I came to this country from Venezuela with the purpose of getting a scholarship to play baseball. As my life circumstances changed, I leaned more towards academics and earned my Bachelor’s Degree at FIU where I double majored in Finance and International Business with a certificate in International Bank Management. In addition to my degrees, I have a Real Estate license in Florida, a certificate from Berklee College on Music Business and multiple courses on stock market and crypto currencies.
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and have used my education to expand upon this and create a business of my own. However, having an education is not enough to become a successful entrepreneur. Instead, it is possessing certain qualities that make a good businessman.
Before starting a business of your own, ask yourself these three questions:
- Are you willing to hustle and make sacrifices?
There are a lot of people trying to make it in the business world. Hence, in order to stand out and be successful, you have to work harder than everyone else. This means sacrificing time with friends and family, getting up earlier than most, and always being one step ahead.
I am very different from my competition because I never stop. My discipline and ambition don’t have a limit, which means I am willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve success. I wake up everyday at 4:50 AM, workout at 5:15 AM, and am at the office before everyone else in order to be ahead of the competition. I always have in mind what I want to do, and even in my sleep I’m already planning what I want to do and where I want to be in the next few years. In addition, I’m an active learner. I’m always listening to podcasts, consuming valuable content, and reading articles so I make sure every single day I learn something new.
If you’re not willing to work hard, hustle, and make sacrifices, especially within the first few years of starting a business, this might not be for you.
- Can you handle the stress of multiple tasks at once?
As a business owner, you need to be able to handle an array of tasks at once. You’re not only in charge of your own set of responsibilities, but you also need to oversee those of everyone else in your business to make sure that everything is running smoothly. At the same time, you may need to work on multiple things at once in order to create multiple sources of income that you are able to invest into your business.
I am in the music industry, where I promote urban artists mostly on digital platforms such as Spotify Playlists, Youtube and Tiktok campaigns. I also help them find songs with potential of becoming hits and connect them for collabs. At the same time, I am also in the seafood industry, selling fresh and frozen seafood all over the US, Canada, the Caribbean islands, and South America.
In addition to this, I work on my ecommerce business, in which I mostly sell home goods and shoes, while also focusing on selling and renting real estate properties. By maintaining multiple jobs and sources of income, I have been able to focus on growing my business, however, it takes a certain amount of persistence and responsibility to handle so many things at once.
- Are you open to failure?
While running a business has its many challenges, the biggest challenge of all is conquering your fears and creating the right mindset. Many people have a fear of failure, which ends up getting in the way of their success.
In order to be successful as a business owner, you need to develop a growth mindset. There is no doubt that you will fail at some point, but that’s okay. Failure is something that we learn from – you just need to pick yourself up and use this experience to improve yourself and your business.
It is fundamental to be mentally prepared in order to overcome the challenges of the road. It is key to have a winner mentality, and always hustle for what you want.
You can learn more about how to become a successful entrepreneur by following Lenin Perez on Instagram here.