Entrepreneur Magazine Branches Out Into Mexico

Entrepreneur magazine has expanded into Mexico with a Spanish-language version of its publication for small businesses.

The 72-page Entrepreneur de Mexico is a joint venture between Irvine-based Entrepreneur Group and Impresiones Aereas, publisher of Aeromexico’s in-flight magazine, Escala.

About 60% of the new magazine’s content is translated from Entrepreneur, said Peter Shea, chairman and chief executive of Entrepreneur Group. The remainder is generated in Mexico and is specific to business owners there. The August cover story, for example, is about exporting products and services into the United States.

The first Spanish-language edition came out in May. Shea said circulation is 15,000, and advertising revenue was $50,000 for the July issue, up from $13,000 for May’s.

Entrepreneur magazine has a paid circulation in the United States of 360,000, Shea said. He said the circulation gains in Mexico are “slower than we expected” but noted that the largest business magazine in that country sells only 22,000 copies.

“Of all the countries available to us, Mexico is one of the more exciting ones,” he said. “It has a possibility of coming out of the Third World. It’s got natural resources, people who want to work, a vibrant economy, and the fact that it’s next door makes it simpler.”

The Irvine operation sends stories on film to Mexico City, where they are translated by a staff of about six people.

The stories, along with the Mexico-specific articles, are then sent to Irvine on a computer disk, said Rieva Lesonsky, editor-in-chief. Typesetting, color separation and other pre-press work is done here, then the work is shipped back to Mexico for printing.

“We had our film held up at customs once for three or four days,” Lesonsky said, but otherwise the operation is going smoothly, she said.

Shea said advertisers in the Spanish-language edition include Olivetti, American Express of Mexico, Intel and other computer makers, franchisers, banks, office furniture and supply companies and hotels.