Financial education is an essential tool for anyone, especially microentrepreneurs. One of Raízes DS’s fronts when working with entrepreneurship and income generation is the creation of content, workshops, lectures, courses, and engagement campaigns on topics that help beneficiaries run their businesses. With this in mind, we teamed up with our partner BTG Pactual to offer a course in conscious finance for all our beneficiary entrepreneurs and former project beneficiaries.
“I thought this initiative by Raízes with Banco BTG was great, because I had already taken some free finance courses that helped me understand some things, but I still found it all very complex. As I’m so immersed in the world of the difficulties of those with less money, I think many people felt contemplated, whether thinking about themselves or other people in similar situations. So it was good because I felt that I was consistent with what I was doing,” said Márcia Salgado, who was a beneficiary of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Sociobiodiversity Business Acceleration Program in 2022 with her business, Bon’Juçara, and was one of the students on the course held in August.
Conscious Finance Course
The Conscious Finance Course, developed by Banco BTG Pactual and offered in partnership with Raízes, is aimed at all beneficiaries and ex-beneficiaries of the projects to which Raízes has contributed and aims to provide practical and accessible financial education.
The course was divided into two classes:
- Basic Course: This module was held last August (2024) and was designed for those who are just starting to deal with day-to-day finances. Using simple, accessible language, participants learned how to control spending, make efficient financial plans, pay off debts, and start saving. There were four 90-minute meetings, always on Tuesdays, from 19:00 to 20:30.
“The initiative was very rewarding for me. I’ve been working hard to put what I’ve learned into practice, and I’m already starting to apply the knowledge I’ve acquired. The course helped me a lot to understand economics, especially when it comes to our financial lives. I learned that by saving on small things, which we often think are insignificant, we can achieve big goals. This opened my eyes to the fact that I do have the ability to save and invest in my dream.”, says Luciana Pereira, who is a carpet maker at Casa do Frufru and was a beneficiary of the Community Social Entrepreneurship Program (PESC) in Periquito MG with the Vale Foundation between 2018 and 2021.
-
- Intermediate Course: This module just started in September. It is aimed at people who have already mastered basic finance and want to deepen their knowledge. The course covers topics such as investments and strategic debt management. There will also be four 90-minute meetings, held on Tuesdays from 19:00 to 20:30.
Through this initiative, Raízes reaffirms its commitment to training its beneficiaries, promoting financial education that not only strengthens individual businesses but also contributes to the sustainable development of communities. We would like to thank Banco BTG for offering such important knowledge to all entrepreneurs, especially the most vulnerable.
The importance of financial education for microentrepreneurs
According to the Ministry of Tourism, micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are responsible for more than 90% of tourism services in Brazil and drive the sector’s vast production chain. These microentrepreneurs are present in the daily lives of visitors to national destinations and account for around a third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Financial education is a crucial tool for individual entrepreneurs, especially those working in the tourism sector, such as community-based, sustainable, and responsible tourism. These segments require a careful and strategic approach to ensure financial sustainability and a positive impact on the communities involved.
With financial knowledge, entrepreneurs in the tourism sector – our main front with associated production – can plan growth strategically, avoiding unnecessary debt and ensuring that any expansion or innovation is done sustainably. This is particularly important in a sector where profit margins can be tight and competition fierce.
For 18 years, Raízes has been dedicated to transforming people and places by valuing and promoting socio-biodiversity.
