Bienvenu Akpakla
“I saw there were so many things we bought
because other people were buying them, or we were at the mall and had to buy something.
I’ve learned that I never asked myself before when I was buying something whether I really needed it.
Now I do and I save that way.”
When you’re working as a translator on a contract basis, Bienvenu Akpakla says, you don’t get paid unless they have a job for you. “They can’t pay you because you’re beautiful,” he says. So, to eliminate the economic uncertainty that comes from working for others, Bienvenu launched his own language-based business, Global Language Enterprises.
Headquartered since January in the Ronald Reagan Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, Global Language Enterprises provides translation and interpretation services for individuals, government agencies, and businesses as well as assessment, placement, and instruction for individuals who want to learn a language. The company also offers cultural training for people planning to study or work abroad who want to understand the finer points of living in a different culture before they go. To meet clients’ needs, Bienvenu calls on an extensive network of language specialists whose abilities include 40 languages.
Originally from Benin in West Africa, Bienvenu speaks French and teaches some of GLE’s French classes himself. Years of experience working for language centers in the region helped him prepare for opening up his own shop. He enrolled in ECDC Enterprise Development Group and SCORE for small business training, and learned money management from CAAB, where he also saved for the business using a Marriage Development Account he opened with his wife, Kalima.
Bienvenu learned about CAAB as a participant in the Latino Economic Development Corporation’s homebuying program. “Each paycheck I set money apart to work toward the goal of the MDA,” Bienvenu says. To meet his $3000 goal, he contributed at least 10% to 15% of his income each time he was paid, as well as saving the money he received from his 2006 income tax refund. His wife, who works as a nurse, contributed a portion of her income as well.
The couple has three children, ages three months, three years, and eight years. They’re mostly too young to understand savings, but Bienvenu says sometimes when his eight-year-old wanted something that wasn’t necessary, Bienvenu had to explain that they were saving money. “We have to suffer a little now to live richly in the future,” he says.
One of the key moments for Bienvenu in CAAB’s money management classes was the realization that came after he tracked expenses for two months. “I saw there were so many things we bought because other people were buying them, or we were at the mall and had to buy something. I’ve learned that I never asked myself before when I was buying something whether I really needed it. Now I do and I save that way.”
In addition to cutting out unnecessary purchases, the family saved by eating out less. Bienvenu also made small sacrifices of his own. “I can’t impose savings on everyone but I can do it myself. I buy fewer pants. l haven’t been to the dry cleaners in four years. I wear the same three pair of pants now and wash them myself. Later, I’ll be able to buy 20 pairs of pants.”
Bienvenu is grateful for the opportunity to save through CAAB’s MDA program because, he says, many entrepreneurs don’t have many avenues available for finding capital to start their businesses. “If you have an idea but you need money, many banks won’t give you a loan because they have a lot of requirements that a person starting out can’t meet. But with the MDA program you can get the money to start out. If you’re ambitious you can make that money.”
