As an entrepreneur, you have empowered yourself to change the world.
Seasoned home builder Jose Berlanga is an entrepreneur from Mexico City who has made a significant mark in Houston’s real estate industry. Berlanga was born to be an entrepreneur. By the time he was 21, he was already wealthy. He joined me recently on “Zonie Living: Business, Adventure and Leadership.” Here are a few tips he offers for entrepreneurs.
1. Don’t Work in What You Don’t Know
Berlanga advises entrepreneurs not to start a business in a city or a field they don’t know. For example, don’t try to sell luxury homes if you don’t understand how the wealthy live and what’s important to them. And don’t move to a new city and try to start up a business right away. “Research is part of business, but as entrepreneurs, we operate with our gut instinct rather than our brain. We also, by nature, know how to sell, how to present, how to promote and we tend to talk more than we listen. We do that with people, with products and with markets. We talk on top of the market instead of listening to the market. You should spend a little time understanding what your product is and who your audience is. If you understand the audience and understand their needs, how they live, their habits and their hobbies, you begin to realize what it is you need to provide to them in order for them to live a better quality of life.”
2. Build a Solid Foundation
“Your mission is what you stand for and your vision statement is how you see your business growing and thriving,” he writes in his new book, “The Business of Home Building: How to Start and Operate a Residential Construction Company.”
“I tend to be a person who is not only physically but mentally in a hurry. I’m trying to move fast, build, create, develop, move onto the next stage. But the process of building and creating a business plan clarifies your thoughts. It helps you identify what you are trying to achieve. It forces you to think of the sequence of events that need to occur before you build and start and grow a business. Those statements – whether it’s your vision or your mission – they help you understand what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, what market you are attacking and why you are addressing those particular needs.”
3. Being Organized is a Reflection on Your Brand
Organizational skills may be undervalued in the business world, but Berlanga sees being organized as one of the most important components of any organization. “I’ve seen some businesses that had a group of individuals who were very talented, very creative, but they were very disorganized. Planning your day, planning your activities, prioritizing things, understanding what needs to come first, what needs to be second, what are some of the things that need to occur for me to get to tomorrow and not forgetting to do something that may not be urgent for today but may eventually turn into something more urgent, I see these skills as perhaps more important than intelligence. Through time, you can learn certain things but if you’re messy and disorganized, whether it’s in your bookkeeping or in your schedules, it’s very difficult to get anywhere.”
4. Find Opportunities, Catch a Trend
From the time Berlanga was a boy growing up in Mexico City, he looked for ways to make money. His father had a job that required him to travel to the United States and when young Jose would join him, he was on a mission. “In those days, importing American goods was very rare and very difficult. So, every time I came to visit the United States with my dad, I would buy a bunch of stuff – candy, toys, memorabilia – and sell it to my friends.”
As a young man, he and his brother, Tristan, started a home-building company. They found opportunity in inner city neighborhoods. They began renovating dilapidated houses. “We just thought it would be a great place to start with a small amount of money. We caught a trend. People were recognizing the benefit of being in the inner city for one reason or another. It wasn’t that popular to be building in the areas where we were because they didn’t look very pretty. They were “transitional,” and that’s a fancy word for “scary neighborhoods.” We attempted to begin with the lowest price points possible to minimize the risk and take advantage of the opportunity. It worked, but it didn’t work overnight.”
5. Avoid Starting Your Business in a High Cycle
Berlanga cautions entrepreneurs not to start their business while the industry is in a peak cycle; instead, take the time while the industry is slow to set up your business. “You need to position yourself, wait patiently on your surfboard very attentively, and wait for the right wave, instead of trying to jump on a wave after it’s already moving fast.” Berlanga says it’s just human nature. “When we see things going well in any given industry, when something is working, when people are making money, when there’s prosperity, we want to jump on that wave. But what we don’t realize is it’s a little bit late and it’s a little bit difficult and the pros are already on top of those waves.”
6. Attitude is Everything
Taking the entrepreneurial road often feels dark and lonely, he says, and “moving at a horrible pace.” But Berlanga reminds us about the joys of creating something that wasn’t there, and the rewards of pushing ourselves and living with passion and conviction. “Your attitude in business affects more than you might expect. Positivity and optimism are key, mixed in with a touch of realty. As an entrepreneur, you have empowered yourself to change the world.” QCBN
For the complete interview with Jose Berlanga, visit Zonie Living on www.StarWorldwideNetworks.com “Tips for Entrepreneurs from Veteran Home Builder Jose Berlanga.
Bonnie Stevens is the editor of QCBN. She is a career journalist and public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.
Courtesy Photos: Jose Berlanga offers business wisdom that is applicable to other industries in his new book, “The Business of Home Building: How to Start and Operate a Residential Construction Company,” available on Amazon.
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