Today we introduce you to AME, the Association of Businesswomen of Getafe, made up of a small group of entrepreneurial men and women who, for the most part, run small businesses in Getafe and its surroundings. The Association was founded in 2014, in the midst of the economic crisis, with the aim of helping to promote businesses.
One of the main aims of the association is to help all businesses increase their sales, attract customers and improve their brand recognition and identity. For this reason, AME offers support to its members and launches sales promotion activities, including advertising campaigns, product presentations, fairs and events. In addition, based on one of the basic pillars of any business, they help entrepreneurial women in Getafe to improve their interprofessional relationships by attending roundtable sessions, networking, conferences, etc.
This advertising and commercial strategy is accompanied, as it could not be otherwise, usa mobile phone numbers database by constant learning and a training plan that they promote among entrepreneurs, especially based on the areas of sales and electronic commerce. They are aware that the commerce sector lives a little "isolated" from the digital world and the importance of training for employment . For this reason, we have spoken with Laura Sánchez, in charge of advising entrepreneurs, who will tell us her vision of the commerce sector as a member of AME.
- Nice to meet you, Laura. Women and entrepreneurs, two terms that go hand in hand in your name, what difficulties have you encountered in starting a business?
The first problem comes at home, when you tell your family that you are going to start a business. This means that you have to organize the house in a different way, and time and responsibilities have to be shared. It is not always welcome news, since you have to change the habits of the whole family.
- In what ways does the association support female entrepreneurs?
AME is primarily responsible for reinforcing the self-esteem of women who are in charge of running their business, which in many cases is the family's breadwinner. In other cases, we guide women and prepare them to help in the family business. Due to the organizational capacity and perseverance of women, many "male" businesses such as renovations, repairs and installations have had to be helped by women in order to promote their activity, without the possibility of hiring an external person to manage the business. This means that in some cases women have specific training and cannot develop it because together with their partner they have decided to professionalize the activity that supports the home. In other cases, women without training have to face this management.
- What role do you think training plays in the professional development of female entrepreneurs?
Training is essential for development, not only professionally, but also personally. Training must be ongoing, and the information offered by the Internet is a luxury, as it allows one to acquire knowledge without too much sacrifice in time or distance.
"Training is essential for personal and professional development."
We continue to get to know AME and Laura Sánchez, who is in charge of advising new self-employed workers and entrepreneurs in the Getafe geographic area on a daily basis. She highlights the usefulness of the Internet to acquire new knowledge "without sacrificing time and distance." Given the importance of distance learning and the possibilities offered by free online courses for workers in the retail sector, we want to know what activities AME is promoting in this regard.
Meeting of members of the Getafe Businesswomen Association
- What work does AME do in training for employment ?
For example, when I had my business in the town of Getafe, I realised that businesses came from tradition, which meant that most of them were not entrepreneurs. They did not have and do not have specific training in commerce, they do not know languages, accounting or management. They are family and inherited businesses, which were promoted with money made from the sale of land.
In my case, I came from working in the management of a multinational, with years of experience in sales, accounting, marketing, English, foreign trade and training of sales teams, but I was not able to maintain my business in the town. The inherited businesses are also closing, and the new ones that are opening are being reorganized with great effort and with our help.
For this reason, AME suggests that those who want to boost and/or reorganise their businesses should learn in a simple but constant way. Perhaps the lack of knowledge in the world of digital commerce is the pending issue for all of them. They never had the need to communicate by any other means than the door of their establishment. But the customer has changed, the customer loyalty of yesteryear no longer exists either.
- What do you think is the main barrier to training for entrepreneurs and self-employed workers?
The fear of facing a computer is difficult to overcome, so it is important to teach them with the least technical words possible, in a very, very simple way, and with the practical cases that the online world offers us. For example, throughout the year we carry out activities so that they can create a website that can serve as a showcase. We want them to be able to show the world their businesses, to be able to upload photos, content, etc. We also give them basic guidelines so that they learn to see the visits to their website and to know their audience.
-What is AME's main challenge for women entrepreneurs?
Everything can be improved, but right now, if they wake up and see that outside their "caves" there are thousands of people who can see their products or need their services, that would be our goal. We would like them to be more aware that we are dealing with online businesses.