Ines Morales She is an entrepreneur from Soria who participated in one of the round tables of the program CYL-HUB, to talk about their experience and starting a business creating equal opportunity. Morales is the founder and manager of the SME Universe move, dedicated to the organization and management of human resources to teach classes in physical activity and sports.
The event CYL-HUB He has been touring the Castilian-Leonese provinces for months and connecting entrepreneurs, investors, businessmen and the Administration. The common objective is the development of innovation and business in the region, through the dissemination of knowledge and the exchange of opinions. Inés Morales already has experience in this entrepreneurial role and she tells us about it in this interview, where she confesses that, contrary to what usually happens, she did not go to the business but the business went to her.
MuyPymes: How did the business idea for Universo Muévete begin?
Ines Morales: Universe Move now is one thing and at the beginning, another. I started working as a freelancer in 2001 but they held a public contest for physical activities at the Soria City Council and I launched my candidacy. She had just finished her degree and was studying positions, but it was clear to her that she did not want to be a teacher.
That’s where it all started. Three years later we set up the SL (Limited Company) due to obvious requirements to qualify for any public tender. A legal entity always more than a natural person and, until then, I was autonomous. At that time we only and exclusively did sports management for public administrations, the City Council, in this case.
For example, him Soria City Hall I hired us to gather the staff, distribute the classes, offer new classes… I also trained my people so that they could give other different things, spinning, aerobics, Zumba… whatever came out at the moment. Our job was to manage that entire campaign and that’s where I started. knowing absolutely nothing about companies.
Then, once you get involved and see that you have the possibility of having a future, you start to decide what you want. Within all sports management now the business has been evolving. We try to avoid contests and that makes you a little freer. We have private clients and we dedicate ourselves more to leisure and free time, to children’s activities, to themed birthdays…
MuyPymes: How has your business evolved?
Ines Morales: Now we have opened a new, very large location, where we do a lot of things that already depend only on us. Everything is managed by our team and we also organize it for towns, associations or, as I said before, private clients. Many of these things come out because they have been asked, I had not thought about doing them and it turns out that there is a lot of demand, especially things oriented towards the world of children, for example we do sports campuses in the summer and urban campuses.
Regarding the staff, we are 30 workers, of which, four of us are fixed. The business goes a lot by campaigns. Summer is usually very dynamic and we have a lot of variation because they are students to whom we offer their first job.
Everybody works from 4 to 6 pm, Monday to Friday and I always need a lot of people. We also have an activity that we are passionate about and that is the one that I have chosen and that we can now do, although you have to swallow a lot until you can do it. For example, we have opened a clothing store with our own designs. It is one of the things that I was passionate about and that now we can do.
Inside the premises we have the office, the store and then the part of the toy library that is where we celebrate birthdays. and we have taken one escape room, Which is something else I wanted to do. Our idea is to have three lines of business: free time, the store and sports equipment, and escape room.
MuyPymes: How would you define the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Soria?
Ines Morales: The word is ‘exciting’ and that has many nuances. There are mistakes that you cannot make because they are very expensive, for example, if you have a problem in the business it can be catastrophic, because everyone finds out at the same time.
In the end, Soria is a very small, very closed place, where the news spreads like wildfire, for better or for worse. Here you have your world, your people, you know many people and there is a very marked structure and that helps you. Because in the end you have a lot of friends in a lot of places that can help you. The ties are very close and you have to know the ecosystem very well. Being from Soria helps, it’s that easy. It is important to know how to handle yourself, who to talk to, where to go; Besides, not everything goes. Any decision you make, at any level, has an impact on your company, you cannot disassociate.
This does not happen in a big city where, on the one hand, you have your company and your work and, on the other, your personal life. It is exhausting but if you know how to handle it, it is quite beneficial.
MuyPymes: If you could ask for something from the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Castilla y León, what would you ask for?
Ines Morales: Let’s see if emptied Spain really becomes fashionable, to have more resources, here we have many deficiencies thing (health, infrastructure…) because, in the end, everything is related. If the internet does not reach the villages, you do not even consider starting a business. I make the same claim as an entrepreneur as a citizen. We need more momentum.
It is true that it is more difficult to start a business here, just as it is more difficult to get sick or study… And focusing more on the issue of starting a business, the first question you ask yourself in this regard is: can I telework from anywhere here? And the answer is no.
There are areas where the network is very complicated and this is basic. And I speak to you in places 20 minutes from Soria capital, not in a very distant town. For example, I know a friend who is a graphic designer and lives in my region, when he has to download a large file he has to come to Soria.
Lastly, we are concerned with digitization. One of the few good things that the pandemic has had is that, in that sense, We have had to wake up a lot. I also tell you that in my guild, digitalization is not something fundamental, although we did need it, in fact, every day I find out more incredible things.
But since you have already gotten used to a way of working, it is difficult for you to change even though there are tools now that would make my job much easier. In fact, we are working with a company from Soria for the whole issue of the Digital Kit, since we have requested the bonus to finish the website, which was half finished, and give a boost to the clothing store.
