Interview an Entrepreneur

Entrevista a un emprendedor

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INTERVIEW AN ENTREPRENEUR

This interview was conducted with the main purpose of knowing the perspective of entrepreneurship from the eyes of a young entrepreneur belonging to the generation called "millennials", as well as to know his work and to be able to adapt his experience to learn from it.

This person was chosen because at the age of 19 he is already an entrepreneur with several projects and a company already established and marketing its products.

Ernesto is an entrepreneur from Mexico who at his age is doing revolutionary things and not only for his life, but for his environment.

With this interview, the reader will be able to see the perspective that is being sought, to find “that something” that he is looking for to establish his own company or to start planning it.

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INTERVIEW

Q: Good afternoon Ernesto, my name is Maythe Carrillo and currently I’m studying at Georgian College, Campus Barrie, ON, CA at the business program, and it would be such a pleasure if you allow me to interview you.

Sure it would be a pleasure.

Q: Due to I know you from a long time ago, I know that you have been developing several projects, for this interview, I would like to talk about your company FRESHBOX if you allow me.

Sure, I will try to answer in the most professional way, due to we know each other, and this is a formal work.

Q: First of all, could you tell me, what is “freshbox”?

Sure, Freshbox is the first Mexican company that manufactures skin care products with the excesses of coffee from the best coffee makers in Mexico, our pilot line is made up of 4 body exfoliator, made in an artisan, organic, vegan and ecological way. We want to become the leading skin care company with ecological purposes in Latin America.

Q: What was the reason for entering the market where the product is located?

The problem of coffee. I honestly did not plan the industry, I just saw a clear problem and the research was taking us to the skin care industry.

Specifically, the organic cosmetics and beauty products market is growing at an interesting level, and projections indicate that its value in the United States will rise from $ 4 trillion to 10.18 by 2025.

We went there because we considered it the most viable opportunity in the long term.

Q It is impressive the work you are doing, I find very interesting the field in which it is being made known and with a vision as clear as it is to position itself as the leading company in its branch, tell me, why did you decide to start your own business?

Well, since about 4 years I started as a distributor for an US multilevel company, which caused me a tremendous anxiety to generate my own opportunities. I learned a lot during that process, and from then on I got involved with business organizations like Coparmex, where I connected with many entrepreneurs and took experience in the middle.

Finally, I fulfilled my dream of studying at Tecnológico de Monterrey, and then, in short, I arrived here with all that impetus and concern to generate impact through the creation of companies.

When I was given the opportunity to start Freshbox, I did it without hesitation. I joined my team and we raised a round of seed capital of 30,000 pesos to fund the project.

Q: So we can say that you have been in the business sector for a while, but as in every business that starts there were challenges, could you tell some of the challenges that you consider more significant that you faced in launching your own business venture?

The first and most striking for me as a founder was the reaction of my school advisors, teachers and some experts on chemical issues.

Most of them told me that first of all a solid research was required and that in addition to costing a lot of money could take many years, which seemed sincerely absurd. So by myself, I searched the internet studies that supported the project and the formulations I made based on overdue patents and internet recipes, as well with little advices of biochemistry students. At the end the product came out in 3 months despite what I was told

The second biggest problem was the financing, which was granted by Frisa Foundation through an entrepreneurship contest at Tecnológico de Monterrey. However, if we had not won the financing we would have started with a production of 2000 pesos and we would have grown slower. The only thing that the financing did was accelerate us, but in no way determine if we could do it or not.

Q: Despite of the challenges, how did it feel to actually get your new venture up and running?

When I got to see the first boxes of product armed, and the first girls who joined our campaign in Instagram with the hashtag #letsbefresh I felt something that is complicated to describe. It was obviously a lot of joy but it was also a responsibility. Literal was the first time I felt that, and at the end of the day, what you do, people pay for it because it has value, and when you become the one who provides that value, it generates a sense of impressive commitment.

Q: Since that moment full of joy and commitment, what are some of the rewards you have experienced as a result of starting your own business?

For me the greatest reward is experience. When you already have a business you realize how you should apply the things that come in the books, and you get rid of many ambiguities and doubts left by the study. Thanks to that now I feel able to mount almost any company. And of course I will, as soon as can, I want to develop a software company.

In addition to that, it has helped me connect significantly with more entrepreneurs in my community, and the access to acceleration spaces, mentoring and even investments. I consider it invaluable.

Q: As I can see, you have your goals clears, as you are an entrepreneur and also really young, why did you think is important to starting new business?

The reality is that there are thousands of reasons. On one side is the economic development that propitiates; new companies mean greater and better quality of life for the environment, because there are new jobs and greater flow and concentration of cash. On the other hand, is the issue of the lack of jobs and the educational and social security crisis