Opening Doors

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Launching a business on Opportunity Drive was an auspicious move in the mind of Chilean immigrant Paula Gutierrez, co-owner of Roseville-based Traditional Cleaning Services.

Gutierrez doesn't, however, credit luck for the success of her enterprise, also co-owned and operated by her husband, mother and father. Rather, she points to Opening Doors, a Sacramento nonprofit offering micro-
enterprise loans and business coaching, for helping to transform the piecemeal housecleaning she and her mother did into a substantial livelihood for her family.

For one thing, Opening Doors' Hispanic-focused division Abriendo Puertas (Spanish for "opening doors") helped Gutierrez and family secure a $10,000 loan for Traditional Cleaning Services, which they  used for marketing and to buy equipment, such as a pressure washer and steam cleaner.

"You can't see the results in money immediately," says Gutierrez, 35, "but you can see you are growing." The more immediate payoff came from working with Abriendo Puertas director Ana Rojas and her staff to create a business plan and marketing strategy, shifting the focus to deep cleaning for offices and restaurants, as well as for the residential homes they had already been cleaning. "She told me that if you don't have a specialty in something, you can do nothing," Gutierrez says of Rojas. The new approach led to more references from clients, as well as more respect.

Continued...

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