Josie Arroyo Bien Cool
This is how Josie Arroyo transformed "Bien Cool" into a solid and popular company. Photo: Courtesy

Selling at more than 100 retailers across Puerto Rico and online worldwide, Josie Arroyo is a rising female entrepreneur that transformed her needing to pay off her student loan into a solid business company. With the simply intention to make people laugh with funny, sometimes risqué and culturally relevant greeting cards and lifestyle products with sayings that express what we really want to say, Arroyo created “Bien Cool.”

Bien Cool (“Really Cool”), is a lifestyle brand that provides to all the bilingual, bicultural Hispanic population daily use or special occasion articles, such as greeting cards, t-shirts, trucker hats, pins, patches and notebooks, with unique Latin sayings ranging from “Ay Bendito” (“Oh My Gosh”) to “Poco Cash Pero Mucho Flow” (“Not Enough Cash, but a lot of Flow”).

"My project is a good excuse to send a postcard that is not digital," says Arroyo, "With the intention of avoiding impersonality." Trying to fill a space that until that time did not exist in the market, Josie embarked on a project that sold more than 16,000 cards just in 2016.

mofongo
"SI YO FUERA MOFONGO, TÚ SERÍAS MI CHICHARRÓN" Photo: Courtesy

But how can a card-making company be successful in the digital era? The creativity of being able to use colloquial phrases accompanied by images makes Bien Cool the preference of the people. Although creativity was an important factor, there are other important things that Josie recommends should be taken into consideration when starting a business.

  • Develop the Idea

"The ideal is to work on your idea while you have a job and a fixed salary," recommends Arroyo. "When you are generating sales and see that you have to spend more time you will realize that you are on the right track."

  • Search for Support

"Having an accelerator or business incubator as an alternative is a good step," Josie tells Latin Times. "They are a good advice and they will give you the steps to build your business."

  • Save Money

"You have to save a lot because many times you will not have a fixed salary," warns Arroyo

  • Emotional Intelligence

"Starting from scratch is much harder than you think, it's a sacrifice. So being mentally calm is very important, "she adds.

Josie wanted to send via Latin Times a message to all those people who have always dreamed of having a company but have not been able to take the first step. "The most important thing is to love and have passion," says Arroyo. "It's not just about having a company to have economic freedom; it's about enjoying the profession that you chose for the rest of your days."

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