LN – The boom in the free professional services network

With the pandemic and forced confinement, four professionals united their desire to generate a solidarity and collective initiative that got along well with the

virtuality

. After a round of consultations, which included a survey of 300 people, Agustina Recalde, Paz Porres, Valeria Viva and Victoria Corti set out to respond to a need specific to these times: that of incorporating new knowledge, either to go through quarantine or good to reconvert to work level.

So it was born

Sixty

: a fully knowledge-sharing network

free

It offers virtual one-hour meetings in which a specialist in a certain subject transmits his knowledge to someone who needs it. Its launch happened two and a half weeks ago. From then on, the number of subscribers interested in offering or receiving advice of some kind grew organically and at a sustained rate. As of today, they already have

more than 400 registered and more than 300 virtual meetings were held

.

“It is a network of knowledge in which everything that fits in one hour can be exchanged. From punctual advice for an undertaking, to psychological containment or spiritual accompaniment, so necessary in this time of quarantine. There is also space for other types of knowledge: We have people who offer painting and even cooking classes, “explains Paz Porres, one of the creators of Sesenta.

When entering the website, the network has a section called “I offer services” which details all the advice available.

The panorama is varied: from accounting issues, to psychological support, to cooking and watercolor

. Also, in another, called “I need services”, there are the needs, also varied: from real estate consulting, logo design request and even interested in Astrology. Those who join must only register and can do so in one or both sections.

Juliana Trueba signed up with the intention of selflessly offering her knowledge as an accountant, although she was not quite sure if it would be feasible to do so virtually. “This migration to the virtual is a great change. Although, in my profession, remote work exists, when one hires an accountant it is usual for there to be personal contact. So the challenge was to see what could fit in sixty minutes.

The idea is to solve specific issues

. Today there are many tutorials on the Internet about almost everything, you can even find out how to get a tax code or sign up for the single-tax. But sometimes personal cases don’t fit into those tutorials, “explains Trueba, 51.

After about five meetings through different channels – WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype and even phone calls – Trueba maintains that it is very gratifying to share what you know. “It is frequent to perceive, especially among the professionals of my generation, a certain suspicion of sharing information. I did not feel it at all in these cases. Quite the contrary. I perceive a great need for

be in contact with others

. To give and also to receive, “reflects this professional who, over the days, discovered that she also wanted to learn.

“This time of quarantine, of virtuality, which will surely mark a before and after in what we have been doing, puts me in front of a change. It seemed to me that the gaze of a person from outside, who can understand why the exercise my profession is different from what it was ten years ago, it could be

very enriching

. So I took coaching sessions, business analysis and strategy and digitization of professional services. All very positive. They left me slogans that I’m working on, “he adds.

For her part, the designer and publicist Carla Belén offers advice on sales strategy both online and offline. She is also delighted with the experience. “I see a boom of enterprising people, who want to do something on their own, but need free help, advice, because

they don’t have to pay

to a studio. I sincerely hope that this initiative continues after the quarantine, because the country is going to be immersed in a great crisis, and it is going to need a lot of programs like this. Many people feel abandoned, “says Belén, who acknowledges that Sesenta inspired her so much that she also began to provide free advice to entrepreneurs on her own.

“I usually work with SMEs, which already have a more armed structure. But

there are many entrepreneurs who want to do something different and

they don’t know where to start. Being able to guide them, sometimes even providing a less romantic share of what entrepreneurship means these days, when having a business is not easy, “adds Belén, 31, who also met in one of those meetings as adviser, asking for advice. “It was an advice to a painting teacher,” he recalls. And I ended up asking him for advice on a course for me, which I don’t know anything about. It was natural, without looking for it. That is also good. ”