Sebrae creates an unprecedented program to provide “a UP” to the expansion of MEIs

The individual microentrepreneur (MEI) was a figure created by the legislation to remove small economic agents from informality, receiving broad support, advice and guidance from Sebrae. Santa Catarina has about half a million formalized MEIs. Now, the priority is to strengthen them so that they grow in their activities and businesses. For this, Sebrae/SC created an unprecedented program – the MEI UP.

The pilot program will be launched this Wednesday (17_, at 4 pm, at Pollen Parque, in Chapecó, with the approval of the Commercial and Industrial Association of Chapecó (ACIC), Sebrae/SC, Pollen Parque, Unochapecó and City Hall. The proposal to create the MEI UP came from ACIC and the initiative gains the status of a national program from Sebrae.

The launch event will consist of a presentation of the program, demonstrations by the leaders and a lecture on “Challenges and opportunities for MEI to expand its business” with Igor Drudi, designer, master and graduate professor. Interested parties can participate in the free lecture by registering through the website.

The program was being studied and developed since last year and, so far, the methodology, structure and instructional content, visual identity, validation of the stages and criteria for selection of participants, schedule, dissemination strategies and selection of mentors have been defined.

From the launch, the registration period opens, which runs until August 31. Participants will be selected from September 1st to September 13th. The list of selected candidates will be announced on the 14th and the start of the pilot program activities is scheduled for the 19th of September.

The MEI UP program establishes a robust training that involves 22 actions that add up to 102.5 hours of face-to-face training. These activities will be developed over the course of 11 months, with 26 fortnightly meetings.

appetite to grow

The technical director of Sebrae/SC Luc Pinheiro observes that “the MEI UP program wants to awaken micro-entrepreneurs to all the growth possibilities that are around them in all sectors of the Brazilian economy. Leaving informality was an important step, now it is necessary to work to grow”.

“We are going to provide solid training to these entrepreneurs, in order to prepare them for management and innovation, awakening in them an appetite for growth”, says the regional manager of Sebrae/SC in the West, Udo Martin Trennepohl. It is yet another program created by Sebrae in Santa Catarina that will gain national scope, such as the Productive Chain, QT Rural and De Olho, among others.

The president of ACIC, Lenoir Antônio Broch, said that the inspiration for the program came from the realization that the majority of small entrepreneurs find, in the real economy, space for expansion and growth of their businesses: “What was missing was the offer structured training of agile, dynamic and focused on essential aspects of market demands and consumer demands”.

Mayor João Rodrigues declares that “the Municipal Administration of Chapecó is engaged in this project because it sees it as a great instrument to strengthen the small ones, giving them conditions to undertake, grow, generate employment and income, meeting the demands that local and regional markets present. on several fronts”. He recalls that the Municipality has around 18,000 registered MEIs and has prioritized support for this economic segment with various actions, including the Simplify Chapecó Program.

The director Rodrigo Barichello states that “as Pollen Parque we are happy to host the meetings of this program. Today our mission is to look at all entrepreneurs, not just those who already have a startup or consolidated company. We have thousands of MEIs in Chapecó and that is why it is important for them to have access to the entire Pollen infrastructure and to be part of this ecosystem, adding ideas and strengthening the business collectively”.

The program is structured in four modules. Module 1 involves several actions such as “I grow, my company also grows”; how to recognize successful entrepreneurial characteristics and “what I really need to change about myself to become a successful entrepreneur”.

Module 2 deals with business modeling. Module 3 covers workshops on finance, legislation, people management, marketing & sales, credit, innovation, customer service, purchasing & inventory, as well as individual consulting. Module 4 will be dedicated to the workshop on Pitching (brief presentation of the business). The final step will consist of the presentation of the projects.

Source: Click RDC