LÍVIA FERNANDES AMARAL

The Beginning

At 27 years old, Lívia arrived in Portugal in Augusto f 2005 and like any immigrant out of their country of origin, her main concern consisted on finding a job since she had to pay her travel expenses incurred by her coming to Portugal.For 15 days, Lívia searched for a job and due to her illegality in the country, that quest was even more difficult. Until one day, she was able to find a job in a clothing store, where she worked 11 hours straight and earned only 400€. To obtain some extra money, In order to reach her main goal: claim her spot in Portugal; Lívia opted for working on weekends, leaving her without any days off.

After 5 months in that store, Lívia worked in many other places, such as, Chinese stores, footwear stores, in cafes, where she suffered some attempts of abuse and decided to resign. Back in the search for a new job, Lívia went to some interviews and from a group of ten candidates, she was picked. The job offered good conditions; however, it did not give her the opportunity to legalize. That was when, after a long struggle, Lívia managed to get a job at a Dental Clinic and it was exactly there where she started to walk toward success…

How did it start?

At the Dental Clinic where she worked, Lívia had to learn everything since she had no experience in the area. Always with a lot of will power and efficiency…two years in the company sufficed for Lívia to climb over, and began to occupy a leading position with many responsibilities and very little financial recognition. With that, Lívia that was already legalized at that time had the support and necessary stimulus to make one of her most important life decisions: open up her own dental clinic.

Will all the experience related to the work she had at the Dental Clinic, Lívia purchased along with a partner, a Portuguese woman in the Catering business, a dental clinic already assembled and closed, with all the equipment and furniture.

For this to be held, Lívia resorted to a funding from her bank. Being young (younger than 25 years), she was benefited by some support systems and incentives to young entrepreneurship. However, the fact that she was Brazilian made it very difficult for her to get credit approval, with a delay much beyond the normal time; Lívia struggled and finally got the financing and started her own company.

As all early businesses, the investment capital was very low, not having any financial resources to invest in publicity, adds, campaigns, etc. So that at the beginning, everything was accomplished in a very manual and homely way.

Daily workIn the beginning, in 2008, for about a year

the daily work was fulfilled by Lívia herself, since delivering publicity of her clinic on the street to develop the role of secretary, going through cleaning, tidying, etc.

With the positive progress of the clinic, Lívia was able to hire a person to aid her in some chores, like cleaning and tidying, because she decided to mainly dedicate herself to the costumer service when she noticed a light downfall in the business.

Now, in 2010, Lívia counts on a spectacular team that performs its functions in the best way possible, and that enables Lívia to work just in the rearguard, playing bureaucratic, accounting functions and above all, allows her frequency at the Law school, her big passion.

Since she opened her doors, Lívia has spent more than 3 thousand euros in advocacy services, something that also forwarded her into this career.

Law school for Lívia, translates itself not only as a dream and a passion, but also comes with the need to have another profession other than being a successful businesswoman. With the course, she has become a much more articulate person; more informed about her rights and she has improved her speaking and rhetoric skills; essential qualities for a businesswoman who deals with the public.

In two years of functioning, only now, has the company started to generate considerable profit, managing to stand alone, paying her eight employee’s salaries, including Lívia’s own salary. And that has introduced her to a much better life style then when she worked for others.

Problem solving and challengesOver those two years, her biggest difficulty has been with the partnership. Because with the departure of her company partner, Lívia had to buy the part placed for sale since she didn’t want to join a new society. The clinic is solely maintained and coordinated by Lívia, although her employees are her main strength and a big support. Many times the own doctors have helped her in areas that weren’t their responsibility, like for example, areas related to painting, carpentry, improvement, etc.

Job and family

It is very complicated for Lívia to reconcile work and family. With her husband living abroad in Belgium it becomes extremely difficult for her to spend some time with her family, being that every time she does so, the company is left with someone else in charge, which is something Lívia prefers to avoid.To relax from the stress of work, Lívia enjoys taking care of herself, namely, with beauty and esthetic treatments, taking short trips many times on weekends. And for the first time in two years, Lívia is preparing for a trip to Brazil, where she’s planning to stay for 45 days.

Plans for the FutureFor the future, Lívia firstly, wants to finish her Law course and only later, when her clinic is fully structured and with all its financing settled, does she intend on expanding her business and opening a second clinic in another location. Lívia admits that during that journey of two years she has learned many lessons. “I wouldn’t open a second clinic, like I opened my first one with all its space assembled, because it limited me a lot, once that with the clinic all ready, I didn’t have opportunity to place the furniture, prepare the space and decorate it like I wished.”Her plan is that in about 2 years, she’ll be able to open a branch of the Venha Sorrir Clinic.

The advantages and disadvantages for a woman to be the owner of the company

“In my case, I only had advantages. The fact that I am

owner of my own business gives me an autonomy and

independence more than any other job offered me.”

Questioned about the prejudice of being an immigrant, Lívia says that “the prejudice for being

Brazilian is much smaller now. I have a certain posture which

leaves no room for people to have a problem with me.” Lívia tries

not to show that she’s the owner of her own clinic, for her clients

she is just another employee.

Lívia still leaves a message of support to all the women that want to open and run their own business: “don’t give up on your dreams, everything

comes with effort and dedication, so the secret is not to give up!”