Business Workshop: Pricing

Anna, David, Jane, and Nika led this workshop on valuing time and pricing. They started with a laughing ice breaker in which all participants had to laugh for a whole minute. Then, each person had to write or draw everything they do in one day. This setup the conversation about one's time and how to value time. It was particularly interesting to find out exactly how much the Ajkem'a Loy'a members spend on their products each day. The workshop ended with the detailing of capital costs, material costs, and labor costs, that go into the making of a guipil. They currently charge 150-200 quetzales (U$20-25) per item, but should be charging at least Q458 (U$62), to earn a fair wage (U$1 per hour) and not work at a loss. Although there was a reaction of "Maybe we shouldn't be weavers any more" the women were excited to learn the details of the numbers behind a business, and are now open to thinking about modified designs which may cost them less to produce.