São Paulo – A project developed by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) in Santa Catarina state is coaching 50 local enterprises so they can start exporting. Programa Exporta SC (Santa Catarina Export Program) was created last year to help small businesses go international. Selected companies will set up in an incubator in Fort Lauderdale, United States, to begin implementing their export plans.
The project was launched in March and companies started being screened in July. Over 400 companies took part in the first stage of selection. Fifty enterprises were selected. Of these, 12 are in the food industry, 11 are in metal mechanics, eight are in software, seven in fashion, four in technology, three in fashion and accessories, two in furniture and decoration, two in tiles and one in cosmetics. One of the selected businesses is Fornos Jung, from the city of Blumenau.
This is Exporta SC’s first edition, and the focus is on the United States. The chosen firms have no background in foreign markets.
“They either weren’t international or had very timid operations outside the country. We have picked the USA because they buy everything, and also because they are the strictest market there is. The final goal is to have the enterprises export. We want to capitalize on the fact that Santa Catarina is a brand name, a state that’s home to serious, high-quality businesses,” said project coordinator Douglas Luís Três. He also said the United States are a distribution hub for products, services and people, from whence other markets can be tapped. The country is also the leading buyer of products from Santa Catarina.
The program provides advisory, training, legal, fiscal logistical, administrative and marketing assistance. From March onwards, four missions to the USA will take place for a sales course. For the first few years, companies will be able to stay at a facility rented out by an incubator commissioned by Sebrae-SC to operate in the United States. Even once they have set up, companies will still get assistance from Sebrae-SC.
“We are hoping that as early as three years in, these companies will rent their own spaces. We are there to provide assistance through this project, but eventually they must walk on their own feet,” he said. According to Três, each of the enterprises will need to meet American demands in their respective fields. A food company, for instance, is required to obtain licenses a fashion company isn’t. The time required before each can start operating varies depending on their internationalization levels.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
