Several initiatives have emerged to reinforce the importance of entrepreneurship. One of them is FACE (Facens – Centro de Empreendedorismo), one of the Innovation Centers of the Centro Universitário Facens, which focuses on promoting both culture and entrepreneurial attitudes in the community, as a way of thinking and acting. FACE's objective is to contribute to encouraging entrepreneurial education, aiming to positively impact the community with innovative businesses. The initiative is aimed at the internal public, of course, but also at the external community, with several activities, such as an Idea Pre-Acceleration Program; individualized mentoring with Facens teachers and market mentors; technical visits to companies and startups, access to specialized events; collaborative work and many more! It is an opportunity not only for students who want to undertake, but also for former students, teachers, collaborators and all those who believe in the transformative power of entrepreneurship.
Another initiative comes from CCBEU (Centro Cultural Brasil Estados Unidos), an institution focused on high-performance English teaching which, with American Space certification, in partnership with the American Embassy, promotes the Power Girl program around the world, encouraging and strengthening the importance of the theme of female entrepreneurship in different contexts and cultures.
The Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service, better known as Sebrae, is a private entity that operates throughout Brazil, strengthening micro and small business ventures, through: training programs, access to credit and innovation, stimulus to associations, encouraging entrepreneurial education in formal education, fairs and business rounds (SEBRAE). These initiatives seek to serve people who want to start a business or who already have their business underway, adding competitiveness and sustainable development. And going further, Sebrae also motivates entrepreneurial skills from childhood. Thus, this institution trains entrepreneurial people so that they know how to reach their goals with knowledge and strategy.
Now, let’s understand how we, women, are inserted in this context?
Let's briefly learn about the story of the entrepreneur Maria Vitória, who created The Cana, which diversifies products and takes sugar cane juice to unusual environments. Maria Vitória worked in Alphaville and is the mother of twins. After being fired from the company she worked for, and motivated by wanting to create a job for herself, in addition to really liking sugarcane juice, she had an idea and wanted to put it into practice.
IT IS DATA: the sector of activity with the largest number of active micro and small companies and with a predominance of women is Services, with 30.0% of active companies in 2021. In second place is the Commerce sector (26.0% 8%) and then Industry (26.1%).
IT IS FACT: companies with women in leadership are more profitable in Brazil.
Small sugar cane producers, as in the region of Sorocaba, as Bauru and Botucatu. I think the quantity we commercialize is big, they have a fixed customer. So, I think it's very interesting to these small producers. Who I believe have made improvements in their productions. Related to women, which are the benefits? I think my story ends up motivating a lot of people, a lot of women entrepreneurs. But the main point is the fact we employ women, slightly older women. Those who the market is not open to, prepared to receive them. We search, not exclusivity, but until today we always worked with women normally over fifty years old. So, we want to give this opportunity to these women who already worked, children are older, and who often can not get a job in an environment with younger people.
Among the various possible initiatives, we can have:
Incentives for entrepreneurship through programs such as Sebrae Delas.
A staff that prioritizes hiring women.
Sebrae Delas – Developing Entrepreneurs & Leaders Passionate about Success – is a program that, in addition to monitoring women's performance in business, encourages and provides tools so that women who wish to undertake, or already undertake, can increase their chances of success. The initiative promotes entrepreneurial culture among women. In addition, it offers qualifications, events, networking, and content related to entrepreneurship.
For example, Maria Vitória counted on Sebrae Delas and also on the ALI Program (Local Innovation Agent), another Sebrae initiative that offers specialized professionals to guide micro and small companies.
I ended up taking, right at the beginning of my business, the ALI Program, Local Agent of Innovation, which helped me a lot to understand how the company can renovate. I took this program, and then I am always looking at these SEBRAE online courses. But I have a lot of financial questions. I am there asking for consulting, human resources questions, So I do not leave there. I am always turning to SEBRAE.
Micro and small entrepreneurs;
Women who want to open or formalize a business;
Young entrepreneurs;
Individual microentrepreneurs;
Agro Entrepreneurs;
Entrepreneurs in technology;
Women in public leadership.
First, understand who your potential customers will be, their problems and the solutions to solve them.
In the universe of customers, there are those who buy, like your products, fit the business profile and should be at the top of your attention. And there are also customers who do not fit the profile of the company, its products and are not worth the maximum investment because they are not part of your target audience.
Then, check what solutions your company wants to offer and deliver.
According to research from Bain & Co, 80% of large companies believe they offer superior service, but only 8% of consumers report experiencing a truly distinctive service.
We work with two strands, very specific, one is the quality of the product. So we need, we make, we insist on making a quality product, hygienic, washed products, first class products, very hygienic handling. But also a lot of quality in the service, so I think it’s two things which combine, because it’s no use if you have a delicious sugar cane juice and get badly treated.
The demand I wanted to meet was that, a little to the sugar cane juice customers, fans. I wanted to attend to them, like, they can buy it the hour they want, the day they want, because the supermarket is not closed, open from morning to night. So I thought of those people, they wanted to drink sugarcane juice and there was just the fair, and the fair has specific days, and has specific hours to work. The person who wants to go to the fair, and if it’s raining, they do not go, because it’s hard to go to the fair while it’s raining. So today we attend these people who like sugar cane juice, but a lot of times stopped drinking for not going to spaces where the sugar cane juice was.
And the interaction with customers is also very important!
Interactions on communication channels are points of attention, as it is necessary to receive and take into account customer feedback and be able to respond to it. It is real, face-to-face interactions that lead to understanding what is really essential to customers and how this should be delivered to them.
As we have this goal of good service, we talk a lot with the customer, it is part of the promoters' training to offer, say good morning, say good afternoon, explain the price, explain the product, share some recipes, some tips on how to do it, this is the first contact, the sugarcane juice is a bit demanding, people like to see it being made right there, they like to see the machine working and in addition to this promoter and customer face to face contact, we also have social networks. We have already worked with some promotions during the customer week, we picked up the phone and did a draw for customers at our four points of sale and we drew a basket with sugarcane products, we also have a loyalty card, there are some ways that We found to captivate the customer, to build loyalty.
It is important to analyze the economic viability of a business to have an early idea of the problems that may arise in your company, being able to make changes to minimize possible risks (Sebrae).
By answering these questions, you will have important clues about the viability of your business:
What is it?
It is the act of determining which path a business will take in the coming years. This way, it is possible to know whether the company is being organized correctly.
How to make?
*Strategic planning can and should be developed and incorporated into the organizational culture of any type of company, regardless of its segment and size.
After this initial journey, how about expanding your knowledge with more content and information?
SEBRAE. The strength of female entrepreneurship. Sebrae Portal. Available at: https://bit.ly/3JDpVdC Accessed on: July 19, 2023.
SEBRAE Delas. Sebrae Portal. Available at: https://bit.ly/3PBlvHO Accessed on: July 5, 2023.
SEBRAE. Customer experience: tips to make it positive. Available at: https://bit.ly/45vXffk Accessed on: August 29, 2023. [e-book]]
SEBRAE. Strategic planning: from the first steps to execution. Available at: https://bit.ly/4424Dyq Accessed on: August 23, 2023.
SEBRAE. Business viability. Available at: https://bit.ly/44v5hDW Accessed on: August 29, 2023. [ebook]
SEBRAE. Technical report: mapping of companies with predominantly female ownership. SEBRAE system. November 28, 2022. Available at: https://bit.ly/44mYhth Accessed on: July 5, 2023.
SEBRAE. The power of women. Sebrae Portal. Available at: https://bit.ly/46vV10E Accessed on: August 28, 2023.
FACE – Facens Entrepreneurship Center. Home page. FACE. Available at: https://face.facens.br/. Accessed on: July 19, 2023.
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