Stephen Wolf it’s a sme entrepreneur. Grandson of immigrant grandparents and with a life story that inspires others not to give up, to Follow your dreams and bet on the Argentinadespite the economic adversities that the country is going through.
Esteban’s life has been a constant struggle. Raised in a family of middle class with some economic difficulties had to face a hard reality from very young. At the age of 15, when his father was arrested, Wolf was forced to start working To support his family.
Esteban founded several companies throughout his life. Today he is a partner in a company ice creams that has a presence has a presence in more than 300 points of sale distributed in ArgentinaChile and Uruguay and is under development in Brazil and Colombia.
— How did the path of entrepreneurship begin?
— Life itself pushed me down that path. I am an entrepreneur. I formed several companies in Argentina, I come from a middle-class family with many economic problems. At the age of 15 I saw myself in the obligation to support my family. At the age of 12, my father was imprisoned for the first time.at 15 for the second time, and at 18 for the third time, and there he was imprisoned for many, many years.
What are the changes that the Government implemented in the import regime?
That is why at the age of 15 I was forced to work, to support the family with my older brother. Since then I have been working every day. I never received a bonus or a salaryI was always an entrepreneur, life itself pushed me down that path.
— What is it like to be an entrepreneur in Argentina?
“It’s an arduous task. It is more difficult than starting a business in any country in the world, that’s for sure. In Argentina you have all the problems that can exist in any country, that all present some kind of crisis, but in Argentina what we do is promote them, exalt themin addition to putting obstacles to the entrepreneur and the SME businessman who wants to create a company and get ahead”.
– What obstacles do you mean?
“It’s not a political issue. It is one more topic economic policy He doesn’t think long term. In other words, governments are obliged to project their proposals into the future and not to want to win the elections, and our politicians are determined to want to win the elections instead of planning a different country in the long term. For this reason, we continue in a wheel of failures”.
Argentina’s problem is not imports, because they are low in terms of GDP
“To mention one of the obstacles: legal insecurity and labor lawsuits that an entrepreneur has. Today an employee works three months and makes you a judgment that can melt the company How much did it cost you to get up in three minutes? The countries with the lowest unemployment rate in the world have flexible recruitment policies and dismissal”.
— How was your company born?
It was born with a traditional idea of putting ice cream parlors locally. It is founded by a friend of mine who summons me to develop it. I tell him that I am going to enter the company with the concept of exporting. The model was to try to install in Argentina what I hear from politicians: “that the country gets ahead with a positive trade balance. And I was infatuated.
We brought a plant Last generation trained to export and we began to develop the business abroad. Today we export to Chile, Uruguay, Peru and soon to Brazil and Colombia.
— Problems with imports?
Yes, in order to produce more we need equipment that is not manufactured in Argentina. I have presented one SIRA It hasn’t come out for more than 150 days. In other words, to a company thatThe exporter does not authorize the importa company that generates foreign exchange.
What some media say that the Government is authorizing the SIRA normally it isn’t true. And what is not understood is the assessment made by the Government on imports. I want to bring a machine to generate more volumemore exports and the government stops it.
— What are the bottlenecks for SMEs?
Today the most serious thing is instability, inflation and with the rise in prices, the costs that you have dollarized to blue dollars, not to the official one. This generates loss of profitability. Everyone takes advantage of the inflationary wheel and what it does is increase primary costs. There is an inflation in the street that is 100%but inflation in wholesale prices is much higher.
The despair of SME entrepreneurs due to obstacles to imports
So this is generating a loss of profitability because it is unfeasible to transfer that price increase.
— What drives you to continue betting on Argentina?
Argentina is my country. I want to stay here. I want my children to grow up here, as well as my grandchildren. I instill that in them every day and I strive daily for that to happen. I always tell all entrepreneurs that one has to develop his company in an Argentina that is hostile, but you have to raise your venture regardless of the economic policies of the day.
The secret plot of complaints for bribes on imports: anger, denials and suspicions
SMEs open the blinds every morning with our hearts in our hands, betting hard on our beloved country. We create and innovate day after day, with the firm intention of continuing to grow. We are 95% of the Argentine economy and we are proud of it.
“¡We generate more than 65 percent of the jobs in our country! But unfortunately, we suffer every day together with our beloved Argentina. Yet we keep fighting with all our passion and commitment to move our companies forward and contribute to the development of the country that we love so much.” he said, concluded Esteban very excited.
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