Leaders Perception Magazine is currently running an interview series called – What Are The Top 5 Mistakes People Make When Starting A New Business?
Today, we had the opportunity to interview Gene Caballero who is a Co founder at GreenPal, Inc.
Interviewee Name: Gene Caballero
Company: GreenPal, Inc
Gene Caballero’s favourite quote: There are 3 8-hour work days in 24 hours. Pick which two you want to work and you will be successful.
The Interview
Thank you so much for joining us today! Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your backstory?
Gene Caballero : I have been an entrepreneur my whole life. My entire family are entrepreneurs and that is what inspired me to build GreenPal. I started mowing yards when I was 11 and never looked back. Ive also helped other entrepreneurs by consulting and mentoring.
In your opinion, what makes your company stand out? Any examples?
Gene Caballero : We are the easiest way for local lawn care professionals to grow their business and make their lives better. Not only do we handle their demand creation, we also handle their scheduling, route optimization, and payment processing. A first for this industry.
What are the TOP 5 mistakes people make when starting a new business? Please share advice/examples for all of them.
Gene Caballero : -Inappropriate Council and formed an incorrect company ($12K mistake) –if you plan to take your company public or get funding at any point, make sure you form the correct corporation. We were told that we didn’t need to set up a C-Corp in Delaware even though they have the most tax-favorable state for this. Even though we are far from going public or never needed to take outside funding, it’s good to know that most investors will only invest in c-corps structured this way. What did we learn? Do your own homework and don’t take advice from anyone who hasn’t done what you are trying to do.
-Shop-built website-We didn’t have a technical co-founder so we paid ($85k) for a shop-built website that was based on what they thought our customers wanted. It has since been rebuilt by a co-founder (after he went to software school) and the only thing that was kept was the video….$85k for a 1:30-sec video….and no it was not directed by James Cameron. What did we learn? It’s almost impossible to not have a technical co-founder on the team. If this shop would have delivered a perfect site, they would have bankrupted us for any updates and bugs along the way.
–How long the entire process would take–If you think launching a business is hard, it also takes a lot of time. Development, design, SEO, customer acquisition, etc are all actions that have to be done to get things going. Whatever time you think you need, quadruple it for a more realistic timeframe.
Leaders Perception magaizne would like to thank Gene Caballero for the time dedicated to completing this interview and sharing their valuable insights with our readers!
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