Q 1. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans: We are a family-owned construction company, a Drywall and Metal framing subcontractor that offers an extensive number of services for commercial construction. H&S Building Solutions is about exceeding the expectation of our customers. If it’s been done, we can promise we will do it best. Not to stay ahead of the competition, but to make ourselves into a company that is always evolving and always striving to grow and be better. As the adage goes, “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always got”. You can currently find us in Melbourne, Florida but soon we will be expanding. Although we have one main office in Melbourne, we travel all over the U.S. for our customers.
Q 2. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans: I believe in hard work and hustle which is why I can say that challenging myself to conquer new projects has always been a big part of my success. The first career path I ever explored was computer engineering, which I loved at the beginning. However, I quickly realized that path wasn’t for me after working in a small telecommunication systems business. Even though that wasn’t for me, I would say that it has significantly helped me in my current venture. My first business was an Internet café it was mildly successful but did not have the success we were looking for at the time. My second venture was a car selling business that I started in my home country. When I moved to the U.S., my dad had already been working in the construction field for quite some time and after getting the opportunity to work alongside him I knew that it was an industry that I could impact in a large way, given the time, of course. Regarding achievements, my biggest achievement is owning and operating this construction business and through it obtaining the ability to open new ventures which are currently in the works.
Q 3. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans: My inspiration for creating this business was wanting to make a difference due to the lack of commitment that I saw in the field. I wanted to be a part of improving an industry that seemed to have a lot of potential for those willing to go through the rough moments. Regarding new business ventures, I would say that the movement of the construction industry is ever growing and will always keep on growing. With new technology coming into the field, it opens a ton of doors for enhancing tried and true methods that already exist.
Q 4. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans: 1. Jump, take that risk! Hesitation has killed many good ideas and business.
2. Follow your gift not your passion.
3. Have the right people around you, a good team makes a huge difference.
Q 5. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: 1.Be good at calculating. Understanding how to operate different calculations helps in many situations, especially in construction.
2.Knowledge seeking. Being someone who is always willing to learn more about their field and upcoming things is highly important as investing in more education for yourself.
3.Discernment. Being able to discern between a good and a great employee or what might be a horrible job opportunity is huge, a mistake that is commonly made and from my experience has ruined many businesses.
Q 6. How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans: When I first started, I used to sleep about 4 hours a day, at the time I had no help and was managing almost every aspect of the business on my own. It was a very frustrating and intense part of my life which I thought would never end. Now things are more blessed, I work around 12 hours a day, but I am almost always on call when it comes to any part of the team needing help or serious issues that happen from time to time.
Q 7. To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans: I owe my success to my wife; she is my biggest attribution. She has been at my side since the beginning even before I started to go down this entrepreneurial path. She has always supported me and engaged in trying to make things go as smoothly as possible. Surrounding yourself with people who think like you is key to success.
Q 8. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans: Our best and most successful form of marketing has been our work ethic and always putting our values in to every job we get. It has organically put our business in to the minds and mouths of people that have given us the chance to grow.
Q 9. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Ans: During the time that I had been working in other business ventures and other businesses, I was saving as much money as I possibly could even if at times it wasn’t possible. Any penny we could save was one that would be saved, and that’s what has helped us to fund each venture we have started.
Q 10. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans: Self-denial and understanding that having a business is like having a child. You don’t steal food from a child when it is growing, this principal follows over in the business world as well. Well-funded businesses grow.
Q 11. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans: I see myself in 5 years establishing new ventures and enjoying my time a bit more. I see us having our own building as our main operations as well. In 10 years, I see the business being a mogul in the subcontracting industry and myself retired enjoying my time in the best of ways and having someone else that I will choose to run the companies that operate with us currently.
Q 12. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans: I personally admire Amazon the most, it has been a huge success in the service industry, and I believe that it is great at expanding new territory and new business.
Q 13. How important have good employees been to your success?
Ans: This is a key factor in business and something that I take very seriously. A good team can make or break your company. An employee with a bad attitude or one that does not work well with others can severely impact the image of your company.
Q 14. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Ans: I usually stick with an idea for about a week, of course this is not regarding people we hire or the implementation of new programs. Just like the Japanese word “Kaizen”, things can always improve.
Q 15. What motivates you?
Ans: My family is my biggest motivation.
Q 16. How do you generate new ideas?
Ans: Intuition is a massive part of the process. I also like to bounce new ideas and generate new ideas from my team members.
Q 17. How do you define success?
Ans: For me, success is doing what you like and being great at what you do.
Q 18. How do you build a successful customer base?
Ans: Being able to fail and pick bad customers. Through failure you realize what a good customer looks like.
Q 19. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Ans: The process. That is what makes me wake up each morning. To know what it was like and then to see how it is now makes it all worth it. Seeing the growth and the fall, the journey itself is why I am here.
Q 20. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Ans: The day we landed our first contract has been my most satisfying moment in business so far. I will never forget the unexplainable feeling, when all I could do was pick up the phone to call my wife to celebrate this huge milestone. It was the first time we had a project of that size; I remember every detail.
Q 21. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans: The willingness to separate yourself from the pain and say if it fails or if it doesn’t let it be what it is and persevere no matter the cost.
Q 22. What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
Ans: Our organization works on letting people do what they do best, I do not like micromanagement I believe that hiring smart people to tell them what to do lowers their potential. Of course, this comes with being self-sufficient and able to do things with your own intuition in a smart manner.
Q 23. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Ans: Phenomenal
Q 24. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Ans: The hiring processes. It is something that only comes from years of experience and understanding people.
Q 25. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
Ans: I believe that it has shown my kids that being your own boss is the best way to go. Being able to provide for the family has also been huge. I will always tell my kids, “Try a ton of different things out see what you like, if you fail just keep on going and keep trying”. Because that’s what it takes to make an amazing business.
Q 26. What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
Ans: I think my greatest fear is burn out and getting tired of what I am doing. No one can press on forever which is why I stress the idea of a great team. Without one, you will be holding the potential for your business back massively.
Q 27. How did you decide on the location for your business?
Ans: Even though it’s far from home, we sit in the perfect location. Our location has everything we need to operate the business.
Q 28. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: There is a formula, God + Family + Hard work = Success
Q 29. If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
Ans: Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. I wouldn’t want to talk to Him I would want to see what He would say to me. His message is more important than my words.
Q 30. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Ans: My greatest inspiration would be my wife, the turmoil I have seen her go through truly pushes me to even keep on being better no matter what. It is a source of inspiration that keeps me going day in and day out.
Q 31. What book has inspired you the most? (OR what is your favorite book?)
Ans: In general, the greatest book is the Bible, it has changed my life in the most incredible ways, but in an industrial sense I would say “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie. This book opened my eyes when it came to interacting with others and being able to captivate an audience.
Q 32. What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
Ans: My top 3 would be:
1. Hiring the wrong people.
2. Working in bad partnerships
3. Not taking advantage of opportunities due to fear of the unknown.
Q 33. How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
Ans: You need to have the right people around you because it helps to see the errors and catch them before they become something bigger. If they do occur, different skills mean different ways to lessen the blow or prevent what might be a bigger issue. It really all comes down to experience and knowing when not to get upset when something goes wrong. Patience and understanding makes things go much smoother.
Q 34. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
Ans: When I’m not working, I’m enjoying time with the family and traveling.
Q 35. What makes you happy?
Ans: Family. My wife and kids are everything to me.
Q 36. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: Self-sacrifice, I gave up doing what I wanted to do to do what I had to do.
Q 37. If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
Ans: My question would be “Would you do it all again?”
Company Detail:
Company : H&S Building Solutions
Contact : Helen Sabio
Address : 2825 Business Center Blvd Suite B6
City : Melbourne
State : FL
Zip : 32940
Phone : 312-212-7709
Email : hnsbuilding2021@gmail.com
