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Fonte: Folha Do Povo
Link: iGUi lança Universidade em Cedral para atender 800 franqueados
Twenty-four years ago when Luis Felipe de Souza Sisson, at the time in his early twenties, founded Igui, he was obviously thinking of growing with the company. But he never imagined – and himself confesses – Igui, which in the Tupi-Guarani language means water, would today be the world’s largest manufacturer of fiberglass-reinforced polyester (PRFV) pools, with 40 factories and 800 franchises present. in 52 countries on five continents of the planet.
Receiving the award for “The Best Franchises in Brazil”, in 2009 and 2010, organized by the magazine “Small Companies & Big Business”, by Editora Globo, and in 2016, as winner of the best franchising category by ABF (Brazilian Association of Franchising), Felipe Sisson, stated that the “big key” to success is called people. “We invested in people because without them there would be no Igui and without Igui there would be no pools”.
The company was founded in 1995, in Gravataí, in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre (RS). Five years later, he arrived in Cedral, in the São José do Rio Preto region. The businessman Antonio Pinhatari, the popular Toninho, who for almost 10 years ran the company Água Azul, which was synonymous with swimming in the region, joined the businessman Felipe Sisson. “Before we bought a pool there in Rio Grande do Sul to sell here in our region and because of the distance we decided to set up in Cedral the first pool factory outside the gaucho pole,” recalls Toninho.
Business was expanding. New partners and partners joined Igui. In addition to swimming pools, the group started to produce filtration equipment, leisure area accessories and pool water maintenance chemicals. Only in Cedral today are three separate factories and is also the central office of all units. And the Igui University has just been inaugurated, available through the Distance Education platform (EAD) and able to train about 5,000 people a year.
In 2005 Igui began its expansion into Latin America, opening its first store and factory in Alvear, Argentina. In a short time the successful investment in Argentina has made it the leading company in that country’s pool market. Today there are more than 5,000 people around the world, in more than 50 countries, doing their best to produce and make dreams come true.
iGUi University
The Igui University, inaugurated on the 16th, will benefit the franchisor’s entire public, currently consisting of 5,000 people, including franchisees and their teams, employees of the franchisor, distributed in more than 800 units in Brazil and abroad. Everyone will have free access to all knowledge related not only to the Igui universe, but also to Tratabem – a franchise specializing in the treatment, technical assistance, maintenance and sale of products and accessories for all types and models of swimming pools – as well as various topics. important for personal and professional development, such as people management, financial market, behavior, among others.
In video class format, all courses at Igui University are free and follow the EAD guidelines. The platform can be accessed wherever and whenever the user wants, either by computer, tablet or mobile phone, on Android and IOS systems.
Initially, 20 courses will be offered, each with five modules per subject, such as: Chemistry, Electrical, Hydraulics, Social Networks, Finance and People Management. There will be content that involves everything related to excellence in service, how to work with social media, how to control finances, productivity, how to make a business plan, among others. The platform, still in the testing phase, will also have short videos with practical tips and clarifying doubts of the franchise operations.
Igui University will expand the scope of face-to-face training offered by the franchisor – which remains mandatory for franchisees that join the network – benefiting all employees. Everyone who completes the courses will receive certificates.
Top of mind
With more than 40 factories strategically installed in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, Portugal and the United States, Igui competes in the largest and most developed world markets such as Europe and North America.
The network is Top Of Mind, according to Data Folha, with over 1 million hits on the Internet and owns 89% of pool searches, according to Google Brazil. Top Of Mind is an English term used in the field of business marketing as a way to qualify the brands that are most popular in people’s minds.
