“No one copies failure,” says the country’s largest autonomous market network

by Andrea
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“No one copies failure.” The phrase, dictated with conviction by Eduardo Códova, founder of Market4U, summarizes well the moment lived by the company. The growing adherence to the autonomous market business model in condominiums proves that the segment is not only promising, but resilient, innovative and increasingly coveted.

According to him, more than 50% of the new opened supermarket stores in São Paulo in 2024 were installed inside condominiums – showing the size of the segment.

“When a lot of people start copying, it’s because business is on the right track,” From zero to topprogram of Infomoney which tells the history of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs behind the largest companies in the country.

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“Autonomous retail has been consolidated as an alternative of real and sustainable convenience, which serves the customer at a fair price, offers a solution to the liquidators and ensures healthy margin for the franchisee.”

Market4U’s proposal is to build an ecosystem where everyone gets. “The company’s role is to orchestrate this environment, respecting all the ends. It is not about taking the maximum, but of generating value for all: industry, client, franchisee and condominium,” explains the entrepreneur.

In the conversation, Eduardo stresses that there is room for everyone and that even the growth of competitors “validated” the business model, showing that the “sector has potential and strength.”

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Competition is healthy market proof

Eduardo remembers with humor of one of the first startups he created: a vending machine for cyclists. “At the time, we were proud to be the only ones. Today, we are ashamed, because no one copied because it was bad,” he says. The learning was valuable. “Now we are proud to be copied. We have done a workshop with 70 competitors in Sao Paulo to talk about strategy and future in the industry. This shows the strength and maturity of the market.”

Today, Market4U is the largest autonomous market network in Brazil, with 2,300 units. The second place, according to him, is between 200 and 300. “Copy is synonymous with success. If they are copying, it is because the model works. The competition encourages us to improve every day,” he says.

He emphasizes that the market is large enough for multiple players.

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“There are over 500,000 condominiums in Brazil and each year more than a thousand are born. In the next five years, the country can reach 50,000 autonomous markets, as already happens in China.”

The expansion of the segment, according to Cordova, was driven by the pandemic, which accelerated digitization and consumption indoors. “Behind, we had no competitors. Today we have hundreds. This is not a problem, it is an opportunity to do even better.”

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Eduardo also talks about the franchise model, the company’s main growth channel. “Our client is the franchisee. The franchise is not magic. We do not sell PowerPoint, we show the real day to day, the numbers, the challenges,” he says.

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“There is no business without work. Who says they are going to work two hours a day and having a guaranteed profit is lying.”

According to him, the average investment to open five stores of the brand is around R $ 200 thousand, with estimated return in 18 months. “But it can be faster or slower, depending on the franchisee’s engagement,” he explains. He cites success cases, such as a franchisee from Porto Alegre who makes $ 700,000 per month.

Cordova makes a point of highlighting the ethical commitment to investors. “We never had a lawsuit filed for franchisee. And I am very happy when I see friends or family investing. It shows confidence in the model,” he says.

For him, the company’s culture is based on long -term thought. “We don’t want to be the biggest in the next quarter, but to remain relevant for the next ten years. It changes everything.”

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Prior to success with Market4U, Eduardo founded more than 30 businesses – most of them unsuccessfully. “Most of my businesses went wrong. What I know is how not to do,” he jokes. Had gym, marketing agency, butcher shop, children’s store and even vending machine for cyclists. “Invested $ 500,000 in a business, it didn’t work, sold and tried another.”

The accumulated learning over more than a decade was decisive for the creation of Market4U.

“Every mistake taught me something. For example, the gym had no entry barrier; coffee at the mall had no margin; Bike Station had no audience. It all prepared me.”

With Market4U, Eduardo says he identified a model “on fertile ground.” “I finally found something with real scale potential that unites technology, convenience and a change in change in large cities. Verticalization of housing and the search for convenience play in favor of our business.”

Since then, he has sold or closed the other ventures and has been fully dedicated to the new company. “Today the focus is on total. We want to make Market4U a global company.”

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Childhood humble to the mission of impacting lives

The entrepreneurial spirit came from home. Son of an accountant and a public school teacher, Eduardo saw the value of the work early on. He says that his mother taught day and he took sweets to sell at night, generating an extra income that paid, for example, a vacation trip.

“My father tried several businesses, but only the accounting really went well. He taught me never being ashamed to work.”

Eduardo started working at 13 and never stopped. “I studied at night, worked day by day, joined money, bought a car, paid my bills. I learned that all work is worthy. And I bring it to this day to the company,” he says.

According to him, Market4U’s purpose is also to generate opportunities, as in other businesses already created by him and the family – some who prosper to this day, such as the first gas station he has opened.

The inspiration, he reinforces, came from the family base. “My father has always trusted me a lot. And my mother taught me that with work you can turn chocolate on a trip. I never forgot.”

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To undertake is to embrace the risk and the responsibility

Talking about his experience in entrepreneurship in general, Eduardo tells the biggest lie he has ever heard: that a business cannot go wrong.

“Everything can go wrong. That’s why the franchise grows, because it’s a validated model.”

It also compares the role of a franchisor with that of a brand with its own units. “It’s completely different. The franchisor needs to inspire, support, generate a sense of belonging. The franchisee is our client. It changes the whole culture.”

Asked about the main error in the entrepreneurial journey, he evaluates that he was undertaking thinking only of himself. “When I undertook to satisfy personal wills, I lost time and money,” he says. On the other hand, for him his biggest hit was having right people by my side. “No one does anything alone,” he says.

And the final advice? “Anyone who wants to undertake needs to know that it can go wrong. But if you continue, you will learn and eventually it will work. Market4U success is the result of insistence and learning with errors.”

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