Learning to transform: MAP's path towards tourism with impact

At La Mano del Mono y Reserva Natura we believe that learning never stops. We are an organization in constant movement, innovating, reflecting and improving are part of our daily work. That's why, when the opportunity came to be part of the Mexico Accelerator Programme (MAP) of IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and New VenturesWe knew it was an opportunity to challenge ourselves and grow.

From the start, the program put us in front of a mirror. The initial diagnosis was clear and valuable: we had important areas of opportunity in our communication, business model and strategic planning. We knew we were doing many things right, but we also knew there was a lot to sort, polish and focus. It was the kind of clarity that sometimes you don't get from the inside, when the day-to-day rhythm consumes you. As they say: the operation sometimes overtakes us.

What followed was more than a year of intense learning. A deep, challenging and also very generous process. We had to ask ourselves difficult questions and review our most fundamental structures such as:

Are we clearly communicating our purpose, do we have a truly sustainable business model, and how well are we aligning our operations with the impact we want to achieve?

During this time we strengthened our strategic planning, made our OKRs, better defined our priorities and began to make more focused decisions. We learned to refine the way we talk about what we do, but also to identify who needs to hear it and how. And, above all, we reclaimed those precious moments to think, pause and see the big picture.

Accompaniment was key. The leadership development spaces helped us to see ourselves as a team and as individuals, to recognize our role within the system and the value of leading with empathy. And the work with mentors was simply transformational. Their experience, external view and closeness allowed us to understand what we already had and did not always know how to take advantage of.

But if there is one thing we take away with us with special appreciation, it is the community. Sharing this journey with other social entrepreneurs was an invaluable opportunity for inspiration and learning. Listening to their stories, challenges and strategies helped us not only to learn from them, but also to recognize our own strengths, validate what we have built and imagine new possibilities.

Today we are not the same people who started this journey. We are still with many questions (and we love that), but with more clarity, focus and energy to continue building a Reserva Natura more solid, strategic and aligned with the impact we want to achieve.

Thanks to the MAPWe thank each mentor, each facilitator, and each entrepreneur who shared this process with us. We return to action with the certainty that learning is also a way to take care of what we cultivate.

Because we believe in nature tourism that transforms, in business models that generate real impact and in the strength of communities to conserve what matters. 

We continue reserving to conserve.