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Good practice Imported

CMI Alimentos Digital Coaching — App-Based Training for Guatemala's Casas del Pollo Rey Micro-Franchisees

Guatemala · Guatemala City · See the Guatemala profile · See the Guatemala City profile

Evidence: Randomised controlled trial Top 51% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A randomized trial with 539 Guatemalan micro-franchise chicken stores found a smartphone app of video lessons plus three video-call consulting sessions raised business practices by 7%, sales by 6% and profits by 18.8%, returning $2.30 in profit per $1 spent.

7 %
Business-practices index increase
6 %
Store sales increase
18.8 %
Profit increase
2.30 USD profit per USD 1 spent
Return on training investment
CMI Alimentos Digital Coaching — App-Based Training for Guatemala's Casas del Pollo Rey Micro-Franchisees

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
CMI Alimentos (Corporación Multi Inversiones), with IDB Invest
Period
2020-2022
Keywords
food retail, franchising, digital training, SME consulting

Context

Las Casas del Pollo Rey (CDPR) are a micro-franchise chain of Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI), Guatemala's largest food producer, selling chicken and pork products through small neighbourhood stores; 60% of CDPR stores are run by women, with an average household income of about USD 828 a month. Under a 2018 partnership between CMI and IDB Invest, researchers ran a clustered randomized field experiment with 498 store owners and 539 stores (251 owners treated, 247 control).

Activities

The single treatment was a smartphone app with 24 short video lessons on the franchisor's business model and best practices, plus three individualized video-call sessions with a business consultant; the curriculum was designed by a Costa Rica-based consulting firm.

Results

Digital training raised a composite business-practices index by 7%, store sales by 6% and profits by 18.8%, with no significant change in operating costs, and an estimated cost-effectiveness ratio of USD 2.30 in extra profit for every USD 1 spent.

Conclusions

Take-up showed no penalty for women, but a large penalty for owners without internet access, and practice gains were concentrated among higher-performing entrepreneurs; the study's authors conclude the live video-call consulting, not the videos alone, drove the effect.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
CMI Alimentos (Corporación Multi Inversiones), IDB Invest, Costa Rica-based curriculum consulting firm

Conditions for success

  • internet access for take-up of the app-based lessons
  • individualized live video-call consulting alongside the videos

Common failure modes

  • large take-up penalty for owners without internet access
  • practice gains concentrated among already higher-performing entrepreneurs

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget Philanthropic / foundation funding

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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