“Our hallmark is the creation of a feeling of belonging in our clients about our city and our country, for this reason, we focus our designs and the use of the best fabrics and clothing, prioritizing work with mothers who are heads of families and people older”, these are the words of Alex González Fonseca, one of the three partners and brothers of Paramuna, a business idea with an environmental sense.
In 23 questions for entrepreneurs and their ventures , González tells us what they did and how their venture has a two-way impact: exalting Bogota culture and preserving the environment.
1. How old am I? That I studied?
37, 33 and 29 years
Law, Audiovisual Media and Mechanical Engineering
2. What was my idea and when was it born? What was it that I created?
It was born from the need to create a Bogotan identity and to feel proud of being or living in our city. Also to generate a sense of belonging to the largest wasteland in the world, of which Bogotá is a part. The capital of the country is also a rural city and we should feel proud of every street, sidewalk, neighborhood, town and corner of it.
3. How did I manage to make it a reality and bring it to life?
One of us closed his print and custom store due to the pandemic, Alex came up with the idea for the brand and the designs, we printed and contacted Hassam and Catalina García who very kindly posted photos on their Instagram accounts using our bags and from then on we have continued to grow.
If you are looking for more entrepreneurship stories, their creators are here, in El Espectador 's Entrepreneurship and Leadership .
4. Where did I get the money to start it up and how did I pay for it?
We made a very small investment with some savings, thanks to social networks starting is easier, we followed our intuition and by reinvesting we have been growing every day.
5. What am I achieving with my business? What am I changing with my idea?
That people feel proud of their city, their country, neighborhood, and that, in addition, they know that the moors are important ecosystems for our existence, without water there is no life, we are all rangers of the moors.
6. Am I happy?
Without a doubt, it makes us happy to work as a family, the pandemic managed to bring us closer and generate our own business.
7. Would I sell my enterprise, my company?
No, maybe we do licenses or franchises but it's like a daughter we have. We love her!
8. How hard was it for me to undertake?
Manage the financial issue, because when you are an employee you get used to a constant and stable monthly remuneration, but once things change you have to follow your intuition and be very organized.
9. Did I fulfill my dream? What I'm I missing of?
Dreams come true every day, as long as you do what makes you happy, so every day we work for this dream and we hope it grows a lot, we want to be a business benchmark and a responsible company with society and with the planet.
10. Now what? Whats Next?
Continue, forgive the redundancy, we believe that in business you cannot stop, we are grounded but also dreamers, in that order the next step is to export our brand.
You may be interested in this venture: They connect agribusinesses to maximize business opportunities
11. Is my business scalable?
Totally and in many ways, we want to find the most suitable for everyone who wants to work with our brand.
12. To grow, would you receive investment from a stranger? Would I give you part of my company?
Yes, we could receive the investment, but we will not give up part of the company, first we want it to grow and then find partners with whom we can identify and work.
13. What would you never do again?
Repeat strategies that others have applied.
14. Who inspired me? Who would I like to follow?
The big brands and those that have grown with a clear objective, for example: Latin Lover, Whitman, Mario Hernandez and Arturo Calle.
15. Did I fail at some point? Did I think about throwing in the towel?
Not failure, it is exhausting but the sun always rises and rises for everyone, there is something key that has worked for us quite a bit and that is to thank our entrepreneurship for the good and not so good.
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16. Am I part of some type of community that helps me on this path of undertaking?
Do not.
17. Does what I am doing transcend? Will it be able to impact new generations?
Yes, we believe that generating a sense of belonging transcends time and people.
18. How do I see myself in 10 years and how do I see my venture, my company, in the future?
With many stores in the country and in the world.
Do not stop reading: She rescues art and creativity through figures made in cold porcelain
19. What role have my family and friends played?
We are brothers, family. Each one has been vital in this process. Friends too, especially those who buy (laughs).
20. I made it. Would you help other entrepreneurs to achieve it?
If, every day, we achieve something else, our advice is, do it and follow your intuition.
21. What role did my team play? Who?
Each one of us has very specific functions, basically they are: direction and creation, production and logistics, and a very important one is our clients, the feedback they give us and where we want to go is part of the direction in which we are going.
22. What is my personal seal? What differentiates me from the rest?
The creation of a feeling of belonging to our city and our country, for this reason, we focus our designs and the use of the best fabrics and clothing, prioritizing work with single mothers and the elderly.
23. What have I learned from all this?
Not to give up what we like, to persist, to resist, to work every day for what we want and not to throw in the towel.
If you know stories of entrepreneurs and their ventures, write to us at Edwin Bohórquez Aya ( ebohorquez@elespectador.com ) or Tatiana Gómez Fuentes ( tgomez@elespectador.com ).
