How Are The ‘Small Business Of Quarantine’ Going?

Since the beginning of the pandemic, new forms of trade have gained more attention, especially in the virtual world. Many people had to innovate and find new ways to gain their profit, even in such a difficult time with the economic, health and social crisis. This gave the small businesses an opportunity to rise and with creativity and technology they keep growing. 

Raphaelle DeFraipont, a 18 year old marketing and advertising student at ESPM, created the clothing brand Bonne Soirée during the pandemic. “I always loved fashion and had the desire to undertake with that. The idea of ​​creating this brand came up 4 years ago, but it was only in August, 2020 that I decided to make it real. I was in social isolation and, seeing so many people doing new projects with online stores and their creations, I decided to open mine as well”, she explained.

About the operation of the store, she added: “It started with me and my mother, who also embraced the idea. We went after fabric, a modelist while I do the drawings and my mother assists me with the deliveries. We also hired our first employee this year and she has helped us a lot”. She also says that her greatest difficulty was the fear of whether it would work or not. “I opened the store with 300 pieces already, betting everything on it. If it went wrong, it would be a lot of damage”, she says.

However, the effort has paid off: “As a new brand, for a first collection, the results were very successful. I sold 90% of the pieces I made, but I used all the profits to reinvest in the business itself”. She also emphasizes that it’s a great opportunity to be inserted in the job market at such a young age. “If it works out, I can have my financial independence and dive into the world of fashion and entrepreneurship at a very young age. If it goes wrong, it’s certainly a learning experience that I will take for life,” comments Raphaelle.

The student also concludes: “All the effort we put into this gives results. My expectation is that the brand will continue to grow more and more according to my purpose, which is to awaken confidence in anyone who wears my clothes, to value the labor and all the production steps”. 

Carolina Cukier is 19 years old student of Architecture and Urbanism at Escola da Cidade and opened a cookie shop called Cookier, making an analogy with her surname: “I decided to create the brand in the middle of the pandemic in order to sell the cookies I cook since I was little with my family recipe, and I immediately thought of the name the store would take, making a pun on my own surname”.

She says she always liked to cook: “I watched my grandmother and my father cooking and I learned from them. The recipe for my cookies is the same as we did when I was 5 years old and, with the pandemic I saw many people undertaking and I’m having more free time, so I decided to open my own business based on my passion for so long”. The store opened in August, with the creation of the page on Instagram. “The store’s growth took place slowly, which did not discourage me, because, for me, it was always fun,” explains the student.

About the operation, Carolina explains: “Customers place their orders via Instagram DM, and I have a few days to make the batches. There is a space in my house just for Cookier’s items, where I store a stock so that I never miss anything. As I’m responsible for all the production steps, from cooking to keeping the store’s social networks active, making designs and organizing orders, it ends up taking a lot of time. Sometimes, when the college gets more busy, I can’t organize the time”, she added. 

“Today, Cookier allows me to save money to make some of my biggest dreams come true,” hse explains. She also comments that she never imagined that it would be possible to fulfill her dream of opening her own cookie store. “I intend to continue after the pandemic, to grow more and more, to open a physical store and hire employees. If you have a dream and the desire to undertake, be sure to persuade it”, concludes Carolina.

Daniela Goichman, student of marketing and advertising at ESPM, also took advantage of the pandemic to undertake, opening the Dali Micangas store, which sells beads and beach sarongs. “My store started in July, and the idea of ​​creating it came at a very turbulent time because, in addition to the concerns about the pandemic, I was studying to pass the entrance exam. I needed to do something that would give me pleasure, so that I could be more calm and even more concentrated”, says Daniela.

The dynamics of the operation are all done by her. “I do all the production processes until the sale. I buy the raw material, I make the product and I take care of all the advertisement parts”, she explains. However, Daniela faced many challenges: “My first challenge was to find a network of consumers, how to attract people who were not just relatives or friends. Another challenge was to reconcile my time according to college, my other activities and the store. Also, a great challenge was to create an attractive factor, a differential of my brand, since there are so many other stores”.

Today, she has managed to profit from her productions. “It’s necessary to understand that there is an initial investment and, from there, it takes a lot of effort to start to profit and be able to enjoy that profit”, she emphasizes. “It was difficult to understand the trends and determine what would be most successful, but from the moment I understood it, I started to invest in it”, explains Daniela about financial planning.

She also says that the store helped her a lot in relation to mental health. “I put a lot of love in what I do, and I believe that my customers feel it within my products. Seeing people using and enjoying what I produce with such affection is very rewarding. I intend to continue the brand even with the end of the pandemic, with a lot of dedication and affection in everything I do. If you have a dream, remember that the ‘no’ you already have. Go after your ‘yes’, as I did “, concludes Daniela.  

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The article above was edited by Thays Avila.

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• covid
• quarantine
• small business