Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • September 2006 (Revised February 2011)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Empemex

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Regina Garcia-Cuellar
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:26
ShareBar

Abstract

Studies an entrepreneurial venture in Mexico City. The protagonists, two MBAs from HBS, started a pawn shop chain funded from their private equity office after finishing business school. This is timed at a point where the protagonists have to decide how to grow the pawn shop chain in order to compete with other Mexican and U.S. pawn shop chains that are growing aggressively in the country. Central is the decision of how to finance growth. Different growth alternatives are explored, each entailing different funding needs and exit strategies. The setting in Mexico illustrates the differences in entrepreneurship in Latin America or other developing regions compared to the United States. The difference lies in the difficulty of finding institutional funding. As a result, most of the funding has to come from "angel investors".

Keywords

Developing Countries and Economies; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Mexico City; United States

Citation

Applegate, Lynda M., and Regina Garcia-Cuellar. "Empemex." Harvard Business School Case 807-031, September 2006. (Revised February 2011.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Lynda M. Applegate

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • April 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Andonix: Building Businesses in Turbulent Times

    By: Lynda M. Applegate and Ankita Panda
    • March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Newsweek: Leading a Transformation

    By: Lynda M. Applegate
    • February 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Yellow Digital Retailers: Providing Solar Electricity to Transform Rural Africa

    By: Lynda M. Applegate and Michael Norris
More from the Authors
  • Andonix: Building Businesses in Turbulent Times By: Lynda M. Applegate and Ankita Panda
  • Newsweek: Leading a Transformation By: Lynda M. Applegate
  • Yellow Digital Retailers: Providing Solar Electricity to Transform Rural Africa By: Lynda M. Applegate and Michael Norris
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College