‘I turned R$ 100 right into a enterprise’, says baker from Uberaba who gained 2nd place within the entrepreneurship award

Roberta Ventes competed in the MEI category of the state final of the Sebrae Business Woman Award 2022. Learn about her story and tips on female entrepreneurship.

“I turned R$100 that I borrowed into a business”

The phrase is from the baker Roberta Ventes, from Uberaba, second place in the state final of the Sebrae Business Woman Award 2022, held last Tuesday (20), in Belo Horizonte. She competed with nine other candidates in the Individual Microentrepreneur (MEI) category.

The contest encourages female entrepreneurship and recognizes inspiring stories from women at the helm of businesses.

In an interview with g1, Roberta, who also helps women in situations of economic vulnerability as she has been, told how she started her own business and gave entrepreneurship tips. Check it out below.

Renata Ventes won 2nd place in the ‘Sebrae Business Woman Award 2022’ — Photo: Reproduction/Facebook

post maternity work

Roberta Ventes’ trajectory in the confectionery business began in 2002, when she was unemployed and unmotivated, struggling to re-enter the job market after maternity.

“I was jobless at the time. Only my husband worked and my son was eight months old. Despite wanting to return to the job market, it didn’t happen. Motherhood brings an invisibility and most of the time we are prevented from moving on with our professional life”.

On Easter eve, the baker watched the Mais Você program and saw Ana Maria Braga teaching how to make chocolate eggs. In that recipe, she then saw an opportunity to get around that situation.

“I wrote down all the explanations, borrowed R$100 from my aunt and bought what was needed to make the eggs. I managed to sell everything, and I surpassed my goal, which was just to pay the overdue bills for the month”.

Overcoming expectations on the first attempt, Roberta decided to continue with the productions, adding to the menu with other recipes.

With the income from the business, she managed to buy the house where she lives today and invested in her own training: she graduated in nutrition and specialized in food microbiology.

In 2013, Roberta got a steady job at a private educational institution, but later decided to resign to dedicate herself fully to her own business, Confraria da Gula.

“It was a choice to have thrown everything up, to live fully for and for sweets”, he said.

Roberta Ventes — Photo: Reproduction/Social Networks

one day at a time

The Sebrae award is not the businesswoman’s first achievement. In 2014, he managed to sell his sweets in Portugal. In 2019, she was awarded as “The Sweetest Confectioner”, in the program “Que Seja Doce”. In 2020, she took 5th place in a dispute with 1,900 entrepreneurs from all over the country, as a popular entrepreneur.

Today, the entrepreneur says that having participated in the Sebrae Business Woman Award 2022 allowed her to experience a retrospective of the challenges and overcoming of the last 20 years. Being there, for her, was gratifying and a recognition of the entire personal and professional process.

According to her, for those who watch everything on social media, sometimes it may not seem like it, but the path has been long, requiring effort, training and dedication. Her self-confidence never wavered.

“It didn’t happen overnight. I like to show that it’s a process, which is a lot of work and it’s day after day.”

for me and for them

Aiming to help women in a situation of economic vulnerability and who are in a situation similar to the one she was in, the Minas Gerais seeks to promote lectures, courses and mentoring in person and online.

“Many women are paralyzed by fear, by lack of support. I seek to work with these vulnerable women who think that only those who have money, name or are famous can do business”.

About the success of an entrepreneur and tips for women who also want to start their own business, Roberta’s orientation is to start with what you already have and what you already know.

“Start where you are and use what you have. Shield yourself and don’t waste time and energy with those who won’t add. Training with accredited professionals and institutions shortens paths, saves time and directs money to where you really need it. focus and fly“.

MEIs in Uberaba

According to data from Sebrae Minas, from August this year, in Uberaba, of the 22,000 active MEIs in the municipality, almost 10,000 are women. They are the majority in 106 of the 296 economic activities.

Source: G1