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José Paulo – Ideal Decision
bought bags in wholesales in Pari, Sao Paulo, spent nights printing
out the brands in the bags with a machine and drew processes I
designed myself to optimize production and costs.
The business kept itself, but it did not grow. I was able to meet
demands up to 2 or 3 thousand bags by working all night, also,
there was a competitor that could offer a much more accessible pri-
ce than mine and had a much more robust factory process. While
my machine printed out bags in one color, they could make it in
four colors; the shopkeepers would then prefer something cheaper
and more modern, but even so I was able to keep operating for a
year and a half.
My second company lasted a little longer, it was five years with
much persistence, it was an e-commerce called Superando Limites
(loosely translated as Overcoming Limits), that resold courses of
personal and professional development. Despite the good quality
of the courses, I lacked experience to work with internet sales. Be-
cause I did not have means to invest in it, I did not have traffic
and, therefore, few sales
To make it even more difficult, the franchise model was not
well set, there was not a fair pricing policy so each franchisee could
sell for how much they wanted, which ended up demoralizing the
business with unfair price competition.
I also launched an e-commerce called Cosméticos Beauty (loo-
sely translated as Cosmetics Beauty), a sales platform of professio-
nal cosmetics with the leading brands in the market. The greatest
difficulties were the suppliers. Because many products were im-
ported, there was lack of stock; the dollar fluctuation was also a
challenge, so there was a big fluctuation in the price too.
It was an extremely competitive market, especially in the digital
world. I learned a lot about internet traffic and conversion, the
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José Paulo – Ideal Decision
same problem I had in my previous business, so I was enhancing
this subject in my professional career. However, even with this
enhancement the major brands did not look at sales of hairsty-
le products on the internet with good eyes. Then, with so many
mishaps and instabilities, I decided to close this company.
You can analyze that I always tried to offer something that hel-
ped the customer in my businesses, especially by selling courses
and by the wellbeing through cosmetics, which always made me
think about transformation. In the next chapter you will have a
better understanding of this vision and mission.
Following that thought, in 2000 a partner and I opened a gym
inside a large condominium on the south side of Sao Paulo, a con-
dominium with dozens of buildings. At that time, not all condo-
miniums had gym equipment and we offered a complete structure
to the residents, as well as better price and payment conditions to
work out there.
It was a lucrative business and we were already thinking about
opening new gyms in several condominiums in São Paulo and
even in other states in Brazil, however, we were caught by surprise
in the seventh month. Despite having a three-year contract signed
with the condominium, the council had decided in assembly that
the gym should give way to a nursery and we simply had to dis-
mantle the structure.
With this event we realized that we would always be at the mer-
cy of conventions and councils at any condominium, which would
make the business, although profitable, unsafe, because we could
have to leave the business overnight, as happened.
These were the four cases of failures I have selected to tell you,
but, although this is the chapter’s title, I see them as big steps
of learning. I learned a lot about the digital market, packaging,
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