“We closed Arena Roja website. It was a very difficult decision, but it is the most responsible thing we can do now,” Erika Romero, an entrepreneur from Barcelona, Spain, said in a video posted to TikTok, the social network that put her jewelry business in the spotlight. with more than 350,000 subscribers to date. Although the project began six years ago, it was only last April that it reached its peak after many obstacles. Then, due to high demand and unable to provide good service, she decided to shut down her brand’s website for four days.
She is not the only one experiencing this. Social networks, and more particularly TikTok, have become a wonderful showcase allowing small entrepreneurs to exhibit their products and projects. Jordi San Ildefonso, marketing strategist at Metricool, a company that manages and analyzes social networks, explained the power of this platform in commerce: “It is the social network of discovery. The algorithm quickly learns what you like, and even if you don’t follow that account, you’ll see their videos all the time. If you like what you see, stay longer. We live in a time where we don’t mind seeing advertisementsor a brand tells us about its products, because they do it in such an original, fun and quick way that we don’t have the impression that they are wasting our time.
One of the first to notice the TikTok effect was Andrea Garte, owner of the brand. My Aglet, specializing in the sale of shoes since 2021. Everything in its business revolves around social networks. Before even getting into the business, she posted a photo of herself wearing shoes from her friend Lucas’ store on her Instagram account; after seeing it, a company bought all the shares of its now partner. It was then that she decided to enter the world of entrepreneurship herself. “One day I decided to start taking my business more seriously and uploaded videos to TikTok and Instagram showing what happened behind the scenes, how we handled it, how we packaged. It was an explosion,” Garte explained to EL PAÍS. It was there that she discovered the power of social networks: “I went from three orders, which for me was already a good day of sales, to almost by 200 overnight.”
The key to its success lies in proximity to its subscribers. “It is essential that people get involved in the project and feel part of it. There are many stores that sell shoes, and being just one more would have been a failure. We wanted to be different and we succeeded. The same thing happens to Romero, who publishes on social networks every detail of his Arena Roja jewelry: “When I see that everyone is doing something, I do the opposite. If you are like the others, you will achieve nothing.
Creativity is essential to stand out, both commercially and on social media. Over a year ago, Paula Rodríguez founded Carmelo Cotton, an upcycling-based company that transforms second-hand clothing. “We go to the distributors to select the clothes one by one; this way we ensure that we will all be able to use them. We wash, prepare, classify the clothes… and depending on the use, we cut them to make new products,” she explains. Last April, Carmelo Cotton took off, reaching a demand that it could not meet. not answer at first: “We had to hire more people and increase production. It was a very busy few months and that helped us, but a lot of people got angry with us because we didn’t have enough clothes on the site. Everything sold out in three minutes. With their one-of-a-kind clothing, they receive over 300 orders per month.
The power of TikTok
Karla Fortea combined her two passions, craftsmanship and design, to create delicious jewelry. Her business is based on the handmade earrings she creates: wooden flowers, hearts, clouds… Anything goes for this entrepreneur. After starting her business in 2021, one of the collections she designed for Halloween gave her visibility and followers: “It was a before and an after,” she says. Like Carmelo Cotton, Yummy Jewels relies on the stock it manufactures and does not work on demand. “You just can’t keep up, it’s better to only sell what you have. There were times when too many orders piled up and I had to put a notice on the site explaining that if you bought something it would take a little longer to arrive. Thanks to her latest collection, she sold more than 200 units last month; she now plans to expand the team. “Until now, I asked my loved ones for help… But now I need a second person.”
Another success story is that of Prado Rodríguez and Marta Durán, who founded Más 1 three years ago, a handbag company that started as a project for the Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation degree they were both studying. “We decided it was a good idea to make bags from alternative materials, like steel. We made a very basic prototype, but it caught on,” Durán said. Their turning point came in November 2022 when they decided to open a TikTok account. “We post videos of things gone wrong. This is not common for a brand that usually only shows the good side. You can now even create a video about the negatives to engage users. Instagram is like a catalog, but what really matters is the reality of the process,” Rodríguez explained.
Spanish entrepreneurs already had a clientele before becoming fully involved in Tic Tac, but the platform helped them gain international visibility. “In February we sold more in the rest of the world than in Spain. That’s the power of TikTok, you reach an audience that you couldn’t reach otherwise,” Durán emphasized. They take an hour to make each bag in their workshop, so high demand does not allow them to respect pre-established schedules.
The power of TikTok has brought great benefits to all of these brands, but it has also given them some difficult months. “These have been the best and worst months of my life. At first it was difficult to deal with because we were not prepared for what was to come. We woke up at 6 a.m. and left the office at midnight,” Garte said. Her company currently receives an average of 70 orders per day, but she expects that figure to increase further this summer.
Making the decision to close Arena Roja for a few days was not easy for Romero. “We had to do it because we weren’t going to make it; we are still not there. Several friends help us. I struggled to think that I had made a mistake, or that I should have called more people to be able to get everything done. I didn’t know this could happen,” she lamented. In the last month alone, Arena Roja has sold over 1,300 products.
With very favorable future prospects, everyone is now thinking about new business ideas, or even increasing their workforce: My Agleet wants to expand into products other than shoes, Arena Roja has just launched lines of bags and jewelry in money, Carmelo Cotton is looking to scale up and create its own clothing, Yummy Jewels plans to hire more staff, and Más 1 hopes to attract more international customers. They are entrepreneurs who rely on social networks as a means of growth and who, thanks to the combination of their efforts and the TikTok algorithm, are today living their dreams.
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