Country: Brazil

Organization: Estruturar Cooperativa de Trabalho

3) Strategy Summary:
To constitute a fund in order to give guarantee to entrepreneurs from Rocinha Community when they borrow money from micro credit institutions. Nowadays they can t afford to borrow, because they can t provide guarantees requested by the majority of micro credit institutions and, as a result, they can t develop and expand their business. This fund will provide acces to micro credit lines, together with: entrepreneurs qualification program, the active participation of entrepreneurs who benefit from the credit, as well as of other people concerned with the community development; continuous control of the business. As a result, we expect to generate a greater business development and the decrease of insolvency taxes.

4) How the Strategy Works:
1st Phase - Research - There has been already in Rocinha a research about entrepreneurship and micro-credit, in 1999, to develop a project in these areas. At this moment a new research is being carried out. The objective is not only to define a portrait from local commerce but also to analyze consumer's profile. Many institutions concerned with Rocinha's commerce are being invited to participate in the research. Rocinha's institutions partnership is very important, not only because they have strategic information, legitimacy and representativity, but also because each one involved can look for useful information to its presente and future work.

The questionnaires will be distributed by undergraduate students, because they will make access to information easier and will have the opportunity to know local reality, being able to develop other initiatives linked to Rocinha's development in the near future.

The research will take 2 months, and will listen to at least 2.000 local business entrepreneurs and 2.000 people who live there. The diagnostic will be very important in this phase, because the fund will be based on co- participation and solidarity, so, it will be easy to estimate the number of members. The information will be useful also to adjust the project.

2nd Phase - Fund Raising - beyond carrying out the project, the organization has as its main purpose develop the Social Responsibility area, as well as developing projects to create jobs and income. We will also organize events in spaces ceded by partners where there will be: music groups presentations, choirs, dance and handcraft exhibitions. The presentation of community's young talents will be a moment to mobilize people and raise funds, and there will be presentations of young promising fashion stylists, who produce clothes, accessories, etc. We will also have hair stylists, beauty services, buffet and decoration, everything produced by local entrepreneurs.

The construction of a panel with Rocinha images from the last 10 years and the participation in contests, prizes, seminars, congress and other events related to social projects will be very important to strengthen relationship, to build network and to make interaction with other institutions easier.

3rd Phase - Implementation - After raising funds, we will start immediately to train our team and to form groups. Then we will launch the project, making sure that it will be divulged to all kinds of external and internal media vehicles. The launching ceremony will count with the presence of partners, merchants, representatives of public institutions and universities. In the first six months, we will attend entrepreneurs already established in the community. Those will attend entrepreneurship classes, and those who have already had classes can apply to specific disciplines that will be part of the project, such as: finance, marketing, client attention, and cooperativism. In the second semester, we will start working with start up entrepreneurs. From the second month on, we will start accompanying projects and the guarantee liberation process will be initiated.

4th Phase - Control and evaluation - From the 14th month on, we will measure the results of our work. Then we will restart fund raising in order to expand the project. We will film parts of the accompanying process, in order to produce a video of the experience

5) Key Strategy Elements:

i. Mobilizing Citizen Support:
The project is based upon local partnerships. We also want to involve non-governmental organizations working with entrepreneurship and micro-credit. Public institutions will also be invited to participate: we will send our project to Work and Income Departments of Rio de Janeiro City and State Government. The work of entrepreneurs mobilization will happen during seminars about supportive economy, purchases group formation and others events that can contribute to making people understand the importance of the enterprise for the community development.

ii. Generating Financial and Nonfinancial Resources:
Sustainability will come from the reinvestment of 5% of the gross value of the credit, as a means of quote of participation for the maintenance of the fund. Another source will be the monthly contribution: each borrower will be charged 0,05% of each R$ 100 (hundred reais) it borrowed. Contributions will help to maintain the fund, to cover eventual insolvency and also to go on with the project and expand it. After paying its credit, the monthly contribution will be volunteer, and values will not be fixed, depending on spontaneous cooperation from local entrepreneurs, companies and people.

iii. Establishing Relationships with Strategic Partnerships:
We have partners which are ONGs already involved with entrepreneurship projects. They can provide entrepreneurs who have already attended classes. We can go on working to develop their potential, ensuring the continuity of the process. We have the possibility, then, to have a greater number of students in the project. Another organization will work with us analyzing credit, as long as the entrepreneur has already been qualified and evaluated by fund annalists.

Local institutions will cede the space, and give us resources to maintain it. Local merchants will receive training and help to develop the business.

iv. Engaging and Managing Volunteers:
All the people involved in the project, from coordinators to researchers will be volunteers in the beginning, but the purpose is to train them to form a permanent team. The project intends to create 7 jobs: Coordinator, pedagogic coordinator, manager, two teachers, and two development agents. Payment will be done through a cooperative, under Brazilian law. If there is the necessity to hire services, it will be done through cooperatives, and we have already partners to do that.

v. Developing Information and Spreading the Message:
The creation of formal and informal jobs and new business is a kind of impact we will measure and which will give visibility to the project. We will also divulge the project in all media vehicles. The main purpose of the project is to generate qualitative development of the business, we intend the qualification program to strengthen entrepreneurs, and we also intend to improve space organization, as well as the quality of products and services provided, and we want to increase the value of Rocinha s entrepreneur potential. Internet will be very important in this process, as well as our network.

6) Increasing Self-sufficiency and Social Impact:
The team involved has great experience with this kind of work, especially those involving third sector organizations. In the last years, economic development department of our organization has increased, and we have partners with ONG working in entrepreneurship area, which can provide teachers. The organization was constituted 10 years ago, and has been involved with income and work generation. The fund will be important to increase social impacts already produced. The access to credit through the guarantee fund will be important to reestablish dignity and to create a feeling of trust, friendship and participation among entrepreneurs. Estruturar believes not only in the ideas, but also in the personality and the values of those entrepreneurs.

8) Organization Mission and Vision:
Mission Organizing cooperative work in social entrepreneurship,promoting knowledge and experience development to our associates.Vision Being a reference in service supply in a transparent,ethic and participative way,improving quality and organization of brazilian social and cultural entrepreneurship

Contact Information:
Andrýa Gonýalves  de Oliveira
Estruturar Cooperativa de Trabalho
Rua Mexico, 90 - 701 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ CEP 22
Brazil
Tel: 2240-2368 / 25245366 / 25245539 /32046080
Fax: 25245366
Email: estruturar@estruturar.com.br
Website: www.estruturar.com.br