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Building New Kinds of Business in Nicaragua

By Creighton Vilsack

Before the political situation that started in 2018, Cheryl had the #2 ranked restaurant in Leon, according to Tripadvisor. It was called Del Norte, and almost all the reviews raved. But when the political sitaution developed, tourists stopped visiting Nicaragua, and her restaurant was one of many forced to close. Her dilemna was one faced by thousands of Nicaraguans – what now?

She got together with her American boyfriend Creighton and decided to think outside the box. The economy is changing, and they wanted to change with it.

They realized that Nicaraguans have something that millions and millions of people want – the ability to speak Spanish. Sure, Spanish learners can practice at home with Duolingo or Rosetta Stone, but many of them are missing the most important thing – someone to practice with. Why not start a program where Nicaraguans can video chat with Westerners who want to improve their conversational abilities?

They didn’t want a regular online Spanish school. They wanted a niche – Spanish conversation. They wanted the conversations to be fun, with activities and games. They wanted the conversations to be guided, so the conversation never gets stale. Also, importantly, they wanted regular Nicaraguans to be able to do it. Regular online Spanish schools normally only hire English-speaking teachers. Within their Spanish conversation niche, it was not necessary to limit themselves only to English-speaking teachers. They could hire anyone capable of leading structured conversations. With this business model, there is essentially no limit to how many jobs they can create.

Cheryl and Creighton are the perfect team. Creighton has the technical and business knowledge necessary to market the program abroad. Cheryl can design the conversation program and manage the tutors. Gerelding, Cheryl’s neice and a tutor, has a degree in accounting and can help with that aspect. Now, due to the wonders of the globalized economy, Nicaraguans can sell language services to the millions of people learning Spanish worldwide. The confines of Nicaragua’s national borders are no barrier. The political situation is no barrier. In fact, as long as they maintain a decent internet connection, political situations don’t make any difference.

Hablamos Today offers free trial sessions to anybody interested in practicing their Spanish with a Nicaraguan. Please go to www.HablamosToday.com to book your free session. Your support can help them reach their goal of providing dozens of new Nicaraguan jobs!

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