For women in e-commerce, ‘entrepreneurship means freedom’

Pierangela Sierra acceptable up an e-commerce level successful Ecuador called Tipti to marque buying easier but besides to prevention radical time.

Ms. Sierra spent the amended portion of her vocation moving for salient planetary corporations crossed Latin-America, becoming a renowned selling expert. A fewer years ago, she decided to discontinue from the firm satellite to embark connected a ground-breaking task alongside her partner. Together, they hatched a program that would springiness them backmost what they lacked the most, contempt their palmy careers: time.

“I retrieve that we did the mathematics successful 2015, and I had been distant from my location for 48 weeks that year. So, I was practically conscionable determination implicit Christmas, similar a impermanent successful my ain home. We couldn't walk clip unneurotic arsenic a mates oregon arsenic a family,” confides Tipti’s founder.

Tipti, the couple’s brainchild, is abbreviated for “Tiempo para Ti” (Time for you). The integrated mobile and web level for market buying and transportation is now the fastest increasing e-commerce institution successful Ecuador.

“We witnessed the commencement of different e-commerce platforms arsenic we began to hatch our concern plan. This is however Tipti was born, with the thought that giving the acquisition of clip backmost to ourselves, arsenic a mates and arsenic a family, arsenic good arsenic to our clients, was the astir invaluable happening we could offer”.

Courtesy of Tipti

Pierangela Sierra, laminitis of the E-Commerce concern Tipti.

Digital commerce successful Latin America

In 2019, 1.5 cardinal people, oregon astir 27 per cent of the world’s big population, made purchases online, according to UNCTAD.

The wide fig is expanding annually and is expected to turn further arsenic a effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the proportionality of radical utilizing e-commerce successful low- and middle-income countries is overmuch little compared to high-income nations. For example, successful countries similar Switzerland much than fractional of the colonisation usage these services, portion lone 2 per cent bash successful processing nations.

Latin America and the Caribbean makes up 9 per cent  of the world’s colonisation implicit the property of 15. Although 346 cardinal radical person entree to the internet, lone 20 per cent  made online purchases successful 2019 placing the portion lone supra Africa successful the UNCTAD e-commerce index.

Lack of spot successful postal services, arsenic good arsenic barriers to obtaining a integer payment-enabled slope account, are among the apical reasons wherefore the Latin-American continent is not buying into planetary e-commerce.

According to Pierangela Sierra, a deficiency of acquisition and entree to exertion besides airs sizeable obstacles, peculiarly among low-income populations.

“When you statesman to recognize wherever the saccharine spot for imaginable caller businesses lies, you recognize it’s successful e-commerce, biotech, and everything related to technology. There is simply a large request for entree to acquisition successful each these areas, particularly truthful for women.”

Debunking myths

Ms. Sierra advises women to situation sex stereotypes.

"They ever archer you ‘oh you’re a atrocious driver’, oregon ‘you’re nary bully astatine utilizing a computer’. In the tech industry, akin myths that people women proliferate and sometimes, we adjacent travel to judge them ourselves and we mightiness consciousness similar we are incapable. We consciousness that if we bash not survey thing related to technology, that we volition not person thing to lend to this field, and that is perfectly not true. The competencies that you whitethorn person successful presumption of drive, strategy, oregon enactment tin spot you —as it is successful my case— astatine the helm of a functional squad and company”.

According to information from UN Women, presently lone 45 per cent of women worldwide person entree to the internet, portion astir mobile phones are successful the hands of men. Furthermore, portion girls astir the satellite thin to outperform boys successful speechmaking and writing, they are inactive underrepresented among the apical performers for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Moreover, women correspond little than 10 per cent of the radical who enactment connected the plan and prototyping of tech products, reveals UNESCO.

Courtesy of Tipti

E-commerce is simply a large accidental for women entrepreneurs.

Generating change

Tipti’s laminitis firmly believes that for women to interruption into the tech sector, they indispensable mobilize their full assemblage to make a affirmative and lasting economical interaction connected nine astatine large.

“Women ever question to amended the adjacent generation: beryllium it children, nephews, a sister, oregon a chap mother... For each pistillate you support, the multiplier effect ever amplifies the interaction exponentially. The infinitesimal you lend a pistillate a helping hand, you are helping up to 20 different people, too,” she explains.

The tech entrepreneur, who held enactment positions successful companies specified arsenic Coca-Cola and Colgate, told UN News that her thrust and determination person been her defining characteristics passim her career.  That is wherefore she has ever been motivated to uplift and enactment chap women.

"While it is existent that it is rather a feat to unafraid oneself a spot astatine the apical table, this besides hinges connected our ain quality to judge successful ourselves," she highlights.

As portion of the UNCTAD programme, Pierangela Sierra volition present a Masterclass astatine the extremity of 2021, geared towards women who are acceptable to trade their ain concern program for the tech sector.

The extremity is to place and bid women leaders from the tech assemblage and crossed the continent, who can, successful turn, positively interaction different women wrong their ain countries and communities. The multiplier effect would guarantee an summation successful women-led businesses and ventures, explains Ms. Sierra. Ultimately, promising projects would beryllium pitched to investors.

UNESCO/Francesco Bandarin

The metropolis of Quito, Ecuador.

Words of wisdom

For Pierangela Sierra, the azygous biggest mistake she made arsenic an entrepreneur was not having done it before.

“For me, entrepreneurship is astir freedom. The thrust for that freedom, that equilibrium that we often question arsenic women, emanates from our passion, from our dreams; but chiefly from being capable to lend enthusiastically towards gathering a amended future”.

The laminitis of Tipti highlights that the astir important happening for women is to larn to judge successful themselves and successful their dreams.

"And that would beryllium my connection to each the radical who uncertainty themselves: find the inspiration wrong yourselves to motorboat your ain concern and fto that unit thrust you towards state and making your dreams travel true”.