Example: a small print shop in Londrina, in the state of Paraná, gets an invitation from the city's business association (the local chamber of commerce) to a business round the following week. The owner has never been to one, does not know whether it costs anything, who will be there or what to bring, and almost leaves the email for later. If you are in that position, this guide walks you through the whole path, from signing up to the message you send the next day. So you do not skip a step, open the business round preparation checklist and tick items off as you read.
Understand the two formats you will come across
Before you sign up, it helps to know what is on the other side of the invitation. In a business round, companies say in advance what they sell and what they are looking for, and the organizer, or the platform, pairs up businesses that may be of interest to each other for short conversations. You do not go knocking on doors: the conversations are set up for you. The complete guide to how a business round works explains where the format came from and how it runs. Here, the focus is on what you, as a small company, do at each stage.
When you are starting out, invitations usually come in two formats.
In-person round run by an organization
Sebrae (Brazil's small business support agency), business associations, state industry federations, employers' unions and city governments hold rounds in an event hall, often alongside a trade fair or an industry event. Each one has a defined audience, which can be a sector, a region or a company size. In some, a large company (known as the anchor) meets local suppliers to learn what they offer. You go to the venue, sit at the assigned place and the conversations follow a timetable kept by the organizer.
Online round on the platform
On RodadaDeNegocios.org, the round takes place by video call inside the platform itself. Each conversation is one to one, with a fixed length, and the room switches on its own when time is up: nobody has to send a link. Open rounds accept companies from any city in Brazil. There is no advance schedule: at the set time, the platform forms the pairs live, among the companies that are present, by matching what one offers with what the other is looking for, with no repeated conversations.
| Point | In-person, run by an organization | Online, on the platform |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | In an event hall, on a set date and in a set city | By video call, wherever you are |
| Who you meet | Usually companies from the region or sector the project targets | Companies from any city in Brazil |
| What you spend | Travel and hours away from the business, plus the fee when there is one | Time in your calendar and a stable connection |
| How contacts are exchanged | Business cards, conversation and material on the table | Only when both sides mark interest |
Both formats work. If you want to see the variations (sector, multi-sector, anchor company, international), read about the types of business rounds.
Where to sign up
In-person rounds are announced on the websites and social media of the organizations, in the newsletter of your city's business association, on the events calendar of Sebrae in your state and in the program of the trade fairs in your sector. Registration is usually a form with a closing date, because many of them put the schedule together before the event. If you miss the deadline, you are generally left out even if you show up on the day. The guide on where to find business rounds lists the places worth keeping an eye on.
For an online round, the path is this:
- Open the round calendar and pick one that matches what you sell.
- Create your account and, when you register for your first round, enter your company's CNPJ (the Brazilian company registration number) to use the free round.
- Fill in your profile: what you offer and what you are looking for.
- Confirm your registration and block the time in your calendar.
In both cases, read the rules or the event page before you confirm. That is where you find the expected audience, the full schedule and what the organizer asks of you.
Who can take part
A business round is a meeting between companies. Almost all of them ask for a CNPJ, and many check that it is active. Before you sign up, look up your company's CNPJ and make sure the registration status and the registered activity are in order. A problem discovered the day before can cost you your place.
Besides the CNPJ, some in-person rounds have a narrower focus: members only, a single sector, a single company size or only businesses from one municipality. Others make it clear who is buying and who is selling, as in rounds with an anchor company. Read that focus carefully. Joining a round where nobody is looking for what you offer wastes your day and everyone else's.
Who from the company should go
Send someone who knows the product and can agree on a next step without checking with anyone: the owner, a partner or a salesperson with authority to decide. Someone who goes only to collect contacts and pass them on misses the best part of the conversation, which is leaving it with something scheduled.
What it costs
Registration fees vary a lot. Some in-person rounds are free, often as part of programs run by organizations, and others are paid, tied to trade fairs or private events. Check the event page, because the invitation does not always say.
For an in-person round, the fee is rarely the biggest cost. Add up travel, meals, a hotel when the round is in another city and, above all, the hours when you are not serving customers or running the business.
Online, the cost comes down to time in your calendar and a stable connection. On RodadaDeNegocios.org, your company's first round is on us: all you need is an active CNPJ, once per CNPJ. After that, participation continues through the plans.
How to prepare
Preparation is what separates an afternoon of loose chats from an afternoon with next steps scheduled. It takes a few hours, spread over the days before the round. The guide on how to prepare for a business round goes deeper into each item. Below is the minimum for a first timer.
Write your profile carefully
Your profile is what the organizer, or the platform in an online round, uses to decide who you will talk to. Be specific: "custom cardboard packaging for small food manufacturers" says much more than "packaging solutions". In the field for what you are looking for, describe the kind of customer, partner or supplier that would make a difference right now.
Prepare your short introduction
Each conversation is short, and the first impression forms in the first moments. Have an introduction ready that says who you serve, what problem you solve and why someone would choose your company. The pitch generator builds a 60-second version and a 30-second version, plus a question to open the conversation. To polish the text, use the template in the 60-second sales pitch guide.
Prepare your questions
If the round is in person and the organizer sends the schedule ahead, look up each company. The platform's online round has no advance list: when each conversation opens, the screen shows the person's name, the company, what it does, what it is looking for and why it was suggested. Read that card first and open from there. Either way, have two or three questions ready that work for any buyer. A good question gets the other side talking about their problem. Deeper research comes later, with those who marked interest.
Keep your material at hand
In person, bring business cards, a short catalog and, if it makes sense, a sample. Online, keep a file open with photos, reference prices or a portfolio you can show on screen or send afterwards.
The day of the round
Arrive before your first time slot. Being late means losing a conversation: in person, everyone else's sequence does not wait; online, the pairs are formed among the people already present.
In person
Check in early, find your place and confirm the order of your conversations. When each conversation starts, introduce yourself, listen more than you talk and, before you get up, agree on what happens next: a visit, a proposal, a quote. Write it on the back of the business card or on your phone, right then.
Online
Test your camera, microphone and internet ahead of time, ideally in a quiet place with good light. To see the screens before the day, open the business round simulator: in less than a minute, with no camera and no sign-up, it takes you through the preparation room, the automatic switch between conversations and the interest button. At the scheduled time, log in to the platform and let it lead: the room switches by itself at the end of each conversation. When each one ends, mark whether there was interest. Contact details are only shared when both sides mark it.
Whatever the format, stay until the end. The last conversations are worth as much as the first ones, and leaving early keeps someone waiting on the other side.
After the round
The round opens the conversation. The deal, when it comes, happens in the following weeks. On the same day, sort your contacts into three groups: those who asked for a proposal, those who may buy later and those who are not a fit right now. For each one in the first group, send a short message recalling what you agreed, on the same day or the next.
The guide to following up after a business meeting shows what to write and when to try again. So nobody slips through the cracks, add each contact to the follow-up planner, with the next step and the date.
Then look back: which conversations paid off and whether your profile drew the right companies.
Where to start
If this is your first time, do not wait for the perfect invitation. Check your CNPJ, write your profile, prepare your pitch and choose a round that matches what you sell. The day before, go over the checklist and, if the round is online, run through the screens in the simulator.
Your company's first online business round is on us: all you need is an active Brazilian CNPJ, once per CNPJ, and contact details are only shared when both sides mark interest. See the upcoming business rounds and choose the one that matches what your company sells.