Entrepreneurship as a force for societal transformation in Brazil: “ecostrating” visions, missions and future-proof economies
The entrepreneurship missions 2035 led by Sebrae embrace the economic, ecological and cultural diversity of the country through business ecosystems, entrepreneurial municipalities and impactful entrepreneurs featuring a bold agenda to reduce social inequalities and generate sustainable development.
By IIPP’s MPA Alumni student André R. Coutinho
Shaping relevance
During the second world war the writer Stephan Zweig shared his impressions about Brazil in his book “Brazil: Land of the Future” which soon became a motto for political, social and business leaders willing to shape a future yet to come. Despite the persistent social inequalities, skills gap, bottlenecks in infra-structure and state inefficiencies, Brazil has generated a broad economic diversification, urban development spread across the interior and innovation in sectors like agribusiness, aerospace and exploration of natural resources.
To deal with the current 7,2 million small businesses generating 54% of all employments and 27% of the GDP, Sebrae (Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises) was established in 1972 as an autonomous social institution to foster the sustainable development of micro and small businesses, stimulating entrepreneurship in the country. Until 1990 it was associated with the federal government then got detached from public administration to become a non-profit social service with representation of 15 public, private and social organisations on the board but still keeping its public funding from a compulsory contribution, 0.6% of the payroll of every active business. Sebrae operates with an impressive capillarity forming a network of 700 onsite service centres and each of the 27 federation states runs entities with their own sub-regional units. A National unit sets the corporate directions, allocate resources and advocates for a better business environment.
Over the last 15 years entrepreneurship has become an effective drive for economic development thanks to digital transformation and conscious individuals willing to generate positive impact. Entrepreneurship is perceived as an authentic professional career path as well as a cool lifestyle. Israel self-appointed a start-up nation and many followers of this trend like Spain (Espana Nacion Empreendedora) and other Europeans countries united at ESNA (Europe Startup Nations Alliance) have built national agendas and missions. The exponential surge of Silicon Valley tech ventures also triggered countries around the world to embed entrepreneurship into the core of their public policies.
Given the scale of the accelerating crises we are facing it is getting clearer that doing incremental change is not enough and the only way to stay relevant as an organisation is by generating social outcomes. According to Bruno Quick, director of Sebrae Nacional, “Sebrae is a public policy instrument and we should never forget this.” In November 2020 one of Sebrae state units Rio Grande do Sul (RS) embarked on a transformation journey by co-creating with their stakeholders visions for entrepreneurship, designing missions and piloting innovative experiments. Thanks to the determination of Andre Campos (strategy management officer) and André Godoy (president) Sebrae RS embraced a long-term movement which in 2023 was expanded to the Sebrae National System, following the same guiding principles:
Co-creative foresight to mobilize and inspire
Unlike traditional planning processes that predict the future (forecasting) on a 3–5 years’ timeframe, Sebrae adopted a foresight exercise to explore alternative futures aimed at a 15 years horizon which allowed teams to face the emerging trends and challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities ahead despite the environment of high uncertainty. A co-creative foresight comprising more than 1000 stakeholders from the 5 Brazilian regions sets the common ground for the future and the desire for change. It also provides powerful insights for preferred future states, moving Sebrae from products and services to an active protagonist in the system-level evolution. Visions were co-created from angles (perspectives) looking at global trends combined with stakeholders’ expectations to transform the reality.
Let’s have a quick glance at the synopsis and storyboards of the future narratives of entrepreneurship 2035 developed with the Sebrae National System and its stakeholders:
More details about the visions for the future of entrepreneurship developed with Sebrae RS and its stakeholders for the Rio Grande do Sul state can be found at https://futurodoempreendedorismo.sebraers.com.br/
Missions as future ambitions
Sebrae’s missions set an overarching ambition to make entrepreneurship a force of socioeconomic and environmental transformation linked by design to the sustainable development goals. They are not limited exclusively to Sebrae but involve various agents beginning with the 15 institutional members of its board. A call to action for the entire nation is expected and millions of stakeholders are about to engage around the 3 missions within the next years:
MISSION A
AMPLIFY TRANSFORMATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHP
“Make entrepreneurship a protagonist in the socio, economic and environmental transformation and a catalyst for the accomplishment of Brazilian dreams. Entrepreneurial skills will be stimulated throughout society and culturally valued. In 2035 the rate of companies with more than 3.5 years of existence will be higher than 40%, significantly increasing business success and recognition for their diversity, sustainability, access to technology, credit, market, innovation and inclusion.”
Mission A aims to strengthen and promote the potential of entrepreneurs overcoming historical inequalities that affect gender, race, income distribution, socioeconomic status and age. Through this mission business models will be upgraded by emerging technologies and entrepreneurs will access new markets, creating opportunities for all to drive sustainable growth. The entrepreneurial journey will be fairer, more prosperous and amplified through digital transformation. This mission seeks a significant shift in the entrepreneurial profile: more qualified, formal, sophisticated but also impactful.
MISSION B
GOVERNANCE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL STATE TOWARDS AN ATTRACTIVE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
“In 2035, Brazil will be positioned among the top 35 (GEM NECI) entrepreneurial countries in the world, with a dynamic, safe and simple business environment. Public, private and social instances will work in partnership as transformation agents in their respective spheres, constituting an integrated and collaborative governance.”
The Key Indicator of this mission is Brazil’s position in the NECI (National Entrepreneurship Context) Index from the annual survey Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). In the NECI 2022/2023 Brazil ranked 47 out of 50 countries. This mission embraces a desire to position Brazil at the international circuit for entrepreneurship with significant changes in the business environment related to taxes, bureaucracy, incentives, entrepreneurial finance, entrepreneurial education, R&D transfers, among other factors. The State at the federal, state and municipal levels will undertake an entrepreneurial mindset and implement innovative public policies and services. This approach encourages public agents to take more risks by prototyping solutions through policy labs, expanding public-private and social partnerships, deploying conditional procurement (ESG, innovation), raising public venture capital and applying digital government.
MISSION C
PROSPERITY IN TERRITORIES AND BIOMES DRIVEN BY BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS
“Raise the prosperity of territories and biomes driven by future-proof economies in business ecosystems that prize regionalism, preserve biodiversity and generate added value in the territory. Brazil will be a reference to the world in sustainable development, leveraging enterprises, technologies and knowledge. In 2035, the territories with business ecosystems developed by Sebrae and its partners will have their Index of Sustainable Development Cities (ISDC) 50% above the national average.”
Mission C is based on a development strategy anchored on the tripod “territories and biomes” (place), “future-proof economies” (domain) and “business ecosystems” (governance arrangement of multiple agents acting in a coordinated and collaborative way). This mission will promote regional economic development by catalysing a thriving economy suited for local communities while preserving biodiversity.
A sound example of the untapped value of future-proof economies is the “favela (slum) economies” which according to Instituto Locomotiva/Data Favela Brazil has the potential to unlock at least usd 40 billion but these economies are not only invisible to the national statistics but segregated from traditional value chains. The same study indicates that 35% of favela residents dream to become entrepreneurs.
“Futue-proof economies”
The concept of future-proof economies is related to the creation of resilient economic systems that can thrive in the face of emerging challenges and uncertainties. Future-proof economies anticipate and rapidly adapt to trends and disruptions such as technological advances, changes in behaviour and consumer preferences, environmental concerns, shifts in global value chains, remaining competitive in a rapidly changing world. Ecosystem agents in those economies proactively adopt diversification of the economic base, sustainable practices for the green transition, impact innovation, digital upskilling, social inclusion and collaborative partnerships. Sebrae’s missions has indicated a list of potential future-proof economies to be explored:
• Bioeconomy: biological systems and natural resources allied to the use of new technologies in order to create sustainable products and services.
• Blue economy: sustainable use of ocean resources to benefit economies, livelihoods and ocean ecosystem health for food, fashion, tourism and other areas
• “No limits”/inclusion economy: encompasses enterprises originating in favelas (“favela economies”), community interest companies and social enterprises that leverage social technologies.
• Circular economy, energy transition and decarbonisation/net zero: includes clean energy business, circular businesses and energy efficiency.
• Economics of care and well-being: includes foodtech, healthtech, biotech, mental health and care services.
• Creative economy: includes cultural businesses and creative art sectors like music, audio/visual, fashion design, among others.
• Experiential tourism: tourism that favours a sustainable experience impact on tourists.
• Sustainable performance agribusiness: economies that apply precision tech/agritechs, biotechnology in cultivation and agroforestry.
• Digital industry: applications of emerging technologies for the digital transformation of manufacturing.
Decio Lima, president of Sebrae Nacional opens his letter introducing the missions.“(…) this is Sebrae’s willingness to join the effort to craft public policies that will bring back economic growth and contribute to a more inclusive country. Entrepreneurship is the way of transformation (…) the institutional missions of Sebrae (…) bring lines of action that contemplate a plural Brazil, diversified in its geography and specific in its local wealth (…) Sebrae reviewed its entire strategy to enable it to expand and consolidate its main mission, which is to support entrepreneurs (…) a way to reduce the inequalities and transform people’s lives.”
The challenges the team has face far in co-creating those 3 missions are:
Conceptual design: pragmatic compatibility between scope coverage and identification of focus challenges that aim at defined and clear objectives that can be managed and monitored, based on quantitative and qualitative indicators.
Coverage: the missions need to have mobilising power and clear objectives for the society. They cannot be too broad under penalty of lose clarity nor too specific as there is a risk of narrow relevance.
Governance and coordination: missions require simultaneous development of different capacities (regulation, training, policy making, infra-structure) articulated among multiple agents.
Expanding the mission framework: institutional accountability around missions
Organisations carry out their performance management systems at different levels. At the resource level they monitor the performance of activities (how they will operate) and deliverables (what they deliver in terms of products and services). At the stakeholder level they monitor & evaluate results, outcomes and ultimate impact. A mission-oriented strategy represents a systemic change where the performance management is designed towards social outcomes and positive impact which also requires innovative interventions in the form of programs/initiatives. Objectives, key results and a portfolio of programs/initiatives make organisations accountable to realise missions and transparent to their stakeholders enabling higher social control. Sebrae is taking the lead in designing its own institutional accountability around the 3 missions. The expanded mission framework including the 3 visions and missions plus Sebrae’s institutional objectives (8), key results (17) and programs (12) is looking like this:
Orquestrating ecosystems
In an interdependent world it is essential to prioritize changes and promote high-quality horizontal connections rather than focusing on individual institutional performance. Governance plays a crucial role in planning-based missions so it is critical to commit all stakeholders involved. The Dark Matter Labs team who has been intensively working on the redesign of underlying structures in society believes that “as we seek to nurture the infra-structural roots of our future societies, expanding the horizon of both the possible and the necessary, many of the perceived boundaries we face are top-down constructions, imaginary or artificial (…). This future invites us all to unconstitute and reconstitute society building a new practice of civic infrastructures that embrace emerging possibilities, recognise our interdependence and enable all beings to thrive in a safe and just space.” (Dark Matter Labs, 2021).
Long-term governance should harmonize the efforts of several agents starting with the 15 active members of the CDN board who should converge, aligning investments, public policies, regulatory frameworks and a series of other initiatives. As for example the strategic program “Neo-industrialization, Business Environment and International Economic Participation” of the Brazilian federal government (one of Sebrae’s board members) “Vision of the Future 2027” is highly convergent with the 3 missions and Sebrae’s program portfolio. The mission-based planning adopted by Sebrae will be cascaded within each of the 27 state units their respective sub-regional units responsible for the territories and biomes.
“Ecostrator”
The Sebrae RS team is prototyping an “Ecostrator” governance model in the territory Vale do Taquari Rio Pardo to transform the traditional food sector into a future-proof economy through an expanded foodtech approach comprising healthy and sustainable ingredients, “impossible” foods, delivery services, consumer apps, agtechs and food waste/circularity. Ecostrators proactively orchestrate ecosystems with other system agents like universities, city councils, businesses/business associations, start-ups, development banks and credit agencies. Together leaders and technical teams of those institutions offer insights at a systemic level, co-create visions and missions for the territory and biomes with local communities, activate the ecosystem, advocate for favourable public policies, attract investments, catalyse impacts initiatives and enable flourishing communities of practice, learning and innovation.
What’s next?
“The systemic transformation proposed by the missions must be conducted as social movements that create markets, change the rules, and reform systems.” Leadbeater (2018).
Sebrae recognizes that in order to achieve its missions and generate a significant impact, it must promote a generative dialogue that includes diverse perspectives, knowledge and experiences, seeking to gather unique insights and co-create innovative solutions. With its 50 years of experience, Sebrae can guide the next 50 years on a collective mobilization for social impact, influencing public opinion, shaping public policies and changing citizens behaviours. Sebrae is creating a national movement and will soon mobilise dozens of institutions and millions of individuals to act and promote economic, social, political and cultural changes.
- André R. Coutinho, IIPP MPA co-hort 2020–21, co-founder of GoFw CIC, managing partner at Symnetics, board member, GSEA and Impact Co-Chair of EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization) London, professor of impact innovation, his latest book co-authored with A. Penha “Strategic Design: Creative Directions for a World in Transformation”.
Acknowledgments to the team who has made this journey possible since November 2020:
Symnetics / GoFw
André R. Coutinho, Anderson C. Penha, Justin Beirold (IIPP MPA co-hort 2020–21), Marcella Germano (IIPP MPA co-hort 2021–22), Carlota Mingolla, Larissa Dantas, Viviane Tavares, Aline Monteiro, Lucas Mariano (storyboards), Lucas Nicolov, Indio San, Patricia Aboriçá, Leonardo Leal, Ilana Goldsmid, Wilgor Cavalcanti, Ericsson Straub, Rico Lins, Julio Neme.
Sebrae RS
André Luis Viera de Campos, André Vanoni de Godoy, Ayrton Pinto Ramos, Marco Aurélio Vieira Paradeda, Andreia Cristine Gratsch do Nascimento, Daniela Fernandes Pinheiro, Felipe Nodari, Ibero Pinto da Silva, Victor Ribas de Almeida, Márcio de Souza Pires, Paula Fogliatto Prado, Fábio Krieger Lopes Reis, Janaina Zago Medeiros, Cesar Maurício Samuel do Nascimento, Ciro Ricardo Vives, Liane Beatriz Portantiolo Klein, Marco Aurélio Copetti, Paulo Cesar da Cunha Bruscato, Roger Scherer Klafke.
Sebrae Nacional
Decio Lima, Bruno Quick, Margarete Coelho, Adriane Ricieri Brito, André Silva Spínola, Fausto Ricardo Keske Cassemiro, Aretha Alexandra Pedroso G.Trindade Zarlenga, Fabiana Tomaim de Oliveira, Murilo de Aquino Terra, Newton Roberto de Lima Junior and other more than 300 leaders and technical teams of all 27 Sebrae state units and Sebrae Nacional.
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