See original El Cronista article
I was 18 years old standing on a sidewalk in Ciudad Ojeda, Venezuela, having just visited my fourth hardware store.
The price on steel rebar had changed. Again.
I thought they were all making the same mistake.
They weren’t.
My father had been operating in 30-35%...
Built for Freedom is now part of the Forbes Business Council Executive Library.
See Forbes Business Council Post
I wrote it for founders who are working harder than anyone in their company — and still feel stuck.
The problem is rarely effort. It's people and processes.
Grateful for the recognition. Mo...
I have always believed in using data to lead, not just instinct. When AtmanCo's psychometric assessment placed my leadership profile in the top four percent across all their thousands of platform users, what struck me was not the ranking. It was the specificity. Good assessments do not tell you what...
Built for Freedom began as a set of notes I had been writing for years, frameworks developed while coaching entrepreneurs through the hardest decisions of their professional lives. The Library of Congress registration made it official: the method has a permanent home in the written record. That matt...
The entrepreneur is back... 25 years later.
I'm confused.
I am familiar with the leather smell and the luxurious space I find myself in. Yet, as I barely come out of a deep sleep, the surrounding darkness disorients me.
Where am I?
I hear knocking at my window. As the diffused nois...
The outcome
Summer is ending, and I am finishing up my last projects.
During the season's first few weeks, I finally replaced Frank with another more competent and less goofy painter. I came to an agreement with Peter and Jocelyne to buy decorative elements to compensate for the artwork soi...
The new beginning
Back to that chilly night. It's almost ten o'clock in the evening when Patrick wakes me up with his repeated knocks on my car window.
He must talk to me. He is perplexed to see me in this state, especially after speaking to my mother. Anyway, he tells me he is going on va...
The Crisis
One night, I come home exhausted. Running a business is much more demanding than I could have imagined. Not to mention that I am under constant stress at home, never knowing when I would get lectured or yelled at about my incompetence.
I have a flashback: Even my teachers used t...
Startup and tribulations
Winter is ending.
I'm on fire during my franchisee training, asking many questions and taking even more notes. A whole universe opens up to me: marketing and sales techniques, employee management concepts, customer service fundamentals, all subjects fascinate me. E...
The veto and the decision
The weekend's coming up. I choose the best time. She seems in a good mood; it's my time.
I tell her the happy news of the Student Painter's offer. No congratulations! She laughs and doesn't take this project seriously:
"An organization doesn't give a franchi...
The offer
Throughout the franchisee operator selection process, John detects in me a strong passion, excellent sales skills, and a very organized spirit, conducive to a promising management role.
He tells me I stand out among the twenty candidates for the local territory as the strongest one...
The business opportunity
It all started with THE opportunity.
The opportunity is perfect.
On this chilly fall day, I get excited as I see a franchising booth at the career fair in the main hall of my preparatory college.
Obtaining and operating a Student Painters franchise at 16 woul...
