After coming back from working in the middle east and going through the worst experience with management and working with individuals who had a general lack of life and business ethics, I vouched from there on that having people above me who couldn't manage themselves, let alone other people wouldn't ever let me to get to where I needed to in life that being my own boss would and above all, creating a new standard for management where the people we hire in the future will be hired because we value their input and aren't just there to follow a set of rules. How did the idea for Smuvee come to life? Smuvee came to life because of the sheer demand for what we do and no one in the area being able to fulfill it, obviously for me this was a huge win-win as I love fitness and I love food so combining the two made sense. My friend and I would always come out of the gym after training and say "we wish there was somewhere we could eat some good protein filled food" and so years later after coming back from the middle east with nothing to lose I took it upon myself to fulfill that long lost dream. Moving forward, we have prepped over 6,000 meals and counting for our clients! We are grateful for this milestone. What were the biggest initial hurdles to building your business and how did you overcome them? One of the biggest obstacles that stood in my way was knowing when I was ready, and the truth is, you never really know when you're ready and you never will be, you just have to show up and execute your idea. I overcame this by simply just doing what I said I was going to do, there is no secret to hard work and patience. Did you ever deal with contention from your family and friends concerning your entrepreneurial pursuits?
How did you handle it? What would you do differently in hindsight? I've dealt with some pessimistic individuals in regards to starting my own business, but many a time I x'd them out, I found mostly that anyone who is faithful with a little - is faithful with a lot and that even though I don't lead a lavish life by any means I respect and appreciate what my friends and family have done for me so far, the people that often had negative things to say were the people that didn't understand perspective and were never satisfied with what they had. I don't judge them as their mentality usually comes from improper programming and its not their fault. Its a mentality that has come from parents, teachers, friends and more over the modern day educational system. People are being taught that they have limits and its not until you hit a certain point in your life and when your mindset changes that you realize some people in this world make what most people make in one year in one day, in hindsight there isn't much I would change in regards to handling those situations as I always approached them in an unbiased relaxed manner. What would you say was the single most influential factor in your business success? I would say its our ability to use emotional intelligence and display empathy to customers as you would your family or friends, it seems most others businesses stick to their rule book no matter what the outcome is for them, be it good or bad, we try to see and understand what our customers wants and then engage in a relaxed friendly manner whilst providing the good vibes and great service. What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first got started as an entrepreneur? Stress less, read more and sleep longer. There is this pressure as such to keep up with everyone else in business and in life and I blame social media for this, focus on yourself and don't watch others, concentrate your energy on you and you only, you have to be incredibly selfish at this point in life and anyone that has problem with this is standing in the way of you and your goals being achieved. What advice would you give to an upcoming young and old entrepreneur locally and internationally? To the young this, read more, embrace difficult things and create a demand for your skills, investing in yourself will benefit you long term. Focus on reducing your stick-ability factor, forget writing it down internally or on paper, get efficient and get it done, don't prolong things you could do today, tomorrow, get it done! To the old, collaborate with the young, there is so much to be learnt from both parties.
