Learn the story of Ste Maria, who started the business while still in high school and is the founder of Whim
The presence of women in the world of entrepreneurship has increasingly consolidated in the domestic market. Although the scene is still largely occupied by men, the importance of women is undeniable. According to data released by Sebrae in 2022, women represent 34% of all entrepreneurs in Brazil, which equates to more than 10,000 active entrepreneurs.
As significant as the increase is, women still struggle to stand out in a predominantly male scenario, and the obstacles are even greater for younger entrepreneurs, who try from an early age to find valid alternatives to maintain their business while dealing with aspects of this stage of life, such as studies.
These challenges were faced by Ste Maria, an 18-year-old entrepreneur who began her journey in this universe during high school and is the founder of Whim, a clothing store specializing in foreign fashion and streetwear. During her career, the young woman never thought of abandoning her studies.
“Studies have always been a priority. I didn’t think it was feasible to join a young apprentice program because it would take me out of my study routine, and that’s why I started selling things at the school to raise money,” comments Ste, who in 2019 started selling brigadeiros and lotterie at rua, which generated enough profit for her to open her shop and join Bling, the management system of Locaweb Company, to automate bureaucratic processes and professionalize her business.
“I needed to set up my store website and realized that Bling provided me with important integrations for this process, so the first help I actually got from ERP was in setting up my virtual store. I registered everything in the tool to import it into the site and I also registered a solid customer base”, comments the entrepreneur, who since that first adoption has started to use the other features offered by the tool, such as issuing invoices.
Through Bling’s facilitation tools, Ste managed to consolidate the presence of his virtual shop both in social commerce and in large marketplaces, as well as on his own website. The businesswoman also ventured into opening a physical store to cater to local demands, however she found that her virtual operation was the one generating the greatest returns.
Look at social media
Besides the entrepreneurial side, Ste has also always had an affinity for social media and communication. In an effort to help other people stick with the world of entrepreneurship, the entrepreneur began posting videos of her journey through the segment.
“I had recorded some videos that have been posted on a channel that has been mine since I was a child, so I already had fluency with the camera. Then the idea of making entrepreneurship videos was born with the aim of telling my experience with Whim ”, she comments.
The channel has been a success and has increased demand for content and in-store orders. From then on, Ste’s priority became the universe of entrepreneurship and this allowed her to reach, at just 18 years of age, around R$ 100,000 in turnover between 2021 and 2022, in addition to more than 1, 5 million views on his YouTube channel.
“I have been able to optimize my time a lot to capitalize on this growth, so I consider Bling an indispensable partner. Without him I imagine everything would be chaos”, jokes Ste Maria.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
