“I was barbecuing with my family and some friends when I got a notification on my phone…”, that’s how Martín Paz, a 35-year-old from Gran Canaria, begins telling us how his relationship with NONNA Artisanal Ice Cream started, a story that drew our interest at MuyPymes. This professional, a Growth and SEO consultant, glanced at a LinkedIn contact who commented on a post that grabbed his attention. “Suddenly, I see a video of a man from Málaga who had just suffered a fire at his factory and who was very worried because he didn’t know how he would be able to save his business.”
It was Enrique Rodríguez Bravo, owner of the Málaga family business, who cried out on LinkedIn last Sunday after seeing his factory, his dreams, and his hopes burn (literally) in the Caríz industrial park. As we told you the other day in this article, the response from users of this professional network was overwhelming: in a short time, hundreds and hundreds of messages offering help, comfort, and ideas from all across Spain.
“The moment I read it I felt a direct connection with him; I could sense his agony and uncertainty. He seemed sincere, credible, and what he felt was real.” With a restless mind and more than 15 years working in SEO, striving to ensure businesses deliver value and be profitable, this Canary Islander didn’t waste a moment deciding that, even though he didn’t know them at all, he was ready to dedicate his time, his knowledge, and his work selflessly.
But, where to start?
On a sunny Sunday barbecuing with his family, more than 1,600 kilometers away from the event, the first step that came to mind was to search for more information about NONNA on their website, trying to figure out if they had an e-commerce site. He realized that, although they had a category of “home deliveries,” this only consisted of a button linking to a WhatsApp chat. “I used it to ask if that channel was available,” and it really was, but in a very local sense, only serviceable for deliveries in the area, not an e-commerce site and certainly with no payment gateway.
The Wee Hours
In those first hours after the LinkedIn post, Enrique’s profile was a hive of ideas of all kinds, but as the saying goes, who would take the lead? The family was emotionally overwhelmed and, as the entrepreneur himself wrote on the network: “we’ve been left in the deepest ruin imaginable.”
Not having personal emotional involvement with them, coupled with his professional background, allowed Martín to think coolly and offer quick, precise solutions: he was going to integrate a payment gateway on their website to manage orders without the need for deliveries. The NONNA family had made it clear from the start that they did not want “charity, but help to keep working.” Selling ice cream in advance, through coupons that could be redeemed within a set period, was undoubtedly the best way to keep cash flow moving in those circumstances. “It’s a method similar to what Groupon uses,” Martín Paz told us, explaining it to the family that same afternoon.
Everyone agreed that it was a fantastic idea, so that very Sunday at 10 p.m. (11 p.m. on the mainland) this Canary Islander left his sleeping daughter and sat down at the computer with all his might, determined not to get up until the project was finished. “I spent almost an hour talking with the developer who built their site; he explained everything and gave me all the support I needed,” Paz recounts. “Then I integrated the payment gateway, adapted the system integration so that it would generate a PDF with their logo and a unique code per purchase with an expiration date, he adds.
The idea was taking shape, as if it were a “small army” spanning between the Canary Islands and Málaga; tasks were being completed and problems resolved. “During the day I had asked the family to open an online Stripe account, since that was the only way the virtual POS could be validated and activated within minutes. It was the fastest method, because neither PayPal-style virtual accounts nor, of course, the banks, would validate an account on Sunday.”
It was crucial to have it up and running as soon as possible because Enrique’s post had emotionally touched many people, but, how long would that momentum last? According to mental health experts like Paul Ekman or Lisa Feldman Barrett, vicarious emotional activations (emotions we feel for what happens to others) can last from minutes to a few days. Therefore, for the project to really work, timing was vital to prevent it from fading away.
(Click here to access NONNA’s ice cream reservations)
When Misfortune Brings Out the Best in People
Several hours later, after setting up a local server, downloading a backup, and confirming implementation ideas with the family, we managed to have the platform up and running; it wasn’t perfect, but it was functional. But Martín faced a new hurdle: the load was too slow because the code had to be optimized. During the night I optimized it by about 60%. The last time we spoke it was 3 or 4 in the morning. By 7 I told them that everything was done.
Now they faced another fear: would the server withstand an initial flood of traffic? And it did. It performed great despite up to 500 concurrent visits and more than 30,000 unique visits in just a couple of days.
By Monday morning, the website and the payment gateway were up and running. They posted a video on Instagram that immediately racked up 400,000 views. “All of Málaga has rallied around them, and so have people from all over Spain.” Entrepreneurs, freelancers, everyday consumers… they achieved sales exceeding half a ton of ice cream in liters on day one (more than 500 one-liter orders). “Logically that curve will dip, but for now it hasn’t stopped.”
The truth is that not even a week has passed, and the NONNA family can already see a glimmer of light thanks to Martín’s work and the hundreds and hundreds of orders from anonymous people who have shown solidarity. “For me, it’s a great personal pride. I’ve worked with big, leading companies, but it’s these smaller things that make you feel the most. They’re even trying to add me to the family’s WhatsApp group!,” jokes Martín.
Another bit of good news is that someone has gifted NONNA a warehouse to restart, and Enrique and his family are now seeking sponsorship for machines. “Considering we have an initial budget for machines ranging from €5,000 to €35,000. The plan is that we connect the sponsor with the distributor; they buy it directly and receive the corresponding invoice for tax deductions. Then they donate it to us altruistically and permanently. In return, we commit to labeling that machine with the sponsor’s ‘brand’ name for life.”
What’s clear is that entrepreneurs are defined by their resilience, but it’s equally vital to surround themselves with people who add value. “What has moved me the most is how many good people are still out there. Sometimes I read the notes customers leave when they place an order, and it gives me chills again,” concludes Martín Paz. If you’d like to contribute, you can place orders here:
(Click here to access NONNA’s ice cream reservations)
