Steve Benitez 4:34
So, first of all, I think from an entrepreneurial setup, we need to bring it up to a professional level. And so taking it to that level required me to really hire good people who can help me scale the business up. And that took quite a while because, as entrepreneurs we always wanted to have that control. Right? And the moment I said I can’t do this on my own. I gotta hire the best people.
And these people I have right now, I’m very thankful because they just professionalized the whole setup. And everything is institutionalized from training all the way up to expanision.
Jeremy Weisz 5:16
I want to hear a proud moment. I mean, it’s anyone who started any company, it’s a tough journey. There’s a lot of challenges. And you know, from what you’ve done, it’s pretty incredible. What’s been a proud moment. And you look back on the journey of this company, like you said, from startup in the beginning, the first couple of years to now growing to a hundred stores and beyond what’s been a proud moment for you?
Steve Benitez 5:45
I would say that, from the very beginning, when we I was trying to conceptualize the whole model. Nobody believed in it. Right. At that time, coffee shop experience was at the infancy stage, even here in the US it was, it was not, it was mostly concentrated in some big cities, and not all over the US. And so when I was thinking of bringing that back home said, that’s not going to work. Card naysayers. Oh, yes. And coffee. Nobody would buy coffee at that price. It’s it’s given away for free after dinner or after lunch. And, and we were a hot country, right? And so so people will not drink hot coffee in a hot country. And I said, Why? Why do you eat ice cream in the US? It’s cold.
Yeah, so. So a lot, nobody believes in that. But I think as entrapreneurs we have this unrelenting belief that it’s going to work, right. So I’ve pursued based on my guts. And well, in the first month of operation, I could see the naysayers cheering and said, I told you so because it was really bad. Right? So I was, I couldn’t even pay rent, with with the sales that I had. But then…
I gave a runway of six months and I gave, you know all the things that I have to do. In under six months, I could see incremental sales and that that really encouraged me. And on my eighth one, I opened my second one.
Jeremy Weisz 7:16
Unrelenting belief, right? Where can people check it out online? Where should people go just to learn about your brand and what you’re doing?
Steve Benitez 7:24
www.boscoffee.com.
Jeremy Weisz 7:26
How do you spell it?
Steve Benitez 7:27
Bo’s Coffee.
Jeremy Weisz 7:30
Steve, thank you so much. Live from GLC.
