The last in-person workshop of the first group of the Partners for the Amazon Platform Acceleration Program (PPA) took place from August 28 to 30 in Alter do Chão, Pará. Focused on finance, investments and storytelling, the meeting brought together entrepreneurs over the three days to advance on topics such as online marketing for Amazonian products, introduction to accounting, net income and cash flow, income statement, future projections and Pitch Deck and storytelling. The facilitators were Leonardo Letelier and Fernanda Dativo, from Sitawi, and Laura Motta, from Mercado Livre.
The first two days were dedicated to addressing topics related to online trade in Amazonian products and accounting. Laura Motta shared with the entrepreneurs lessons learned by Mercado Livre and tips to boost the sale of products online. And Fernanda Dativo advanced with the group in valuation, analysis of financial statements, creation of performance indices and construction of information for decision making and investment capture.
"We have to think about how to value the production process in favor of online commerce, to generate positioning and storytelling branded. In the case of the Amazon, many of the products will not have the expected speed of production in the southeast of the country, for example, so it is nice to value the production process by detailing the steps and informing the consumer about this. What could be a problem can become an opportunity by valuing the work, the process and the impact it generates”, pointed out Laura.
In the approach to finance, Fernanda started the workshop stating that finance is not an exact science, but sources of information: “It is important to keep in mind how to show and interpret, but there is nothing exact. Entrepreneurs' greatest pains are understanding the operation itself, the potential scope, whether it is profitable, whether it needs to change, the entry of expenses that are not related to the operation and are loss-making, forecasting costs and understanding production capacity, calling investors, make decisions, understand to detect problems before they happen”.
“This financial language, which is not easy, was shared with us in a very smooth way. Here we have businesses at very different stages, and yet the way the concepts were presented made them understandable to everyone. I've never seen anything about finance and investments in such a didactic way,” says César De Mandes, from Chocolate de Mendes.
On the third day of the workshop, Leonardo Letelier, CEO of Sitawi, advanced with the entrepreneurs in approaches focused on determining the types of investment or financing suitable for each stage of the business and in the construction of pitch deck and storytelling.
The group had the opportunity to review the pitchs presented for the 2018 Business PPA Call, and the result was presented by the entrepreneurs in the last practical activity of the workshop.
"It's a process of looking back at this pitch that we did at the beginning of the Acceleration Program, of reflection. We realized the deficiencies he had: our team was not in the presentation, nor our numbers, competitors and place in the market. The big leap of the cat here today was reflection and maturity”, assesses Joziane Alves, from 100% Amazônia.
Leonardo Letelier assesses that the entrepreneurs did well in the reformulation of pitches and know what needs to be improved: “Whoever here did their homework, thought about what they were going to present to us, really gave better presentations”.
For the coordinator of the Acceleration Program at PPA, Ana Carolina Bastida, the last workshop was important to close the acceleration journey, which previously led to the impact thesis, business model, market and management. “We now address the financial issues, the main indicators, and this is important for them to know how to interpret the accounting of their business and, based on that, make decisions. And also what kind of information should be taken to investors, and what types of investments are most suitable for each business profile. The elaboration of this pitch elevator brings together a little of everything they've seen in the Program – market, impact, organizational capacity, team – and helps train the storytelling”.
connections
Entrepreneurs from 10 of the 15 accelerated businesses visited in Belterra, about 40 minutes from Alter do Chão, the Association of Rural Women Workers of Belterra (Amabela), a reference in the defense of the cultivation and consumption of food without pesticides in the region and in the care with the environment. In all, 45 women are dedicated to planting in their backyards.
The group heard a little about Amabela's creation and performance story and was welcomed with a dinner prepared especially for the meeting. César De Mendes, from the Chocolate De Mendes project, already knew the work of women, especially one of the products in particular, Cupulate, similar to chocolate, only made with cupuaçu. In partnership with Amabela, De Mendes will soon launch a cupulate bar.
“In November I will bring a drying oven, an oven and two large freezers here. They lack the physical structure for this cupulate production process. They will offer the raw material for the bar and I will help them with standardization. Social technology is theirs, and we are going to bring this story of Amabela into the product, so that the consumer can get to know all of this”, says Cesar.
The connections have been important throughout the PPA Acceleration Program, both with the potential to crossover between the businesses and to strengthen these entrepreneurs.
“The Program as a whole has been very good in terms of connections and learning, realizing that we are not crazy alone in terms of impact and the Amazon. It surprised me a lot, and it especially helped our vision of impact. Our motivation has always been to make Amazonian flavors better known and accessible, because we are from the gastronomy area. But we didn't see ourselves as an impact business. We started to measure and value this in our communication and internally in the team”, says Joanna Martins, from Manioca.
Mariano Cenamo, executive coordinator of PPA and director of new businesses at Idesam, believes that the program's training cycle as a whole was well designed due to what this group of entrepreneurs brought as a need - impact, market, management and finance -, and that the connection established between them is really a force. “These meetings were also very important to expand this connection. On the first day of the first workshop they were far away, on the second they were closer, wanting to get to know each other better and their businesses. In the second workshop there was already a closer interaction, and at each meeting we realize that they know each other better and are already thinking about doing business together. This was the richest of the capabilities”.
At the end of the workshop, the entrepreneurs were asked to define in one word how they felt. The words that most appeared were gratitude, partnership, motivation, learning, challenge, knowledge and hope.
Although the series of face-to-face workshops has ended, the group continues to receive individual orientation through the end of the year. Some of the entrepreneurs even applied for the business rounds of the Call held this year, which will select another 15 entrepreneurs to participate in the Acceleration Program in 2020 and/or participate in the Investment Round in December 2019.
“Now we are helping to prepare those who will apply for investment and we are working to strengthen this network each time, seeking to make these possibilities of connection, of doing business together, of strengthening them to be realised. This is the big challenge”, says Ana Carolina.
To learn more about the PPA Acceleration Program and accelerated business in 2019, visit: http://aceleracao.ppa.org.br/
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