3 Tips Americans Should Know Before Doing Business In Brazil

Alright, haven’t posted for awhile. Been working and crazy busy. But after a few business dinners, chatting about random stuff, football being the most popular subject, I’ve noticed 3 things I want to share about conducting business in Brazil, or at least in Sao Paulo.

1. It’s the Brazil Way, not the American Way!

We all know Brazil is an emerging country, however business leaders here get the attitude from Americans that they can come into town, set up shop, and do things as they go. In reality, this doesn’t work out. You really have to spend time to truly grasp the business models, ethics, and practices that are already in existence in Brazil. And it is in many ways different than back home in the US.

2. Develop relationships!

Brazilians want to get to know you as a person before they consider doing business. Why? Simple, they want to know who they’re working with. Imagine getting married to someone you just met, you have no idea who they are, and now you’re stuck with them. Success really depends on your ability to develop and sustain relationships with your business partners; and these relationships carry beyond the office. Brazilians are very social, once Friday comes around, instead of going home and most likely getting stuck in traffic, feel free to go straight to a bar to relax and catch chat with your co-workers or business partners. This is a great way to build trust and meaningful collaboration.

3. The emerging C-class!

Brazil is an extremely diverse nation. But the social structure in Brazil is much different than the US, people are mostly categorized into 5 different economic classes: A, B, C, D, and E (the A-Class being the wealthiest and the E-Class being the poorest). The middle C-class is the primary reason for Brazil’s emerging economic growth. This large part of the population is now emerging as a large demographic purchasing power. Affecting many areas of Brazil’s economy, in industries such as retail, banking, housing, and the increase of small/medium businesses.

Just tips on what I learned on doing business here! 

What is BRIC?

No, it’s not a typo for construction-building materials…that would be brick.

BRIC is an acronym for the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. According to Investopedia.com, Goldman Sachs first used the term BRIC in a report from 2003, stating that these four emerging countries will have wealthier economies than most of the current major economic powers by 2050.

When using the term BRIC, please be aware of that BRIC is used as a collective description to describe the four economies, not each individual nation. China’s economy is manufactured-based and India has moved up the economic ladder to be more of a services/IT-based economy. While both Brazil and Russia are dominant as suppliers of natural resources and raw materials. I believe nowadays, when businesses refer to BRIC, it’s now used as a more generic marketing term, especially discussing foreign expansion opportunities.