Gifted

We are developing a marketplace to help creative local entrepreneurs (designers, artisans and artists) to sell their products to people around the world. 

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), in developing countries between 50 - 75% of small businesses fail in the first three years, due to most of the local entrepreneurs have low competitiveness and limited use of technology.

Furthermore, the rapid growth of the ecommerce adoption is a challenge for them, but it also represents a great opportunity for growth by equipping them with technological tools and training that allow them to manage their businesses, promote their products in digital media, accept online payments, analyze their performance, increase their productivity and improve their quality of customer service.

The project consists of creating a marketplace equipped with technological tools, assistance and training that enhances the capacities of creative entrepreneurs to achieve profitable and scalable businesses.

Through a specialized marketplace in the sale of hand made and personalized items, we provide entrepreneurs with an effective sales channel by connecting them with a segment of buyers looking for different and novel alternatives to acquire a gift, a promotional item, or decoration.

Our strategy is focused on promoting independent work and empowering entrepreneurs towards achieving their economic stability and social security, as well as generating additional jobs.

Our marketplace provides an infrastructure equipped with tools and regulations; where creative entrepreneurs and buyers exchange value in an easy, reliable, and rewarding way.

We believe that empathy, trust, transparency, cooperation, and innovation are the key to promoting socio-economic growth in developing countries.

For this reason, we are committed to using the power of commerce and technology to provide talented persons with an opportunity for development, a channel where they can share their products with the world, backed by a trusted and well-positioned brand, enabling these entrepreneurs to focus their efforts on developing their businesses and multiplying their income.

Etsy is currently the leader in the area of online sales of handmade items and crafts, although it is an international market, it only operates in developed countries. For Etsy, starting operations in developing countries such as Ecuador and Latin America in general involves risk due to the regulatory and cultural situations of each country. For this reason, we believe that we have a great opportunity because in Latin America there isn't a positioned market that supports creative entrepreneurs.

We also compete with companies that provide e-commerce services, Shopify is the best in this sense, but for many local entrepreneurs it is complex to use platforms such as Shopify, due to its low use of technology, in addition to attracting potential buyers in this type of platforms is challenging.

At Gifted, we know that local creative entrepreneurs have needs according to the stage their business is in, so our differentiation is in establishing a strategy that allows them to activate, validate, scale and lead their businesses. In the validation stage, our focus is on training and helping entrepreneurs to improve their products and get their first sales; In the validation and escalation stage, we will focus on publicizing these businesses with marketing and advertising tools; and, finally, in the leadership stage, help entrepreneurs to have control over their organization and finances. In this way, we believe that we can transform low competitiveness creative entrepreneurs into creative business people, who provide new opportunities and jobs in their communities and countries.

To create growth opportunities for creative entrepreneurs, it is important to be backed by technology, in our case the main technologies that complement the development of our platform are: Machine Learning and Big Data. These technologies will allow us to learn from the millions of buyers who will visit Gifted, to create a satisfying exchange of value between sellers and buyers.

Currently, machine learning and big data are powering thousands of businesses in different industries, for example: financial services, health care, sales and marketing, government entities, and transportation.

The economic impact strategy that we propose at Gifted is focused on promoting independent work and empowering talented entrepreneurs towards achieving their stability and economic security. It is our commitment to creating economic opportunities for our community of entrepreneurs, through technological tools, assistance, and representation.

On the other hand, the social impact that the Gifted Ecosystem will bring is based on allowing equitable access to the opportunities we create, as well as the representation of minorities to guarantee labor equity in the ecosystem. Furthermore, the dissemination of our corporate philosophy, to inspire with our values the development of a collaborative society, which for us means the beginning of a cultural change in favor of the development of the country.

Our ecosystem provides an infrastructure equipped with tools and regulations; where producers of personalized items and crafts interact easily and rewardingly with shoppers. In order to generate even more value and growth opportunities for our entrepreneurs, we hope to integrate raw material suppliers into our platform, thus generating production chains that in turn is a strategic tool that reduces risks, increases efficiency, and promotes long-term commercial relationships, which lead to the generation of products and services with standards that facilitate access to new markets, including international markets.

Within 5 years, we want to empower 1 million Latin American creative entrepreneurs to manage, scale and spread their businesses around the world.

In the coming year, we want to empower 268 creative entrepreneurs to manage, scale and spread their businesses with technology tools, support, and training.

Within 5 years, our goal is to implement the Gifted Marketplace that allows creative entrepreneurs from Latin America to sell their products to buyers from all over the world.

We believe that the main barriers to our entrepreneurship are cultural, since in our country and the region, there is still a lot of mistrust when buying online.

We also believe that the entry of competitors to the Latin American market poses a risk to the success of our project.

We believe that buyer confidence increases by generating security through:

* Emphasis on the usability of the page as a measure of the quality of a useful and efficient User Experience, with fluent navigation, a clear content structure, and quality multimedia content.
* Obtaining trust seals and SSL configuration meeting quality standard requirements, increasing the reputation of the web.
  * Payment methods with a specialized company with an emphasis on cybersecurity to improve the shopping experience of users with a variety of payment methods that offer convenience and security to the customer.
  * Good shopping experience; options available for product delivery, customer service management, brand value and reputation, management of customer communication channels.

Regarding the entry of new competitors, our strategy is based on the differentiation and loyalty of entrepreneurs with unique products and personalized customer service that differs from the strategy of mass sales. Maintenance and updating of market segment preferences information through data analysis.

We currently work 2 people full-time: Carlos Canacuán (CEO) and Norma Ramos (CFO) and 1 person part-time: Micaela Trujillo (COO).

Our executive director was the co-creator and responsible for the design of the user experience in a social impact technological innovation project (HandEyes), a device that assists blind people to avoid accidents while walking.

Our director of operations has experience in commercial consulting in developing custom software products with AGILE methodologies. In addition, in the implementation of communication tools in social impact projects, as part of their volunteering at AIESEC.

Our financial director has worked for several years as a financial advisor in private companies for decision-making. Management and control of general accounting and tax activities.

In the experience of each member, our interest in the service and development of the community is demonstrated, where interpersonal relationships and values are the main engines. In general, we have experience in the correct administration and efficient management of resources, processes, and human talent. As well as experience to manage software development projects, manage commercial activities, and digital marketing. Furthermore, our financial and tax experience in private companies guides us to make better decisions seeking profitability and minimizing risk.

We seek that all the entrepreneurs that we make an impact improve their standards to deliver greater value and differentiation in their products, for which our experience in prototyping processes and product development contributes to maintaining a high standard for customer satisfaction.

For now, we are working with the National Board of Defense of Artisans in Ecuador, with which we have coordinated to locate and interview artisans in order to know their needs and problems. This approach is very important to us as it is the beginning to create a solution that really adds value to the artisans of our country.

The monetization model consists of 4 services aimed at both entrepreneurs and consumers. The first is to capture a percentage (5-10%) of the value of a product that an entrepreneur sells. In addition, for an entrepreneur to enter a product on our platform, they must pay a small amount per product ($ 0.50) every six months or until their stocks are exhausted, this measure also works as a strategy to filter products that do not meet the standard. Additionally, we propose an advertising service for entrepreneurs who are willing to pay a price to increase the exposure of their products on the platform. Finally, we have created a subscription model that allows buyers to schedule gift deliveries on important dates.

The strategy to attract our entrepreneurs is based on the added value we offer in terms of training for the management of their businesses, tools to position their products on the Internet and access to a specialized market.

As for consumers, our strategy to attract them is to inspire trust and generate brand commitment, offering them security and confidentiality with the information they share; a selection of high-quality items that you will not find anywhere else and maintain a close relationship with our current customers and make them brand ambassadors. Additionally, to ensure transactions are generated within the platform, we have created a frequent consumer incentive program based on status levels based on points accumulated for making purchases and receiving positive vendor ratings.

It is important for us to have the support and recognition of international entities focused on helping the economic and social development of vulnerable people, we believe that this is a way of generating credibility and trust with the people we want to impact, in addition to strengthening our commitment of using technology and commerce to empower people in our region and the world.