Module 1 Know your customer and market 4 hAnalyse
Every sound business in small and medium entrepreneur business begins with one clear customer and one clear problem. In São Paulo and the wider state, demand is real but crowded, so a small, well-described customer group wins before a broad one.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Know your best customers and what they value; keep a simple customer list.
- Write the customer in one sentence: a local customer base. Add the place, the moment of need and what they use today.
- List five rivals or substitutes within reach. For each, record price, strength, weakness and how people reach it.
- Interview at least eight real customers with open questions. Record exact words, not your summary.
- Count the market in units: how many sales orders could one area buy in a month? Use two public sources and your own count, then take the lower figure.
- Choose one first segment and say why the others wait.
Worked example. Weak: 'Everyone needs a small firm's steady trade.' Strong: 'Our first customer is a local customer base within 8 km of the centre, who today pays R$ 209 per sales order and complains about delay. We target 96 sales orders a month by month three.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: ten customers are interviewed for small and medium entrepreneur business. Seven say price, two say speed, one says trust. Question: which first message do you write, and which interview record backs it? Model answer: lead with the sales order price and speed promise, keep trust proof as the second line, and cite the seven price answers by date.
Activity. Write the one-sentence customer, a five-row rival table and eight interview records. Share them with a peer for a challenge round.
Standard to meet. Define a specific customer, build a rival table with prices, and trace every claim to an interview or a source.
Module 2 Rules, registration and data duties in Brazil 4 hUnderstand
Brazil asks every trader to be visible and accountable. Know which register, tax regime and sector rules apply before the first sale, and check each against the current official text.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Pick the right regime (MEI or other), file taxes on time, keep invoices.
- Choose a legal form: micro-entrepreneur (MEI) only if your activity appears on the official MEI list, or a company registered with a CNPJ. Regulated activities need their sector authorisation first. Check the current limits and lists on the official portal.
- Learn the tax regime that fits your size and write down which taxes you will collect and pay, and when.
- Find the sector rules for small and medium entrepreneur business: licences, inspections, professional registers. List each with the office that issues it and the renewal date.
- Personal data of customers falls under Brazil's data protection law (LGPD). Collect only what you need, say why, keep it safe, and name who answers questions.
- Consumer law gives buyers clear rights on information, returns and complaints. Put your terms in plain Portuguese.
Worked example. Checklist for a new small and medium entrepreneur business trader: 1) legal form (CNPJ, or MEI only if your activity is on the official list); 2) city operating licence; 3) sector licence or register; 4) tax set-up; 5) privacy notice; 6) written terms. Each has an owner and a date.
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a neighbour says registration can wait until the first R$ 950 of sales. Question: what do you do? Model answer: do not delay; write the compliance table first, confirm the register, tax and sector licence with the official office, and start only where the table shows no open blocker.
Activity. Build your own six-line compliance table for your first location. Mark what is done, what is pending and who confirms it.
Standard to meet. Cite an official source for every line, assume nothing, and date every pending item. Local law always wins over this course.
Module 3 Design the offer 4 hCreate
An offer states what the customer gets, how well, by when and at what price. For a small firm's steady trade, the offer must make the quality visible and the next step easy.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Make a one-page offer and price list.
- Describe the core offer in three lines: what is delivered (a small firm's steady trade), the standard it meets, and the time it takes.
- Add one proof for each promise: a sample, a test result, a guarantee or a customer record.
- Price from cost upward and from customer value downward, then pick a price inside both.
- Write a simple one-page terms sheet: what is included, what is extra, how to cancel.
- Create two options at most, so choice stays easy.
Worked example. Offer: 'A small firm's steady trade, delivered within agreed time, checked against a written standard, price R$ 190 per sales order. Proof: a dated record the customer can check and sign. Changes or cancellation by written agreement before work begins.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a customer asks for a discount from R$ 190 to R$ 171 per sales order. Question: decide with numbers. Model answer: contribution falls from R$ 70 to R$ 51 per sales order; offer an extra of value (for example faster service) before cutting price, and accept only if the lower contribution still clears break-even.
Longer notes. Write one sentence that names your customer, the problem and the moment it hurts. List everything you sell and mark the one or two items that earn most per sale and are easiest to explain. Add up direct cost, rent, tools, taxes to set aside, your own pay and idle days, then divide by expected sales. Look at what three neighbors charge and decide where you stand and why. Offer the product to ten real people and write down every objection. Only widen the range after those ten answers are clear. Your accountant can say which small-business tax regime fits your sales and which consumer rules apply to returns.
Extra worked example. A small business sells each order at R$ 190. Materials, packing and delivery cost R$ 120, leaving R$ 70, or 36,8 percent of the price. Fixed costs of R$ 9.000 a month for rent, one employee, the owner's pay and software are covered after 129 orders, since R$ 9.000 divided by R$ 70 is 128,6. With 160 orders, sales are R$ 30.400, contribution is R$ 11.200 and profit is R$ 2.200. Two neighbors' price tags, photographed on the same Saturday, show whether R$ 190 sits too high or too low.
Activity. Write the offer card, the proof list and the terms sheet. Test them with three customers and note every point where they hesitated.
Standard to meet. Check that promise, proof and price are consistent, fit the terms on one page, and record three customer reactions.
Module 4 Run the work step by step 5 hApply
Good operations make results repeatable. For small and medium entrepreneur business, write each step so a new person could follow it on their first day, and measure each step.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Weekly routine: sales, delivery, cash, follow-up.
- Map the process from first contact to paid and closed. Typical stages: enquiry, quote, preparation, delivery of the sales order, check, payment, follow-up.
- Name the key resource at each stage: a monthly cash plan. Note what happens if it is missing.
- Write a one-page standard procedure per stage: who, what, tool, time, record.
- Choose three measures: speed, quality (errors per 100) and customer rating. Review them every week.
- Fix the cause of a defect, not the symptom. Ask 'why' five times and record the answer.
Worked example. Stage record: 'Prepare. Owner: lead. Time: 30 min. Tool: checklist. Record: signed sheet. Defect found on 1 of 40 sales orders last week; cause: missing check on a monthly cash plan; fix: add check at start, review next Friday.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: of 160 sales orders last month, 10 had a defect traced to a monthly cash plan. Question: what is the defect rate and what is your first action? Model answer: about 6 defects per 100; stop the cause (add a check at the start), correct affected customers, log the cause, and re-measure next week.
Activity. Draw the process map and write procedures for the two riskiest stages. Run each once and time it.
Standard to meet. Write procedures a stranger can follow, record weekly numbers for each measure, and trace one defect to a root cause.
Module 5 Safety, quality and risk 4 hEvaluate
The most serious risk in this field is cash running out before sales arrive. A calm, written risk routine protects people first and the business second.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Cash shortage kills; keep a 13-week cash view.
- List ten things that could go wrong. Score each for how likely (1 to 5) and how serious (1 to 5). Multiply and sort.
- For the top five, choose a control: remove the hazard, replace it, guard it, train people, or use protective gear, in that order of preference.
- Write who does what in an emergency, and rehearse it once a quarter.
- Keep an incident and near-miss log. Near-misses are free lessons.
- Check that insurance and legal duties match the risk you actually carry.
Worked example. Risk row: 'Hazard: cash running out before sales arrive. Likelihood 3, severity 5, score 15. Control: written check before each sales order, trained staff, log sheet. Owner: site lead. Review monthly.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a near-miss occurs: cash running out before sales arrive nearly happened but no one was hurt. Question: what do you do in the next 24 hours? Model answer: make safe, record the event, ask the five whys, add or tighten one control, brief the team, and set a review date; near-misses count as lessons, not blame.
Activity. Build a ten-row risk register and a one-page emergency plan. Run a ten-minute drill with a peer and note two improvements.
Standard to meet. Rank controls by preference for the top risks, run the drill, and start the log. Where a regulation applies, follow the official rule.
Module 6 People, skills and service 4 hApply
People deliver the promise. Define roles, train to a standard and give feedback in the open.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Hire the first person with a clear role card.
- Write a role card for each person: purpose, five tasks, the standard for each, and who to ask for help.
- Train by showing, doing with support, then doing alone with a check. Record sign-off per task.
- Set service rules for answering customers: reply times, tone, how to apologise and fix.
- Hold a ten-minute team check each day: yesterday's problem, today's plan, one risk.
- Build a growth path: what a new person can do in week 1, month 3 and month 12.
Worked example. Training record: 'Task: process a complaint. Shown 2 May; done with support 4 May; done alone 8 May, checked: apology, fix, follow-up call. Signed by lead.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a new hire completes training but a customer complaint shows a skipped step. Question: whose gap is it? Model answer: first the system: check the role card, the training sign-off and the checklist; then coach the person and fix the document so the step cannot be skipped.
Longer notes. Pick the three jobs customers feel most: selling, delivering and fixing a mistake. Write each as five short steps on a card pinned near the counter. Name the person in charge of each job and a stand-in for days off, including relatives who help. Give every helper authority to refund or replace up to a small amount without asking you. After each sale, ask the customer one question and write the answer. Hold a fifteen-minute meeting each week to read complaints aloud and agree one fix. Hiring a first employee brings working-hour and contract duties, so book a short visit to the accountant before the offer letter.
Extra worked example. A small business handles 160 orders a month and 16 get complaints, each taking the owner 30 minutes, or 8 hours (illustrative counts, not market data). After writing an exchange rule and briefing the team, staff solve 12 alone, so the owner handles 4, or 2 hours. Six hours are freed. If an hour of the owner's time sells one more order, that adds R$ 420 a month, or R$ 5.040 in a year. The exchange-rule card at the counter lets a helper settle complaints alone.
Activity. Write two role cards and a training plan for one new hire. Role-play a hard customer conversation twice and review.
Standard to meet. Write role cards with measurable standards, show the sign-off steps in training, and write the service rules in plain words.
Module 7 Money: cost, price and break-even 5 hAnalyse
A business lives or dies on a few numbers. Know your contribution per unit, your fixed costs and the volume you need.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Separate personal and business money; pay yourself a fixed amount.
- Contribution per sales order = price minus variable cost. Fixed costs are paid whether you sell or not.
- Break-even units = fixed cost divided by contribution. Plan to pass it by a safe margin.
- Make a 12-month cash plan. Cash timing matters as much as profit: customers may pay late, suppliers may want money first.
- Keep money for business and money for the owner apart.
- Test the plan: what if sales fall by a quarter, or cost rises by a tenth?
Worked example. Worked example, all figures in reais: price R$ 190, variable cost R$ 120, contribution R$ 70 per sales order. Fixed cost R$ 9.000 a month. Break-even = R$ 9.000 / R$ 70 = 128,57, so 129 sales orders a month. At 160 sales orders a month, profit = R$ 70 x 160 - R$ 9.000 = R$ 2.200. These are teaching figures that belong to this example only; later examples and the case study use their own figures. Use your own.
Second worked scenario. Scenario: sales fall to 120 sales orders a month. Question: what is the monthly result? Model answer: R$ 70 x 120 - R$ 9.000 = R$ -600; compare with break-even of 129 sales orders and decide whether to cut fixed cost or raise volume first. Teaching figures only.
Activity. Build your own table: price, variable cost, contribution, fixed cost, break-even and a downside case at 75% of sales. Show it to a peer or mentor.
Standard to meet. Calculate correctly, give every figure a source or mark it as an assumption, and show a downside case.
Module 8 Grow, measure and renew 4 hEvaluate
Growth should follow proof. Measure, learn, then add; and keep returning to the customer.
- In small and medium entrepreneur business: Grow one thing at a time.
- Pick one growth lever at a time: new customers, a higher repeat rate, a better price, or a new offer.
- Set one measurable target for 90 days, such as 'raise repeat customers from 20% to 30%'.
- Ask each customer how they found you, and record it. Spend more where the record shows results.
- Review monthly: numbers, defects, complaints, cash. Write three decisions each time.
- Plan the renewal of licences, equipment and skills a year ahead.
Worked example. 90-day plan: 'Lever: repeat customers. Action: follow-up call after every sales order. Target: repeat rate from 20% to 30%. Check: weekly count. Review date: day 45 and day 90.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: you can add 32 sales orders a month by one of two levers: a follow-up call to past customers or a price rise of R$ 19 to R$ 209. Question: how do you choose? Model answer: test the cheaper reversible lever first (the call), measure for 30 days, and only then try the price change, so you can tell which one worked.
Longer notes. Every Friday, write four lines: sales, costs, cash in the account and customers served. Subtract costs from sales to see profit and list bills due in the next thirty days. Pick one growth move, such as a package for repeat buyers, and give it a month before judging. Put aside a reserve equal to at least one slow month. Twice a year, review each price against its current cost. Ask a lost customer why they left and a loyal one why they stay. Pay for new equipment from cash you have counted. Ask the accountant which tax dates fall in the next quarter and compare any loan offer with your reserve before signing.
Extra worked example. A business sells 160 orders a month at R$ 190, with R$ 120 of variable cost and R$ 9.000 of fixed cost, so profit is R$ 2.200. A repeat-purchase offer lifts volume by an assumed 10 percent (a worked-example figure, not market data), to 176 orders. Sales reach R$ 33.440 and profit R$ 3.320, a gain of R$ 1.120 a month. Over twelve months the gain is R$ 13.440. The order book, with a tick beside every repeat buyer, shows whether the 16 extra orders are real.
Activity. Write a 90-day plan with one target, three actions and a review date. Present it in five minutes and take questions.
Standard to meet. Set a measurable, dated target, break the actions down small enough to start this week, and put the review date in the calendar.
