Solo Mother's Entrepreneurship Program

PIOX Women Social Business seeks to develop an integrated commercial platform to operate an online model to generate business and income to women - mainly mothers - promoting female social entrepreneurship. The platform will allow them to sale PIOX hair cosmetic's line and will provide access to a range of tutorials sessions, as: female entrepreneurship, sales process, financial management, innovation, sustainability, social responsibility, business impact models, digital marketing, knowing PIOX, nits and lice manual, and others. It will contribute to reduce social and gender inequalities; will provide conditions to guarantee autonomy and economic return; will help to promote self-esteem and to maintain dignity for women mothers and their families; and thereby minimize the economic and social effects caused by the recent pandemic. The aim is to create and operate a business partnership model that considers the women needs to access a profitable business opportunity while maintaining care with their families.

In the global pandemic scenario in which humanity is inserted, inequalities are more evident and the need for measures of change becomes even more urgent. Such measures must be a priority for women mothers, who are mainly responsible for other dependent people, such as: children, the elderly, the sick or people with disabilities. The Brazilian population has 100 million women, of whom 70 million are mothers. About 30 million mothers are the heads of their families. Of these, 11.5 million are solo mothers - they do not have the father's participation to raise their children. And due to the pandemic COVID19, social inequality is even more pronounced for more than 6 million solo mothers, who live below the poverty line. About 63% of these houses are headed by black women. Brazil has 68.8 million children and teenagers between 0 and 19 years old; of whom 10.3 million are children aged 0 to 4 years old, 83.6% of them are raised by women, and only 45% of these women work to help with family income. Sources: IBGE, PNAD, USP-SP
2 million people catch lice a year in Brazil. According to the FDA, up to 12 million people a year get lice worldwide.

PIOX is a line of hair cosmetics to combat head lices and nits in children and adults. Our primary target audience are mothers and children.

The proposed solution is an integrated platform (web & app) for making sales and to enable training for sales women representatives. The PIOX capillary cosmetics line will be commercialised there. And in an exclusive area for commercial sales partners, it will be possible to access digital content for: training to personal and professional development; access sales reports; monitor sales volume; and achieve commissions. The platform will provide: a simplified online sales process; representative area, integration with social networks for product promotion and sales; communication and digital marketing pieces; the candidate women will not need to have initial capital to invest; and will be able to operate her business from inside her own home using a smartphone or computer.

PIOX was created in essence to help mothers, especially those who suffer with head lice problem in their homes. In Brazil there are 70 million mothers, and any one of them can be considered as a general target audience: Women, preferably mothers - in social vulnerability or not - who seek an opportunity to Business. To understand their pains and needs, PIOX joined the Projeto Segura a Curva das Mães (www.seguraacurvadasmaes.org), which supports mothers in vulnerability situation caused or aggravated by COVID19 pandemic. The project identifies, interviews and maps their real needs; mobilize partnerships; raise funds and meet identified needs. In Rio de Janeiro, 500 mothers are mapped and 520 in São Paulo.

The Locomotiva Institute carried out a survey in May 2020, showed that 72% of them stated that their families' food was impaired by the lack of food during isolation; 73% have no savings to keep spending without working; 76% said that spending on children at home increased because schools were closed; and 80% stated that monthly family income has already fallen due to the pandemic. Expected results: to guarantee their autonomy; economic return; promote self-esteem; promote their dignity; combat inequality; minimize socioeconomic impacts caused by COVID19.

PIOX wants to promote new businesses opportunities to upskill women, and to enable them to start their business, supporting access to  networks, and in-demand skills, as a key to create opportunity and social development. PIOX technology-based solution stimulates an inclusive entrepreneurial opportunities for women, because:

• Enable small and new female businesses, especially in untapped communities, to prosper and create income.

• Support women to access living wages, social safety nets, and financial security in order to recover from economic shocks.

• Equip women with technological and digital literacy as well as the durable skills needed to fight the economic downturns.

In retail, there are products in pharmacies and supermarkets, which have popular consumption, but are not effective in eliminating the problem. They sell in large quantities a product that softens, but does not solve, lines: Kwel, Escabin, Deltacid, others, all based on peretroid (toxic chemical repellent). There is also an anti-parasite medication called Ivermectin, which promises the cure of lice, but neither does it achieve 100% success because at some point the louse starts to have biological resistance (in both treatments). It diluted a toxin in the child's bloodstream, which intoxicates the lice when it feeds on the blood, but does not solve the nits problem. There are also utensils (mostly produced in China) marketed online and offline. The main ones are: stainless steel combs and combs that suck lice and nits. These seek to solve the problem and bring autonomy to mothers. Two companies stand out in Brazil: Dr. Pentinho; and Easy do Brasil, which offers the option of a capillary cosmetic line for combat and prevention, as well as PIOX. This is the one with the most similar business model to PIOX. And in the service sector, there are therapy and hair cleaning centers, which offer the removal of nits and lice (PIOX started with this business model 20 years ago). There are more than ten companies in RJ and SP. Highlight: Portugal and Spain this service is on the rise, with a franchise model, which reinforces the opportunity and the market to internationalize in the future.

Now: 1 person
First Year: 500 women
5 years: 50.000 women

Biggest challenge: create and execute the management and operation structure of the PIOX social business model.

In terms of technology: develop a platform (or integrated content, product and sales management system) that allows efficient business operation, while considering and understanding (and not just meeting) the needs of women representatives; create appropriate interaction tools to promote learning; engagement and continuity strategies; promote conditions for each representative to enter the market and start selling. In management: it is necessary to hire and train the PIOX team to take on operational fronts; establish processes: create internal procedures, agreements, records and management documents; create systems for: new entrants, relationship flow with stakeholders (customers, representatives, suppliers & communities); in the financial: implement payment systems; cash flow; account control; payment providers; distribution of commissions and profit sharing to shareholders. In marketing: plan and implement integrated digital communication strategies (PIOX + representatives); improve Persona's sales & search funnel; elaborate Calendar of Contents and Posts; create parts and campaigns for Step 1; communicate benefits and impacts associated with the PIOX model; internal communication. In strategy: improve business model, map and form partnerships with strategic stakeholders; increase reach and intensity of impact.

I am the only full time worker
And there are two volunteer workers (management and digital marketing)

I am Eduardo Freire, the main collaborator and manager of PIOX, since 2018 when I advised my mother to update PIOX business model. I have a master's degree in MBE Economics and Management for Sustainability from UFRJ; specialist in socio-environmental responsibility, as a market strategy for social and economic transformation. In consulting I have senior experience in strategic planning and development of value businesses, for production chains, B Corps & League of Entrepreneurs. I count on two collaborators, voluntarily for now:

Manoella Rech - publicist graduated at PUCRS + social entrepreneur + senior consultant in digital media 10 years of experience in service, communication, marketing (on and off line). 5 years of management and business. Writer and Copywriter. It supports communication + advertising + marketing + digital media + e-commerce. We met for a year and a half, when we worked on a cooperative digital entertainment project. (linkedin.com/in/manoela-rech-0a29aba0).

Nathali Vieira - Sanitary and Environmental Engineer + Master student in Practices for Sustainable Development at UFRRJ. Provides administrative management support + strategic planning + social responsibility + sustainability. We have known each other for 12 years and throughout this time we have worked as partners in several projects, mainly in the environmental and social responsibility areas. (linkedin.com/in/nathali-vieira-77884974)

We made a partnership agreement with Instituto Casa Mãe and Coletivo MASSA, which created the Project Segura Curva das Mães, which aims to support women who are mothers and are in a situation of vulnerability, caused or aggravated by the pandemic situation in which We found. The project does an essential job of identifying and interviewing vulnerable mothers across Brazil, mapping their real needs. From there, they mobilize partnerships and raise funds to meet these specific needs. PIOX committed to pain a PIOX kit for a vulnerable mother for every 15 sales made; and together to develop a model of job and income generation, to allow these women access to the labor market, autonomy, self-esteem and dignity.

PIOX was created by my mother 20 years ago, in a different business model than the current one. In 1999 she created a capillary therapy service for total removal of nits and lice. The focus was on helping women mothers who suffered without being able to solve the problems caused by lice infestations in their children. Throughout this period, she developed and improved a technique for removing lice using a line of natural-based hair cosmetics - free of chemical insecticides - a method of removal and the use of a specific stainless steel comb for the process cleaning. The use of this comb is still an innovation in Brazil. It has served over 2000 families over the years. In 2018 she decided to close the establishment to "retire", but in order not to leave her audience unattended, I advised her to transform what was service into a product: the PIOX Kit - a hair line with shampoo, conditioner, hair lotion, comb stainless steel, PIOX Withdrawal Manual and PIOX Prevention Practices. In this new business model, we invested in the creation of a line based on sustainability, which meets the pains of mothers who suffer from infestations in their homes. The PIOX Kit proposes to deliver an effective solution to the problem, while promoting autonomy and practicality for this mother, sharing content and practical knowledge so that she can control the infestation with the resources delivered and according to the need and intensity of the infestation suffered.

PIOX generates revenue from the sale of its products in kit form, the KIT PIOX - which is composed of:

- four hair care cosmetic products: PIOX Shampoo 200ml; PIOX conditioner 200ml; PIOX Hair Lotion 140ml; Stainless Steel PIOX Comb;

- and two techniques: PIOX Withdrawal Method; PIOX Prevention Practices

Currently sales are made only on Instagram and Facebook of PIOX.

But it is possible to expand to more online sales channels: marketplaces + representatives' social networks + WhatsApp groups + strategic partners (niche influencers, partner brands). And also expand offline: schools, day care, summer camps, among others.

The proposal to generate income for commercial representatives will include: incentive to formalize as MEI - Individual Micro Entrepreneurs; allocation of commission range per sale (from 20% to 30%) with a growth incentive model; and annual benefit of participation in the distribution of profits obtained by the company, so that they are part of the business - and that with this resource + financial planning, it is possible to leverage the growth of its individual businesses and the development of possible new high-impact social businesses .

Because PIOX needs to mature. The foundations and business processes are not yet solidified. As an entrepreneur in the initial phase of selling products on the direct market, I encounter structural challenges to make the business flow, such as: setting up a work team; have access to an integrated platform for the management of the sales system (cash flow, registration of commissions, issuance of invoices, printing of carrier labels for shipping, relationship with the pre and post sale customer, e-commerce, marketplaces); legal and accounting advice; access to mentoring & strategic planning; financial management processes, access to credit lines; and production of communication & marketing - with emphasis on digital marketing and e-commerce.

the expectation is to have access to a structured and continuous development process, which will allow me to have access to a network of knowledge coming from people who have already walked the paths of my current challenges, and who will possibly have a complementary vision about mine. 5W. The experience of this journey can help me to see my business from other perspectives that I may not even see yet, in a more complex, grounded, structured and strategically focused perspective in the generation of constant positive impact. This journey of knowledge and training will provide the differential that PIOX needs at this moment to improve its performance and transform what is a vision into a real and feasible action plan.

I have not mapped the organisations yet, but I am open to get to know them.

Phase 1 we will work in Rio de Janeiro / RJ and São Paulo / SP, in partnership with the project www.seguraacurvadasmaes.org (created by Instituto Casa Mãe and Coletivo Massa), which supports women mothers in situations of vulnerability caused or aggravated by the COVID pandemic19. Project identifies, interviews and maps real needs; and mobilize partnerships, raise funds and meet the specific needs identified. In Rio, 500 mothers are mapped and in SP 520. Goal Phase 1: reach 5>#/b###