There is a before and after in the way of understanding the company with Covid-19. It is not that the pandemic is solely responsible for the change, but its transversal impact at a global level has energized a transformation that had already begun years ago. In the coming years, the productive fabric will experience a true revolution to become more sustainable, local with a global and digital vocation, but with a human touch.
The change affects both large corporations and small business owners. This is the case of Paula del Río, director of Suela, who is not surprised by any of this. She has been transforming her company in that direction for five years. She did it out of her own conviction, but the movement is already a reality and the companies that follow it have everything in their favor to embrace success now and in the long term.
Paula's is one of the stories that is given voice in the “Closer Now” initiative, an initiative through which Orange collects the experience that businessmen and entrepreneurs such as the founder of Suela have lived and continue to live. In this online space, which can be visited on the website orangecontuempresa.com, there are various interviews, such as this one with Paula, carried out by the journalist and economics expert Javier Ruiz, to bring the public closer to the reality of the self-employed and Spanish SMEs. .
The objective of the Orange project is to publicize, through real cases, the situations that these small business owners currently have to face, in order to reinvent themselves to adapt their businesses to the new digital and global economy. In addition, Javier Ruiz carries out an economic analysis of the topic and sector that is addressed at all times, pointing out the opportunities and providing the main recommendations so that entrepreneurs can get the most out of their businesses in this new context.
Among the 17 objectives launched by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda is sustainability. The European Commission, in its 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan, has already proposed measures focused on waste prevention and management to boost the growth and competitiveness of companies. This plan establishes seven key areas essential to achieving a circular economy: plastics, textiles, electronic waste, food; water and nutrients, packaging, batteries and vehicles; buildings and construction. Furthermore, it insists on the right of citizens to be duly informed about the environmental impact of products.
Added to the legal measures and recommendations of international institutions is the change in mentality, a consumer increasingly aware of the impact of their purchases on the planet and willing to pay more if the product has been made from sustainable materials, delivered in recycled and recyclable packaging and makes notable efforts to reduce the carbon footprint in all its processes.
This can be applied in practically all sectors, including fashion. Suela, for example, opts for vegetable-tanned leather, which is much less polluting; cork oak cork soles and boxes made of recycled and recyclable cardboard. “Since 2016, sustainability has been the center of our business model,” says Del Río.
After years of unbridled growth in low-cost consumption and impulsive purchases to accommodate ephemeral trends, consumers are taking refuge in long-lasting values, even if they cost more. They change the concept of 'spending' to 'invest' and 'following fashion' to 'quality'. The pandemic has had a lot to do with this change.
Until March 2020, economic crises were sensed by negative behavior of the stock markets or stagnation and contraction in consumption. What economists call cooling of the economy. The pandemic has shown that changes can happen from one day to the next and this has caused a change in buyers who, according to the Mintel Report 2021. Global Consumer Trends, are no longer only looking for 'affordability and convenience, but also security, protection and durability of assets'.
For Del Río, footwear made with quality materials 'does not last a season. It lasts your whole life. In addition, it incorporates a pre-order service for the textiles it sells in its physical store. “This way we avoid surpluses. You choose the model, fabric and size and in a few days you have it ready. We choose national materials and final production because there is already a lot of material manufactured,” he explains.
The perimeter confinements have allowed many citizens to discover the charm of their neighborhood or visit more of the towns in their province. This revaluation of the local is aligned with the principles of proximity of the 2030 Agenda. A product manufactured close to the place of consumption has a lower impact in terms of its carbon footprint than if it has to be transported from the other side of the planet.
Suela's production and logistics strategy is a good example of this approach. He started with a workshop in Menorca. Afterwards he moved to Alicante, and, finally, he settled in Madrid. “It's 50 minutes from the store. It represents enormous savings in transportation and logistics, and, therefore, in carbon footprint,” he explains. It is not just the fuel, whose footprint can be significantly reduced with hydrogen vehicles. The friction of tires with the asphalt generates nanoplastics that, with rain, end up in rivers and, finally, in the sea.
Companies with social projects, social responsibility programs or foundations will have an increasing role in the coming years.
An increasingly conscious consumer is not only looking for sustainable and circular products. He demands ethics from the brands in which he places his trust. In Europe, more and more companies are choosing to produce within the continent, often in rural areas, paying adequate salaries and thus stopping depopulation. 'We know that we buy with our eyes, our hearts and our wallets. Do you buy thinking about the values of a brand? At Suela we are committed to decent and fair work,' explains Suela from her Instagram profile.
It sounds antagonistic, but it is not. The pandemic made clear the need to have an exclusive e-commerce or in parallel to door-to-street commerce. Also, efficient management of social networks allows maintaining interaction with consumers, obtaining their feedback and maintaining the closeness that until now was only had in direct contact.
The Mintel Report describes it as a 'more personal digital approach': digital connections with personalized services and consumer-brand relationships that should not be limited to loading the cart. It is that detail in the package that you receive at home or that agile and warm response from social networks to any questions or disagreements.
Strategies that “rehumanize” digital commerce, even if both parties are hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. Because, no matter how much the Internet saves time when shopping, users still value knowing that on the other side there is not a robot, but a human team.
