By Lorenzo Escobal

Have you ever thought of leaving the corporate world and starting your own business? It will be a rough road, but it is a rewarding experience. I started my own business, Inception Automotive Detailing, when I was 18 years old because I couldn’t get a job elsewhere. Fast forward to today, the company has hundreds of clients ranging from individuals to large corporations, and is one of the top-ranking mobile auto detailing companies in the Greater Toronto Area. The company has been featured on CBC Radio, the Metro Morning show and in Top Gear Magazine in my home country, the Philippines.

Also, I have been very fortunate to meet notable celebrities and business people along the way such as Al Pacino, Sylvester Stallone, and many more. On a trip to Florida, I met up with George Ross, who was Donald Trump’s Right Hand Man and celebrity judge on the NBC show “The Apprentice.”

I had the opportunity to interview him and I asked, “What advice could you give for those who wish to start a business?” He responded, “Take the risk, and get your feet wet in business. Follow the examples of young people who have been successful, mimic what they do and adapt it to your own style.”

After meeting with George Ross, he made me reflect on my years of experience in business and this is what I can share:
– You will experience more failures than success. However, every time you experience success, its impact is far greater than the failures.
– You should be passionate in what you’re doing…regardless if you have your own business or work for somebody else; it makes a big difference in the effort you do at work.

– Don’t always follow the money because you can get laser focused on it to the point you have tunnel vision rather than having a 360 degree view on your life. Sometimes the greatest opportunity is so close but you missed it.
– Be patient in everything you do whether business, relationship and life. The Roman Empire wasn’t built overnight and neither will you.
– Have someone who is more successful than you mentor and/or coach you. Having that support system in your life will lead to achieving many things. Would you take advice from someone who never experienced the situation or someone has been there and done that?
– You don’t need to be the jack of all trades or the expert in everything, but be competent and confident in what you do.
– Regardless of the milestones you achieved, always give back and pass on the knowledge you learned to others. There are no minimum requirements in doing that.
– Never stop learning.
– You can’t make everyone happy. The more success you get, the more haters or naysayers you get – and they will try to bring you down to their level. They hate on you because they wish that they achieved the same thing as you but didn’t.
– There is always something you have to sacrifice along the way to build your business where you want it to be. I personally lost friends and relationships along the way but you gain as well. Your significant other should be fully supportive in what you do. The road to entrepreneurship is no easy task.
– If you feel comfortable where you are, you won’t grow as much. When you have that feeling of uncertainty, you are in the right position of growth.
– Surround yourself with like-minded people. Also surround yourself with people who are more successful than you. The 5 people closest to your life have the biggest influence on you. Surround yourself with five complainers, you will be the sixth. Surround yourself with five doers, you will be the sixth.
– Always network and build relationships with people. Be kind to others. You will never know who you meet and what they can do for you in the future.
– In the end, success is not measured by how much wealth you have accumulated in order to make yourself happy. Happiness is enjoying what already have in life, not by acquiring more things in order to make yourself happy.
– If you don’t know who you want to be or what you want to do in life, write your eulogy. In the end we will all die. When that time comes for you, what do you want people to say about you when you die? Think of your life as a book you are writing and you’re the author. As every second goes by, you are continuously writing your story. What will your story be in the end?
– Fear is something an entrepreneur always experiences – whether it is the fear of failure or fear of the unknown. You always have to take risks in everything you do. The way I see it is that rather than putting one foot into the pool to check the temperature, just jump in. Sometimes, that is the main cause of not growing because people can be hesitant in making a decision because of those fears.

Lorenzo Escobal is a member of MBOT’s NGen’s committee.