EMPRENDIMIENTO

By Lina Echeverri

We are writing a new history, and motivating women to assume leadership over their own welfare as well as in societal roles.

In today’s age, being a woman in Colombia has great significance. Our gender, so stigmatized in the past, has managed to de-mystify cultural labels amongst all other existing subcultures. Women who seemed equality throughout the 20th century can no longer be compared with women who seek equity in the 21st century.

As Colombian women, we find ourselves in an accelerated awakening - dynamic and transformative - with great interest to create entrepreneurship.

This awakening of the feminine spirit has found in entrepreneurship both freedom and expression, and it carries an essence of empowerment.

In this search for gender equity, feminine entrepreneurship in Colombia is responding to substantial cultural changes, in which women are breaking glass ceilings and paradigms of what used to be a patriarchal society. Through entrepreneurship, women are able to show their talent, reinforce their self esteem, and contribute to their own well being.

According to the Colombian Confederation of Chambers of Commerce, 61.3% of newly constituted businesses during 2021 were led by women. This is an indicator about the relevance of Colombian women entrepreneurship, and we are in the dawn of a new context in which women will lead future economic growth.

However, growth does not come easily in a country where class ceilings crumble slowly. There are still remnants of the patriarchy, of course. In my view, today’s women share three core values when they begin their journey: Tolerance, Persistence, and Resilience.

Becoming an entrepreneur in Colombia is a great challenge due to the economic and political conditions derived from a leftist government and the lagging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Personally I have been an entrepreneur of initiatives that failed, and others that have grown, especially intrapreneurship projects.

Many experiences have taught me many lessons, one of which is to “Blindly trust in what you believe.” In my experience, if you doubt in what you are doing, you will fracture your entrepreneurship initiative. Trust is a key factor in the beginning of any start-up. There will be voices that will make us doubt, but if we are convinced of what we are trying to accomplish, we will overcome the doubts.

A second lesson is the critical need for possessing negotiation skills. If we do not have negotiation skills, the path to entrepreneurship will not be easy.

Lacking this skill means perhaps that we need to integrate into our team someone with negotiating skills and commercial abilities.

Negotiation with suppliers, allies and customers is essential to achieve sustainability in business. I discovered that I was complacent with vendors and customers, and lacked the strength or boldness to follow up on payments. Shyness or hesitancy must be set asidethey will ruin a business.

A third lesson is to “welcome the excess in competition.” I was seeking to create a business that faced no competition - the so-called blue ocea - but that is not feasible. We must learn to coexist in healthy competition, even learn from others’ good practices and mistakes - that will help us to act timely and become more competitive.

The final lesson that I want to share is to “Be Resilient.” The road to entrepreneurship has ups and downs, to be certain. In 2008, I started a project to create the first Observatory of Country Brand and Country Image in Latin America.

At the outset, I encountered my very first challenge: I had no capital. But, I was able to connect with people who joined the project as volunteers. Little by little, yearby-year, we created results. We built a website and strived to give it visibility by sharing experiences, knowledge and perspectives. Over time, we accumulated credibility and experience. We have ultimately accomplished what we set out to do.

We have received multiple awards in Colombia and Latin America. Various government organizations now support our strategies, our theoretical basis and investigation results. Today, I look back with optimism and lessons learned, and see how a startup initiative became an academic observatory that today is the bedrock for future projects. I am now building on that success as I begin “Brand Expedition,” my most recent startup.

Every day, we have to combat society’s paradigms, not only the ones associated with women’s roles, but also the ones that limit perspectives. I face every obstacle with dignity and love for what I do, and with great care and extra attention. I support women like myself, because that’s how we mobilize against social prejudices.

I remember close-minded comments when I began my entrepreneurial journey, such as, “I don’t see you in that role….It’s better for you to stay where you are,” and “You don’t know about management, you won’t make it.” https://www linkedin com/in/lina-echeverri/ https://linaecheverri.com/