Partners in Action

Training, specialized support and financial education for entrepreneurs in low-income regions.

In 2018, our Caravan trained on site 2,000 entrepreneurs in 17 locations in the country.

Since the beginning of the program, in 2013, more than 4,100 people have benefited from it.

Through a sample survey, 80% of the participants reported that they have noticed some improvements in the management and promotion of their businesses.

The program

Today microentrepreneurship offers a major alternative for generating an income in regions with a low-development index. However, in order to ensure that these regions can thrive, generating employment and income in their communities, and the access to training programs needs to be expanded.

The Partners in Action Program supports entrepreneurs in low-income communities where Prospera Santander Microfinance is present, providing customers and non-customers with specialized support in management methodology and financial education. As of 2019, we also started to offer free online training. The goal is to motivate microentrepreneurs to strengthen their skills, their businesses and the local economy.

The impact of the initiative has been significant. In a survey carried out with a sample of the participants , 80% said that they had noticed concrete improvements in the management and promotion of their business, therefore:

54% of the total noticed an increase in revenue after training. Of these, 7% experienced strong growth;

for every group of four entrepreneurs assisted, a new job was created after the workshops;

33% started up a business after the training and 100% were still going after 3 months;

58% noticed an increase in income of 35% in their business.

Partners in Action also reveals the strength of interest by women in starting out and having success in business. Considering the call in the communities, women's participation has been at 75%.

Survey conducted in 2017 with 79 people, three months after participating in the program.

How it works

In partnership with the non-governmental organization Aliança Empreendedora and the consulting company Accenture, we carried out the Partners in Action Caravan, a free and mobile training, structured to reach the various regions served by Prospera Santander Microfinance.

At each stop, the Caravan organizes five meetings of 2:30 each, over a week, with experiential activities and theoretical contents of sales, pricing and financial management.

Groups can have up to 40 participants and the entrepreneur who stands out receives a prize, which includes two support options to leverage the business:

Video creation for advertising.

Support in the development of promotional materials, such as the creation of logos and flyers.

As of 2019, we also started to offer free online business management courses, which can be attended anywhere and at any time. Structured in a video lesson format, the courses encourage entrepreneurs to ponder on and apply improvements in the management of their business. At the end, all participants receive a certificate of completion.

How to participate

Training is free for customers and non-customers. Go to the website parceirosemacao.com.br to access the courses online and check where the Caravan will be.

Results center

See Santander´s Annual Reports and other performance indicators.

Partners in Action: what participants say!

"Women quite often set up a business due to the need to increase family income, and this empowerment has been life-changing. Many of them end up becoming the main person responsible for the sustenance of their homes. "

Matthew Govier

Leader of Accenture's Corporate Citizenship in Brazil, Santander's partner in the program implementation.

"I was afraid of starting my own business. This experience, in addition to bringing knowledge, gave me courage and willpower. I said to myself, ' I'm going to be bold, I'm going to do it and it's going to work. "

Sandra Bela da Silva

Customer of Prospera Santander Microfinance, owner of the restaurant “Sabor da Casa”, in Salgueiro, Pernambuco.

"The training helped me realized that my costs were very high. I spent the whole night wide awake just thinking about how to minimize costs. At the next meeting, I was able to lower my fixed cost by R$500 per month. "

Edivaldo Victor da Silva

Customer of Prospera Santander Microfinance, he works with electronics in Solânea, Paraíba.