More Quick Bites: All-New Nuggets of Wisdom to Power Your Mind and Increase Your Chances of Success as an Entrepreneur
Hi, friends! 👋👋🏼👋🏾 Since so many of you seem to enjoy getting brief bits of top business advice, we have a brand-new roundup of some of the best tips from our network of inspiring entrepreneurs.
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EDDY PRADO – CO-FOUNDER AND CMO OF FASTMIND
STARTING OUT:
“Don’t overthink and start small.”
JORGE PRADO – CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF FASTMIND
HOW TO LEAD:
“If you do not believe – if you hesitated and you have plan B, C… your people won’t believe, as well. When they see your conviction, they will follow you and they will be as secure as you.”
CAMILO BELTRAN – CEO AND FOUNDER OF VIDA JETS
LEARN EVERY SINGLE DAY BY TAKING ACTION:
"Every day, you have to work towards something, towards a little goal that you have. And those little wins are the ones that will build you and make sure that you… take action again.”
RETIRED LT. COL. GABRIEL RUIZ – FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF ADVANCED IT CONCEPTS, INC.
WHY YOU CAN'T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK UP AND PROPOSE IDEAS:
If you’re a subcontractor, Retired Lt. Col. Gabriel Ruiz says, “Never be afraid to talk to the large company… contractors.”
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE: Ruiz recalls going back to a large defense contractor and saying, “Hey, we cannot wait a month to get paid.” The large contractor restructured the contract so that Ruiz’s company would get paid biweekly. Ruiz says that action “significantly reduced the stress of having to make payroll, as opposed to waiting a month and then getting paid a month later.”
ALEXANDRA ESTEVE – CEO AND FOUNDER OF CARBUCKETS
THE BEST WAY TO GET SOMEONE TO OPEN AN EMAIL:
Alexandra Esteve says she was in the Endeavors Scale Up program and heard a presentation about effective cold email subject lines that made an impact on her:
“So, basically, you mention in the subject line [to the executive you’re addressing the email to]… Your investment in X company and Y company. Because, automatically, they’re going to be interested. They have their money invested in that company… Chances are, they’re going to open up that email…”
Final words of advice Esteve encourages you to remember when writing that email: “It’s not about you. It’s about them.”
MARNIE FORESTIERI – FOUNDER AND CEO OF YOUNG INNOVATORS AND FOUNDER OF HOPSCOTCH
THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WHEN IT’S TIME TO CALL IT A DAY:
“Not every venture will work the way you set it up. You just have to be smart enough to walk away from the bad ideas.”
CARLOS GAZITUA – CEO OF SERGIO’S RESTAURANTS
HOW TO INCREASE PROFIT:
“You have to be really efficient. You have to know your costs. You have to know how to get volume purchasing…How do I, through a coalition with other brands, purchase products to get [them] cheaper?"
The other suggestion Gazitua hopes you remember is this: “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength.”
U.S. MARINE CORPS VETERAN OMAR FUENTES – FOUNDER AND CEO OF accelEQ
BEST KEPT SECRET TO BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR?
“The best kept secret is be as resourceful as you can….[you have] it within [you] to accomplish this. So, you just gotta figure out a way. There is no map. There is no plan, there is no secret sauce. Everybody has a different path, a different journey.”
MAXEME “MAX” TUCHMAN – CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF CARIBU
WHY YOU BETTER LOVE TO LEARN:
“The ability to absorb a lot of information from a lot of different fields is a must if you’re going to be an entrepreneur.”
Maxeme Tuchman warns that, if you have only one skill set, “That’s going to be very difficult. Because, every day, we wake up and we don’t know what we’re going to do that day. So that’s kind of a key thing.”
(Note: This advice is coming from someone who earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Management, as well as a Master’s degree in Public Policy – Education, both from Harvard University.)
SANDRA PINEDA – PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS
WHAT THEY DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
“Business comes in cycles. Even the biggest business that I’ve seen can be doing very, very well. But everything changes. Technology changes. Time changes. You know, who was ever going to think that Blockbuster was going to go out of business ever?”
DOUG CARRILLO – CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER OF BITSTOP.CO
WHY YOU NEED TO LOSE THE FEAR AND KEEP GENERATING IDEAS:
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Go do it. Yes, sometimes you may lose money. You may lose your time. But if you learn, it was worth it. Because you apply all those things to your next entrepreneurial idea you have. Not every idea you have is going to be successful. Not every idea is going to make a business. You can’t be scared of that.”
CARMEN CASTILLO – FOUNDER AND CEO OF SDI INTERNATIONAL
WHAT MAKES A CEO A CEO?
“You have to be very spontaneous many times.” Carmen Castillo says that, and being able to sell your vision, are “two things you can never delegate. That’s what makes a CEO a CEO.”
ALVARO SABIDO – CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER OF CARIBU
WHY YOU MUST TEST MARKET YOUR IDEA FIRST:
“Very, very often for technical founders, they build something that they think is cool.” Sabido says they’ll “spend months doing it and then, you know, it’s just not what the market wants. Not what the users want.”
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