Consumption in Argentina shows no signs of recovery. Sales in supermarkets and shopping centers have fallen at an alarming rate: 14.5% and 16.6%, respectively, and have accumulated nine months in red.
The rest of the stores are not having a better time: so far this year more than 7,000 stores have lowered their blinds. Meanwhile, it is estimated that each day an average of 50 SMEs stop operating. To this, we must add that wages are losing against inflation and unemployment is already 9%.
Faced with this critical scenario, more and more Argentines decide - whether forced by circumstances or by personal initiative - to bet on their own venture that allows them to earn extra income. In some cases, it works as a supplement to your salary. In others, directly as a substitute.
One of these sources of resources is the sale of products and services over the Internet, which is growing steadily despite the crisis. According to the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE):
- A little more than 120 million products have been delivered in twelve months through the website
- This figure is equivalent to a year-on-year increase of 25%, measured in
- In terms of billing, the account gives about $ 230,000 million, representing an increase of close to 50%One of the "preferred" online points of sale by Argentines is Mercado Libre, where more than 80,000 people already live off the commercialization of all kinds of products.
But, in recent months have been gaining prominence other players: the MarketPlace, Instagram and the Facebook wall that, not charging commission, rank high among the options most chosen by the Argentines.
These are direct communication channels between sellers and buyers: there is no charge for publishing nor for shipments. In addition, the seller is known and the "virtual word of mouth" works very well, so the enterprises grow more quickly.
Sources consulted by iProUP affirm that there are already almost 8 million Argentines that interact in Facebook's large window to buy, sell or simply observe the menu of products and services offered. Of this total, more than one million are dedicated to transact goods and services.Beyond the punctual purchase or sale, more "craft" projects are appearing on social networks that offer products that are not present in the traditional circuit and that enjoy a strong differential. In addition, they take advantage of the traction of good comments and likes.Healthy and profitable food
Food engineers Dominique Ohaco and Belén Belvedere met working in a food multinational. Both resigned and decided to undertake a trip: one to New Zealand and Asia and the other to India. On the way back, they started their startup.
"On our return, we wanted to go back to the industry, but something that represented us." After several tests, we decided to make quinoa burgers to offer a food with high nutritional value and easy to cook. food 'healthy', tells iProUP Ohaco, one of the founders of Nutree.
With more than 3,700 followers on its Facebook page, the company achieved an extensive clientele in three and a half years. So much so that it already sells more than 40,000 hamburger packs every month.
"We started with a freezer, now we have three cameras, a trainer and a large mixer, the rest is still very manual, we had to put together a great team for the kitchen", adds the entrepreneur.
Ohaco says that "the biggest investment was time and effort, since the initial silver was very little". He adds: "We started selling to our friends and everything we earned was reinvested, until we moved to the factory and everything took on another dimension".
According to Ohaco, scaling up the project was the company's biggest challenge. "It was not easy the transition from the hamburger that you make in the kitchen of your home to making tons, always respecting the flavor and the steps so that you do not miss that home experience," he says.
In addition, he points out that they had to learn sales and "walk the street for hours" to sell and explain to the stores what their products consisted of.
In its beginnings, the entrepreneurs used social networks to promote sales, although today they use it mainly to make themselves known and attract customers. Currently, they market their products by visiting customers or through WhatsApp communications and by phone.
"We have direct sales in the Federal Capital and the north of the Conurbano, most of them are dietetic, but there are some small self-service stores and frozen markets that also market our products", he adds.
In the case of Nutree, the differential is the nutritional contribution of their quinoa medallions. "They have a high biological value: in our burgers you can find the 9 essential amino acids," he explains.
In addition, they are standardizing their processes to maintain the quality of the product and last year they were able to certify the 'Gluten Free'. In addition, all its varieties are 100% vegetable, as they are aware of the values of vegans.
In this way, they offer "Indian" presentations, with influences from Asian flavors; and "Criolla" that was "designed for the vegan barbecue". Also the "traditional" spinach, broccoli and lentils.Renew your house on InstagramIn addition to food, the decoration item is another one of those that itches in tip in the social networks. The proposal is to renovate the home in a simple way and without high budgets.
One of them is the project from Mar del Plata OhMaiGod, which already has more than 80,000 followers on Instagram and a demand that exceeds production.
"Social networks are the showcase of the business: how our products are, how it is left to the people who exhibit them in their homes, installation tutorials, traditional sales we are not doing, because at this moment we can not cope," he confides to iProUP Camila Navarro, co-founder with her partner of the venture that started at fairs.
The company manufactures tiles in vinyl for floor or wall and started in 2014 with a capital of 500 pesos. "The investment was almost nil: we made a couple of vinyls and what we earned we used to buy more material," Navarro recalls.
The project also went through the ups and downs of the crisis. In fact, with the strong devaluation of last year, the company had to reconvert, since most of its raw material are imported materials."We were traveling when the dollar skyrocketed and we had to change all the store prices, that day we did not go for a walk because we were going at a loss," he recalls in dialogue with iProUP.
A year ago, they began to use an alternative that uses less material and covers a larger area so that their products have competitive prices.
"We launched self-adhesive tiles for walls and floors, which is a cheaper option to break in. Our motto is 'Renová your house without work and without spending a fortune,'" says Navarro.
According to the entrepreneur, their main differential is that they show how to do things so that their clients -mainly women- get motivated and do so at home.
"The person who buys OhMaiGod is looking to have the house of their dreams and took the reins to do it," says Navarro.Currently, the two entrepreneurs have a workshop where they have the machines and large tables to work on vinyl. Although the demand exceeds them thanks to the networks, they are not thinking of increasing their production capacity.
"One of our challenges is to maintain the same quality, not only of the product but also of the service, in the face of sales growth, we have not been able to outsource the production: we try, but it does not meet our quality standards. smaller market, but with the seal of OhMaiGod, "he concludes.From zero to million on Twitter
Social networks not only serve to sell products and put together a company: also to obtain funds that allow to carry out an idea and build a company from scratch.At least that's what Pablo Ricatti used, an accountant who gives financial advice to his more than 26,000 followers of Twitter and who launched an invitation to invest in his chipá factory suitable for coeliacs.
The move was a success: he raised US $ 2.3 million and met with President Mauricio Macri, who congratulated him for his entrepreneurial efforts. Although it received bids for double the amount requested, it decided that there were no shareholders with a position of weight for decision-making.
"I chose Twitter because it has tremendous communication power." To develop such a project requires a lot of capital and collaboration, we create a company from scratch among many who not only contribute capital, but also knowledge and contacts, "Ricatti said. iProUP.
According to the businessman, the Vaquita Tuitera -as he named the initiative- is made up of 360 members, of which none have more than 4% of the shares.
"We are communicated by our own system, it is a society in which there is no majority shareholder, although I am the president, we discuss the issues together," he adds.
According to iProUP, Ricatti came up with the idea because he is a missionary and he likes this bakery a lot. "But it is an expensive product that can be reduced in scale, we are going to buy a line that is fully automated and can make 1 million chipá per day," he says.
The plan is to continue expanding the portfolio with other gluten-free products, such as empanadas, bread, alfajores and cookies. In these hours, he is meeting with mayor of the Conurbano to find the location of the factory: he must have free land around to annex space to other production lines.
"We will sell online and we will take it directly to the consumer's home, so that the products cost half as much as in the supermarket", projects Ricatti, who adds that they will not only distribute their own products, but also those of other SMEs under the premise that be of quality and at competitive prices.
The entrepreneur is a public accountant received in the UBA and worked in the world of finance until 2014, when former Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno tightened controls in the capital market.
In that year, he founded the factory Salke Fresh, a SME that produces bread for hamburgers and hot dogs, so it has experience in the field of baked goods.