The trajectory of the successful businesswoman who started as a packer

Sylvia Design is today a successful chain of furniture stores. But those who see the company’s commercials or walk past the facades of its five huge stores in São Paulo often have no idea of ​​the story of entrepreneurship and overcoming Sylvia, the chain’s founder.

That’s why the awesome.club will tell you a little bit about this story, as well as revealing some tips on how to start from scratch and build a successful company.

Sylvia, or rather Josefa Adecilda Silva de Araújo (that’s her given name), was born in the city of Barro, south of Ceará. Daughter of farmers, since she was a little girl, her restless and irreverent way was different from that of her other siblings. But the humble girl, who rode a donkey, climbed trees to pick guava and bathed in the river, would become a successful businesswoman.

At the age of 16, the first opportunity arose to go to São Paulo to help her sister, who was pregnant and needed help. Sylvia had to abandon her studies, completing only the 8th grade of Elementary School. As soon as she arrived, she got her first job, as a packer. With the certainty that she needed to be noticed in order to grow, Sylvia always did a little more than what was expected of her role. She cleaned floors and shelves, tidied up torn plastics from dolls and strollers, and checked packages.

Having worked in four companies, Sylvia managed to form a good nest egg, totaling 8,000 reais in savings, which she used in 2002 to open her own business, a furniture store. The beginning, as you can imagine, was not easy and Sylvia did everything: she installed the posters and signs in the store, did the cleaning and, of course, served the customers.

But his main mantra was that, if you wanted to sell, you had to show up. Then came the idea of ​​showing the store on television, in a commercial channel. As he didn’t have the money to advertise enough to make the company known, he had to find a way to differentiate himself.

That’s when he started using costumes to advertise his furniture. She advertised prices for sofas, tables and chairs dressed as Catwoman, Emília (from the Yellow Woodpecker farm) and Wonder Woman. But it was Catwoman who was successful.

Sylvia gained fame by embodying the character and yelling ‘meow’ on TV to sell off her store’s sofa stocks. What could have been the butt of jokes ended up creating the opposite effect, drawing the public’s attention.

As the success of the commercials had a good effect on sales, Sylvia was able to open more stores. The character fell not only in the taste of the advertising market, but also in the captive audience of television attractions. She became a recurring character on entertainment and talk shows. She has participated in programs by Sílvio Santos, Marília Gabriela and Eliana, among others.

In a super competitive market, such as furniture stores, the businesswoman’s main tip is to stand out from the competition. It was thanks to the unusual strategy of advertising her stores dressed as a cat woman that Sylvia managed to attract attention. In an interview on a channel specialized in entrepreneurship, she revealed that currently 70% of her sales are due to investments in media. It’s the old propaganda maxim that those who are not seen are not remembered. His tips for success are simple but effective🇧🇷

Always be in the media Do what you like Know your product.

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