Entrepreneurship growth in Guatemala

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2018-2019 shows the rise of Guatemalan entrepreneurship and reveals that Guatemala has one of the highest levels of entrepreneurial activity.

This appointment has come to Juan José Gutiérrez Mayorga’s attention due a huge appreciation and admiration for the Guatemalans who have decided to start their own businesses like his grandfather did more than 100 years ago and has had a huge impact in their country.

According to the report in 2019, Guatemala had the second highest Early Entrepreneurship Rate in the world, with 27.5%. 28 out of every 100 Guatemalans are entrepreneurs with businesses that are less than four years old. 

In addition, it is divided into startups, those that have not generated income for the owners, and entrepreneurial owners, those that have generated income, but for about three and a half years.

“In Established Enterprises, the country is the leader in Latin America and the Caribbean with 38.7%. Every time there is a greater propensity to undertake”, says María Alejandra Alquijay, director of operations Acton MBA Guatemala.

This study carried out in the national territory by the Kirzner Entrepreneurship Center of the Francisco Marroquín University, records that 55% of Guatemalan entrepreneurs are men and are between 18 and 34 years old.

It also confirms that 4 out of 10 businesses start with an investment of less than 5,000 quetzales. The report, prepared in 49 countries of the world, also reflects that two out of every three national projects are oriented to the consumer sector, and 93% of them generate five jobs or less.

Business growth figures

  • Potential entrepreneurs increased from 10% to 49%
  • The early entrepreneurship rate increased from 19% to 28%
  • Established ventures increased from 5% to 11%
  • Discontinued ventures have remained between 4% and 5%

What does the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor measure?

It is the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, GEM for its acronym in English), and measures entrepreneurial activity in each country. It was founded in order to carry out a Business Competitiveness Index, by professors from the London Business School and Babson College, in 1997.

In 2019, the document celebrates 20 years of being carried out consecutively since the first report prepared in 1999, in which 10 countries and 112 economies participated. The countries that have participated in all the reports are the United States, Brazil, Germany, Iran and China.

Carla Fowler

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