Are you going to open a company? New tool uses artificial intelligence to indicate the best locations

Free platform from Google and Sebrae shows where there are more chances of success
Google Cloud
What is behind the failure of a business? The answer is not always simple, but, in many cases, it starts with the address.
Sebrae data shows that problems related to the commercial point and infrastructure were the main cause of closure for 4.2% of companies that closed their activities.
The number, however, can be even higher when the problem is not directly identified as a location error and appears indirectly, for example, in the lack of customers, low revenue or difficulty in growing.
In partnership with Google Cloud, Sebrae-SP launched this Wednesday (10) the Alvo Certo platform, which aims to transform a choice historically based on intuition into a decision based on data.
In practice, the tool works as a digital consultant. It crosses information about the population profile, movement of people, presence of competitors and consumption trends to indicate regions with more potential and warn about risks when opening or expanding a business.
Initially, the tool is only available to entrepreneurs in the state of São Paulo. According to Sebrae, the creation of the tool did not only arise from a technological innovation, but also from a recurring problem identified in serving entrepreneurs.
"With a bad location, the chance of it not working is greater (...) We receive this a lot: 'I want to open a pet shop, what's the best neighborhood?'", summarizes the superintendent director of Sebrae-SP, Nelson Hervey.
Entrepreneur's guide: Fewer options, more profits
According to him, the doubt about location appears frequently both among those who are about to open their first business and among entrepreneurs who want to expand.
"When you put together a business plan, you think about price, cost and market potential. But then comes the question: where to open the establishment?", he says.
Historically, answering this question required time-consuming work: crossing public information, analyzing the competition, making in-person visits and, often, resorting to trial and error.
How the platform works
After logging into the Sebrae platform, the entrepreneur informs the type of business and can:
insert a specific address
explore regions directly on the map
search for areas with greater market potential
Based on this information, the platform presents a real-time analysis based on three main pillars:
Opportunity radar: indicates where there is greater potential for a certain type of business
Competition: shows the level of saturation and the presence of similar companies
Poles of attraction: considers the flow of people and proximity to strategic points (subway, hospitals, shops, etc.)
According to João Thiago Poço, director of Google Cloud for the public sector in Latin America, the tool is only possible thanks to the crossing of different databases.
"We can cross-reference data from IBGE, Federal Revenue, municipal registries and other sources to generate information about the market", he explains.
In addition, there is an important difference: the use of information updated almost in real time. "We don't wait for the CNPJ base to be updated. We use data from Google Maps, including feedback from users who indicate that the location no longer exists", he says.
The tool also uses Google's Gemini artificial intelligence model, but with a different proposal than traditional assistants. Instead of just answering, the AI also asks the entrepreneur questions about points that are often ignored at the beginning of planning.
"The entrepreneur needs someone to ask the difficult questions", says Poço.
In practice, the system can raise questions such as: what is the mortality rate of the sector in that region, if there is still room for new competitors and what can differentiate the business.
This dynamic transforms the platform into more than a data panel. It helps the entrepreneur to make decisions.
AI from Google Cloud and Sebrae-SP also provokes the entrepreneur with strategic questions, often ignored
Google Cloud
What it solves and what it doesn't solve
Despite the intensive use of data and artificial intelligence, those responsible for the project reinforce that the tool does not replace the entrepreneur's assessment. The success of a business depends on a combination of factors, such as management, strategy, capital and product. Furthermore, the data presented by the platform needs to be interpreted and not followed automatically.
A region with many competitors can indicate saturation or represent an opportunity, depending on the business's differential. Likewise, a location with a drop in activity can signal risk or reflect a recent change that is still ongoing.
"It's an analysis tool. It puts the data in the hands of the entrepreneur", summarizes the director of Google Cloud.
For Poço and Hervey, the main benefit of Alvo Certo is reducing the time needed to choose where to invest.
"It would take a person months to gather this information. We can deliver it in a minute", says Poço.
In addition to speeding up the process, the tool helps to avoid unproductive steps, such as visits to regions with little viability or negotiations in inappropriate locations.
Connection with other services
Another important point is that the platform was developed to receive new functionalities over time.
Sebrae intends to integrate other services into the platform over time, such as:
credit guidance
training by sector
digital sales strategies
market access
"It can become a large center for solutions for the entrepreneur", says Hervey. "There is great interest in taking the tool throughout Brazil."
According to Google Cloud, the technology can now be used across the country, which indicates that expansion will depend more on strategic decisions than technical limitations.
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Source: G1