What advice would an executive that has helped take his business to over $15 million in sales give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
A beginner's mindset is good even for veteran leaders. Comment at the end of the post with your greatest takeaway.
What follows is an interview with one such executive, Juan Roque, VP of Vista Color. Some of his answers might surprise you. How would you have answered?
What's the first piece of advice you would give to the next generation of entrepreneur?
Longevity has it’s place, as Martin Luther King said. The first thing I would do is find a business that has repetition to it. That when you are able to set it up, at some point it doesn’t depend on you all the time in order to make money. For example, if you’re a lawyer or a doctor, if you’re not seeing clients or patients, you’re not making money… unless you structure your business differently where you have people working for you, you’ll be a slave to your profession always. Of course, you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and get your fingernails dirty. It isn’t easy to get significant contracts like that.
You also want to build a strong team where you can delegate a lot of the small things. Anything that I can, I delegate to others who can do things better than me so I can stay where I’m good.
What was it like at the beginning? How did you break through?
"The first box is the most important.” Vista Color makes hundreds of different types of custom boxes today. But before we had a wall full of samples to show our customers all the different projects we have completed over the years, there was the very first one.
You have to hold your cards close to your chest. It’s a fine line. If you use deceit and they see you as dishonest (which it’s rightly so), then you won’t get the business. If you reveal too many weaknesses on the front end, the customer won’t trust you with their business.
When you only have one box to show, you don’t have a track record. Lack of experience in the market is perceived as a weakness. Nobody wants to be the first to take a risk with their money, no matter how qualified you are to take on the project. But if you play your cards right, if they’re holding your box in their hand, they’re holding the proof. You’re a box expert. Now let’s talk about what kind of kind of box fits the customer’s need.
Once you collect a few customers and have good testimonials, you’re good. Collect the stories. Use them and run with it. But the first box is the key. You can’t drum up business without a product to show.
What is the greatest quality of an entrepreneur, executive, and leader?
A lot of people have a lot of talent, but they lack consistency. Consistency is one of the greatest things. Most people fail because they quit. Og Mandino said, “Make habits your slave.” Few people do. Consistency is a habit. A hard one to develop, but a habit.
In your opinion, why do so many people fail at business?
A lot of people are afraid of following up. They think they have sealed the deal but they really haven’t. It comes from a fundamental lack of faith –– and a fundamental fear in their gut that maybe they really didn’t get the business. The fear becomes reality and they lose the business.
People don’t stop eating or doing exercise when they’re committed to staying healthy… so you shouldn’t stop sharpening your skills and abilities. Too many people get stagnant… they quit trying to grow and so they don’t see the results that they want to see in their life. And then they wonder why.
You’re going to mess up. Just don’t stop trying. Don’t stop learning. Keep developing yourself. Maybe you can’t prevent all the screw ups, but you can learn the lessons from the mistakes.
What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?
The greatest resource that we can sharpen and develop, are our human resources. It is a worthy endeavor to develop people.
Sometimes it does come back to bite you. I’ve developed people that have become better than me… and then stabbed me in the back. I built a Frankenstein. I taught them all the tricks. And now they’re equipped to be better than me. He’s still out there, too. It’s still happening. I picked a star… a winner… and now he’s my competition. What sucks is when you pick right and now you’re fighting an opponent who’s better than you. It’s not very common… but it is strong.
What is your favorite lesson you’ve learned?
Being right is over rated. Do you want to be “right” or do you want to be happy? Do you want to be right, or do you want to be fed? It happens a lot in relationships, and often times it happens in business as well. You’ve heard that saying, "happy wife, happy life?” Well you want to keep your customer happy too. Happy customer, happy business. Do you want to be right or do you want your customer’s business? And sometimes it’s worth retreating to fight another day. Chew on that…
Do you have any closing remarks/ advice?
I recommend that you go ALL out and be the best that you can be. Because where you are meant to go will not be revealed until you are the best that you can be. You will be blind to your destiny, up until the point where you are ready to see it. And it may be a long time before it is revealed but don’t quit and it will be.
Juan Roque is the Vice President of Vista Color. Vista Color is a leading independent packaging company serving customers in the Caribbean, Latin American and the United States in a variety of industries primarily in pharmaceuticals & nutraceuticals, health & beauty, private label, food & confectionary along with beverages & spirits. We specialize in folding cartons along with blister cards, clamshell inserts, windows and foil, all produced in-house at our Miami, Florida facility. Clients in all industries have also used our creative & structural design services to create packaging that stands out and retains long-term, top of mind customer awareness. We are a certified Minority Business Enterprise as defined by the
National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).
Vista Color, featured in Local 10 News
