02/06/2024 – 18:25
The Rio Grande do Sul Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae RS) will help micro and small businesses affected by the recent climate catastrophe through the Sebraetec Supera program, which already worked during the floods of September last year. “It aims to serve companies that were directly affected: individual micro-entrepreneurs (MEIs), micro companies and small companies”, the president of the State Deliberative Council of Sebrae RS told Agência Brasil, this Sunday (2), Luiz Carlos Bohn.
The program was applied in Vale do Taquari, in September 2023, and has now been expanded due to the size of the destruction that occurred, said Bohn. On average, small businesses suffered losses of up to R$50,000. “We already have more than 20 thousand responses to the survey carried out and Sebrae RS prepared this work. We reallocated our budget in Rio Grande do Sul, with freedom from Sebrae Nacional, to direct all available resources to this program.”
Registration
Companies must register via program website, where they express their needs. “All of our people from Sebrae RS are in the field to physically look for companies. A lot of things will be ‘online’”, highlighted Bohn. The Sebrae RS consultancy reassesses the situation, creates an action plan to restart activities and provides resources for micro and small enterprises. The resources will be non-refundable, that is, non-refundable, which means they will not need to be returned. “There will be no debt”, guaranteed the president of the Council.
The benefited enterprises will receive evaluation and consultancy from Sebrae RS and reimbursement of up to R$ 15 thousand on the costs of repairs, maintenance or replacement of equipment and furniture affected by flooding. Reimbursement will be for postage. Individual micro-entrepreneurs (MEI) can receive up to R$3,000, micro-enterprises up to R$10,000 and small businesses up to R$15,000. Luiz Carlos Bohn said that a similar amount could be obtained by interested parties from Sebrae RS partners, which are Caixa Econômica Federal, Banco do Brasil and credit cooperatives.
Proof
Micro and small companies and MEIs must prove their location in the affected regions, formulate the recovery plan and then purchase goods, stock, equipment, furniture or utensils that they need for their operation. “Most will receive this refunded within 45 days at the latest.” If there is no possibility of repair, the items purchased must be the same or similar to those replaced. Items covered by insurance or obtained through donation are not eligible for reimbursement.
A survey already carried out shows the existence of around 1.5 million small businesses including microenterprises, MEIs and small companies in the state. Sebrae RS estimates that, of this total, 600 thousand were affected by the climate catastrophe. “To what degree we don’t know, but 66 thousand were greatly affected. And we will be able to serve between 10 thousand and 15 thousand with the resources we have. That’s what we can do.”
Advice
Sebrae RS is also promoting Business Advisory, a product based on the methodology of the ‘Small Business Administration’ (SBA) program in the United States. This program sets up small business development centers across the country, offering training, individual advice and solutions for the sustainable and long-term development of businesses. Similar to Sebrae, these centers use strategic economic metrics to guide their actions.
Bohn clarified that small entrepreneurs need to have an online or face-to-face conversation to restructure their business, in order to properly direct the resources. He undergoes management preparation and can then become a Sebrae client. It has this purpose too.” With support from Sebrae, the main objective of the Business Advisory is to ensure that small businesses affected by the floods can rebuild and survive, maintaining their operations, preserving jobs and increasing revenue. The companies served will be organized according to the region and the current situation of survival, reconstruction or emergency.
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