conditions are highly versatile for different companies and sectors.
What message would you give young entrepreneurs to have a business stable and successful?
There is a phrase that says if you think you can not, you’re right; if you think you can, you are also correct. I always preferred to believe that goals are to claim. And life has demonstrated to me that’s true; that faith in a dream is the beginning of everything. The entrepreneur will never regret undertaking, but if he does not, he will surely regret not having dared.
How committed do you see the business sector with responsibility and what would you change about the programs held?
Something is happening in Guatemala, and, without fear of being wrong, in many countries of the world, and that is that the businessman no longer represents only a token sector of the country. Entrepreneurs are also businessmen, they may arise from the middle class, and others have emerged from below society in limited conditions. Of them, many have become an example of effort and creating many sources of employment in their growth.
From large companies to micro-enterprises, there is a growing awareness of the importance of sharing and supporting the needs of the neediest social sectors. Guatemalans are known for being proud of this beautiful country where we were born. But also for supporting the social causes that many companies have institutionalized through permanent programs. I think the most important thing is to make this corporate social approach grow in a big way because it is the best way to get closer to the needs of the people and share how much this country has given us.
Of all the strategic campaigns you've run with great success, which one is your favorite?
Of all the campaigns that I have designed in my life, beyond those carried out for major commercial brands to position them and generate demand in the market or the strategic campaigns that I have worked on and that achieved the great objective of winning a presidential election. Without fear of being wrong, I can tell you that the public welfare campaigns donated to help people in need in my country are the ones that have been the most satisfactory. Ideas such as those developed for the nursing home Casa de Misericordia called the Rock of cars, or the campaigns donated for a hospital for low-income patients with rheumatoid arthritis, or campaigns against child theft for organizations like Anguished Mothers have undoubtedly been, by far, my favorites and the most far-reaching.
Which of all your ventures has been the one that has presented you with the most challenges?
Understand that entrepreneurship is the beginning of what a company means. That business or the beginning of a dream or something important in life, without a doubt, the most challenging and fundamental undertaking was to build enough faith to live to believe everything can happen regardless of the size of dreams. Work with discipline, preparation, conviction, and a lot of effort.
Who was your source of inspiration to become Manolo Marroquín, the father and businessman you are today?
The truth is that I believe that we are all beings in evolution; you never get to be what you want to be. The more time passes and the more you get to know yourself, you know that there are many areas in your life in which you must continue working and improving as a human being and an entrepreneur.
I am a faithful believer that the more you walk, the more you realize how much you have to go. You learn the meaning of giving, and you understand that life is on a human level, where professional and economic success also implies the responsibility of doing good and sharing to climb to the next level of wholesome success.
For this reason, if I must speak of inspiration beyond brilliant characters in human history, I would tell you that my mother was vital in playing the role of balanced imbalance, together with my father, who was a well-known publicist and painter, played an educating and educating and inspiring team. They made me believe it could be done and instilled the principles of my creative abilities and habits as valuable as reading.
How do you achieve the balance between business and family?
I don’t believe in people who consider themselves fully balanced between these two realms. Both tend to be invasive at various times and undoubtedly mean a cost of sacrifice for the family in the search for well-being and business success. But I think limits are always paramount in life, time and focus. As in companies, you must give place to what is most important in life.
Today we see more and more people who do not know how to establish priorities. For example, some people prefer to waste their time on social networks finding out about the lives of others; instead of taking advantage of the productive time at work. I have nothing against social networks, but the example is worth illustrating an extreme situation of not establishing priorities based on the moment and the environment.
Your career has been successful and upward, with numerous awards and recognitions, including an Honorary Doctorate. What factors have contributed to that personal and business success in your career?
I think that success is a broad and relative term. From my perspective, success is doing as you like and achieving your dreams by doing what you want to do. And, if they get paid to do it, that’s a total success.
From my way of seeing things, I believe that an inspired person moves the world because, as someone said, being motivated is not the same as being inspired. And I am someone inspired by life, faith, and the incredible blessing of being born in this beautiful country called Guatemala. Another essential factor that undoubtedly governs my life is the understanding that creativity is a way of life. And I have always tried to do things differently, as I make the most out of that creativity and take it to other levels of life situations and decisions. And lastly, I think the important thing has been to listen to maestro Machado and Johnnie Walker. And I’ll explain it to you like this, Machado said, «Walker, there is no path; the path gets made as you walk.» And I’m sure he’s quite right. So, I will never stop doing what the Johnnie Walker slogan says, Keep walking!
What message do you want to give to the world from your country and to the people of Guatemala?
Well, tell them, with all the faith that my heart harbors, to keep an eye on Guatemala because we are about to have the leading role that we as a country deserve in Latin America. And that, as a country, we are at the gates of a great takeoff that will undoubtedly take place due to our advantageous characteristics and the arrival of an unprecedented deployment of foreign direct investment.
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Manolo Marroquín.