Success Story: An entrepreneur that established his business despite adversity.

Patricio Vargas is an entrepreneur who decided to start a business with his brother. He is a very young guy who want to become more successful and he accept to give us a short interview about some personal questions and why he decided to run his own business.

Melissa: Why did you decide to study this career?

Patricio: Because I have always liked this international trading and the businesses world; so when I heard about this career I thought it fit really well with my expectations.

M: Why did you decide to start up your own business? Did you find it difficult? Why? Why not?

P: Actually one thing drive us (my brother and I) to another and we really wanted to do something between us mixing our capabilities, he is a designer, and I do the business stuff. Is not easy but nothing is right? But I can´t say that is difficult either, but you have to keep yourself motivated, at least at the beginning where there are not good results.

M: Why did you choose this market?

P: As I told you before, one thing lead to another and we started bringing merchandise from China, USA, and so on, and later because of the import restrictions, we decided to start manufacturing them (the shoes) here.

M: What were your goals when you decided to start this business?

P: Main goal was to make money. And of course create something that is so good that it becomes easy to sell.

M: How did you measure the feasibility of your business?

P: Well, that’s an easy one, by the number of sells, and how people react when buy or see the product, what they say about it.

M: What is your competitive advantage?

P: I think is the knowledge, because in shoes business no one has something very different to show, but show the same others do but better; when I say the knowledge I mean, what we know people like, and what they are going to like later.

M: How did you finance your business?

P: First, we started small in other business and raised a small capital, then mixing our capital with my mother lending. As she saw us good in what we were doing.

M: What is your strategy in order to attract customers?

P: To be fresh, use social networks as are the best way and cheapest way to reach them, a good image of product and pages. We created last year at the same time with the shoes business a publicity agency, so we contracted people who help us to make good graphic material, and to give ideas to make good posts.

M: How do you visualize yourself in the next 5 years?

P: I don´t really know my friend, I´m used to improvise, let’s see what happen, but something good for sure. Maybe abroad, I like Germany, I don´t really know.

M: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

P: Well our strengths are our motivations, and I can say some others like, good negotiators and so on, but I rather talk about my weaknesses; maybe the way I organize my time, sometimes I feel like my day pass so fast and I do so little. Organization of my schedule, I don’t like to have one.

M: Who do you admire the most? Why?

P: This is hard, I don´t have in this moment someone in my mind in business. But I like and I admire people like Eckarth Tolle, Osho, but this changes a little the context of this interview.

M: What drives you to be an entrepreneurship?

P: Not wanting to receive orders.

M: Do you think that you are a leader? Why? Why not?

P: Yes I do, because I´m used to do the things my way, so in time is like I have reached a lot of self-confidence and others like that, and support your ideas when they seems to be good (even when they don´t result). M: Thank you very much Patricio, you are an excellent guy and my best wishes for you!

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