With Cesar Quintero, a Certified Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) Implementer and the Founder of The Profit Recipe who centers his practice on purpose and ensuring a leadership team creates alignment around its vision while gaining traction to achieve that vision. 

Previously, Cesar was a Project Manager in R&D at Procter & Gamble, a Founding Partner of Fit2Go, the first successful meal-delivery startup in Miami, and Rawbar 2 Go, the first licensed food-boat fleet in FL, and the Founder of a meal-delivery SaaS company. He also served as an EO Forum and EO Accelerator Trainer with Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). 

Today, he is focused on The Profit Recipe, a coaching firm that focuses on empowering entrepreneurs through a journey of focus ON the business and not IN the business by implementing best practices and the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).

Join us for our conversation as Cesar shares some tips to help you become a better leader, and increase growth and profits in your business. You will also enjoy hearing Cesar talk about his book “The Profit Recipe”, a proven recipe for success.

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Biggest takeaways (or quotes) you don’t want to miss:

• How Cesar shifted his mindset as a leader that led to doubling sales and quadrupling profit in his business.
• Entrepreneurship changes the world. It’s not institution, government, or big businesses who change the world, but the people who are on the ground and make a difference in their communities.
• Importance of using assessments in business.
• Difference in entrepreneurship in Latin America vs other countries.
• “That’s where I think the trap is… a lot of us create a business just to have a job.”

“The job of the leaders is not to sell your vision, but to sell your purpose.”

-Cesar Quintero

Check out these highlights:

• 04:31 Cesar shares how his entrepreneurial journey began – he thinks he was born as an entrepreneur.
• 07:31 What happened with Cesar that made him say “I was so focused on proving a point that I completely forgot what the business was for”?
• 10:48 What the “Profit Recipe” book is all about.
• 26:11 What is the entrepreneurial e-volution flywheel?
• 27:20 Hear about Cesar’s superpower, and why this superpower is essential to small businesses.
• 39:16 Listen to Cesar’s final tip about what is required to truly create the impact you are here to create.

How to get in touch with Cesar:

On social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheProfitRecipe

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profitrecipe/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cesarquintero/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/melherschorn

Learn more about Cesar by visiting his websites: ww.theprofitrecipe.com / emprendedorgrowthmodel.com / https://www.eosworldwide.com/

Imperfect Show Notes

We are happy to offer these imperfect show notes to make this podcast more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or those who prefer reading over listening. While we would love to offer more polished show notes, we are currently offering an automated transcription (which likely includes errors, but hopefully will still deliver great value), below.

GGGB Intro  00:00

Coming up today on Guts, Grit and Great Business™…

Cesar Quintero  00:04

I believe entrepreneurship changes the world. So it’s not institutions, it’s not governments, it’s not big business, who changes the world are the entrepreneurs. It’s the people who are in the ground, who make a difference in the community will make a difference with their people. And like, I believe that’s true. But that’s only true if the entrepreneur spends all their time and energy and things they love to do, and they’re great at. And that’s where I think the trap is, a lot of us create a business just to have a job. And we’re not transforming ourselves or the people around us by really living our superpowers and really focusing on what we’re great at and love to do. And I think that’s my mission. My mission, with this book, with my firm, with my businesses is around really creating that power entrepreneurship has in our country and in our world. And then how do we leverage entrepreneurs and really get them to focus on the real problems and the real things we need to solve?

GGGB Intro  01:08

The adventure of entrepreneurship and building a life and business you love, preferably at the same time is not for the faint of heart. That’s why Heather Pearce Campbell is bringing you a dose of guts, grit and great business stories that will inspire and motivate you to create what you want in your business and life. Welcome to the Guts, Grit and Great Business™ podcast where endurance is required. Now, here’s your host, The Legal Website Warrior®, Heather Pearce Campbell.

Heather Pearce Campbell  01:40

Righty Welcome. I am Heather Pearce Campbell, The Legal Website Warrior®. I’m an attorney and legal coach based here in Seattle, Washington, serving entrepreneurs throughout the US and the world. Welcome to another episode of Guts, Grit and Great Business™. I’m so excited. We’ve got a super fun guest today. Cesar Quintero. Welcome, Cesar. Thanks. Hi, there. Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely. I can tell this is going to be a great conversation. And I always, just being somebody who loves entrepreneurship, other people who love the path of entrepreneurship and who are willing to teach others, I just take a really special kind of person with that level of commitment. So I’m really excited to learn from you today and to have our listeners be able to learn from you. Well, I’m excited to Yeah, it’ll be fun. And for folks that don’t know, Cesar actually was just in Seattle, literally days ago, we missed each other. Now we’re on opposite corners. He’s down in Florida, and I’m up in Seattle. So the farthest we could possibly be from each other and still be in the US. But for folks that don’t know, Cesar, Cesar grew up in Venezuela, and then the US in his early 20s, leaving behind a secure job at Procter and Gamble to start his own business. In 2013, he founded Fit to Go which was the first corporate healthy meal delivery service based out of Miami. Today, he has focused on the profit recipe, a coaching firm that focuses on empowering entrepreneurs through a journey of focus on the business and not in the business by implementing best practices and the Entrepreneurial Operating System. I love it. And Cesar’s got a book coming out soon. So I hope that you will share with us a little bit about that book. 

Cesar Quintero  03:32

Of course, yeah, the proper recipe. It’s also called the profit recipe in the five stages to live life by design. I love Amazon already. Yeah.

Heather Pearce Campbell  03:42

Oh my gosh. Oh, so it’s already out.

Cesar Quintero  03:43

It’s already out. We made best seller, we made best seller in entrepreneurial management and entrepreneur and startup and, you know, and all these things. So that was great. It was great, you know?

Heather Pearce Campbell  03:52

That’s awesome. I was just for those of you that can’t see me giving him a big round of applause. That’s huge. I mean, getting a book written is huge. And then obviously getting it published and out and on bestsellers, lists bestseller lists. That’s awesome. Super, super excited for you. So Cesar, tell me about your early days were like, Where did your love of entrepreneurship begin? And I know we talked a little bit before going live about Proctor and Gamble, so I’m gonna have to check in with you on that one. But let’s start first with Where did entrepreneurship begin for you?

Cesar Quintero  04:26

You know, for me, you know, they, sometimes there’s entrepreneurship that’s born, entrepreneurship is accidental. I think I was born as an entrepreneur. I was one of those kids that always sold popcorn and lemonade in the street. I didn’t know I was financially independent when I was 16. I was making money somehow making it somehow but yeah, I eventually went the corporate route, because that’s what we’re supposed to do. Right. So I graduated as a process engineer in Venezuela and then I went to Procter and Gamble. They had their main headquarters for Latin America there.

Heather Pearce Campbell  04:58

And I joked with you earlier, you joined a cult, right? 

Cesar Quintero 05:02

Yes, Procter and Gamble, definitely. You know, it was the best school you can go to, like, a lot of my friends are like, No, I’m gonna do a Masters, I’m gonna do but you know, learning from a company that’s so established. And so well ran as, as Procter and Gamble was a great school for me. So I went through that. And so always the feminine pads were my brand. So I learned a lot about women in my early 20s. So then, you know, and I went through that, and then Venezuela started going down the path of you know, it’s time now the political economic goals, societal changes. And, you know, and I’m like, you know, what, I’m 24. There’s not much I can do here. So let me just get married, move to Miami and start a business all at the same time, because that’s what I did. So at 24. This is 2004. So we moved to Miami, and I saw this gap, there was an opportunity. You know, there weren’t many healthy things to eat around, you know, the office spaces. And, you know, I said, coming from the processes and processes, engineering, logistics, all of that I’m like, I can I can build this. But then I also had the branding and Procter and Gamble marketing piece. So I put all those things together. And I started Fit to Go, which is a meal delivery service. So this is 2004, mind you. It’s pre online and delivery. All of that.

Heather Pearce Campbell  06:29

Right, pre online ordering. 

Cesar Quintero 06:32

Yeah, so we created an online ordering. And I went door to door and convinced people it was convenient to have your meal delivered kind of thing, right. And

Heather Pearce Campbell  06:40

We need no convincing on this. 

Cesar Quintero 06:43

Actually, nowadays. But that’s what happened. So it was healthy, and it was delivered daily. So when the market grew, we just grew with it. We then were in the first market, and I had no idea what I was doing, right? I’m in a new country, in the food industry, not knowing anything, like I didn’t, I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And I was young and dumb. And, you know, just my ego.

Heather Pearce Campbell  07:03

I needed to prove that I can do this. Yeah,

Cesar Quintero 07:07

You know, and time happened and the business grew and grew. But my time kept getting lower and lower. I was answering the phones delivering the meals, you know, I had 37 employees, but at the time, I was doing everything like it’s a lot of times we start a business and we forget that we are trapped in a job. So being an attorney, you would appreciate this, I got hit with a class action. Baseless class action lawsuit I was targeted by a woman and an attorney. And I was our fifth company. You know, I had Uber before Hoover. So it was a contractor dispute like a driver contractor dispute. So we went through it, and I wanted to prove that I had done nothing wrong. And this is 2012. So I would already been eight years in business. And I let my ego get in the way. And I fought it the whole way. Like I wanted to prove that I had done nothing wrong. And I spent a ton of money on my attorneys, a ton of money in the process. I wasn’t well prepared, you know, legally, you know, I didn’t have my ducks in order. I had my contractor at different contracts, but I wasn’t like fully protected. So I learned a lot there. But what I really realize is that I had built for eight years of business that I had nothing to show for. Right, I had $0 in my bank account at this point, my health had deteriorated. I was so focused on proving a point that I completely forgot what the business was for. And I think I had never asked myself why I was in business, like I had never asked that to myself, I was just young, saw the opportunity and jumped in. And so that created an awakening in me, you know, it was something that needed to change. And so I went through a Simon Sinek purpose discovery. And I went through reading books on how to improve and how to do different things. And what I realized there is that my purpose was always around people. My purpose is to empower others so that they can live the life they want to live. And I’ve been doing this all my life. But I just wasn’t doing it in my business. I was focused on the profit on the product, on the processes and not on my people. That’s what I’m saying, You know what, I need to shift this, I need to shift this right now. I’m going to focus on what I’m passionate about. And I’m passionate about people. So I started thinking about what is best for them, what do they want? How can I help them succeed? And I realized that I was always in the way. So I learned a lot as a leader. Then I read the book traction, which helped me create a system that the business depended less on me and more on everybody and decentralized myself. So I went through a lot of different shifts and changes and were molded in one year. We quadrupled in profit and doubled in sales. I was working one day a week where my team was really taking ownership and eventually I sold my company to two of my team members which is really one of the best things I could wish for them. And then I went out and started to other companies, I did the SAS. And then I did the other thing, and I got bored. And I started another one. So now I have two coaching companies that are really aligned with my purpose. And I love to do what I do, because I don’t feel like working. And I’m always teaching, learning and driving people through the same experiences I went through. And what I realized in these last six years I’ve been coaching and doing these things, is that you know, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs find their purpose, find their systems, fine, get them out of the business. And what I’ve realized is my story is not unique. My story is every entrepreneur’s story, so I’m like, You know what, there’s something here that I need to talk about. So that’s when I wrote the book, you know, and the profit recipe, it’s really what the firm is all based on, which is the profit recipe, which my one of my businesses, and what we do there is we take the entrepreneur through the five stages of entrepreneurship, you know, and we start with startup by design. Then we go to leader by design, team, by design, business by design, and then life by design, right. And it’s really a flywheel. So it’s a circle, if you can imagine it, right? It’s a circle that goes because it’s a flywheel effect, the first time you go around it, it feels tough. It took me seven years to get to a million dollars in revenue, it took me 15 years to sell my first company. But then the second third time, within the first year, I was at the million within my fourth company, it was up to millions within the first year. Because now you know, now you’ve gone through the cycle, you’ve gone through that flywheel. And it gets easier and easier. You understand what you’re good at and what you’re not good at, you understand what you need team members for, you understand the systems, you understand how to manage and do these things. So this book is really about understanding those stages, understanding how to get unstuck from those stages, and practical tools. And it’s a big book, but it’s not a cover to cover book, like entrepreneurship is messy. We’re always growing in all directions. So wherever you’re stuck, just go to that chapter, go to that and get unstuck and then go to the next. Right, so it’s very much around that. And so I’m sorry, my story, God.

Heather Pearce Campbell  12:09

No, no, no, it absolutely did it. And I love it, I can tell what a resource this book will be for people. And I think you really powerfully described going back to the first business in this place where you were having enough success that it kept you going, not enough that you were past that point of stuckness. And I think I have another friend who teaches on that point. And I so wish I could remember what he labels it, he has a really great label for this point in business where it’s like you you kind of have proof of concept like something is successful enough, you’re generating income, you’re meeting your costs, but that’s kind of it you’re it’s not translating into next level growth and creating a lifestyle that for you is sustainable, and makes it enjoyable to run a business, right? Because that’s a huge commitment. Yeah. So I think it’s a really powerful thing, if you have, you know, first of all walked the path and you understand that portion of the journey, but then you can teach people how to move through that.

Cesar Quintero  13:11

Yeah, and I got so passionate about each of these steps that you know, and also out there like I would read a lot of business books, I would read a lot of self help books, I would read a lot of leadership books, but none of them really integrated. The entrepreneur, none of them really like talk about both because in this model, we talk about startup by design, which is understanding what your market fit is, what your scalability is, what your profitability, but then we also talk about self knowledge as a leader, what are you vulnerable at? What are you good at? What are you not good at? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? How do we need to embrace vulnerability because we can’t do it? All right. And then we move into teams and then different teams by design, external teams, mentors, coaches, peer groups, people who get you were the average of the five people around us. But then also internal teams, structurally, what do I need? Who do I need to complement my team? Who’s gonna make the decisions, all those things? And then we moved into systems and operating systems and processes and different things. But then we go into purpose, ideal life ikigai, like, what do you want life to look like? And then you create a life by design versus by default, because if we’re really intentional about things, we can create boundaries, we can create limits, we can set that path if not, like me, the first eight years of business life was just happening to me. Yes, this was just happening to me. And then I had nothing to show for it because I wasn’t intentional about it.

Heather Pearce Campbell  14:33

Well, that’s right. And I was just talking with actually right before this conversation, I had another podcast guest on and we were talking about this very concept how people will pour everything into their business as an entrepreneur thinking, if I can create success here, then I’ll have other successes in my life or then that will translate into success in life and it’s like no, after know the whole picture you have to know just like you said, Edie where your business fits and where those boundaries are. So that you are creating a business that serves you from the start. And you’re not just throwing everything into the business to the point of exhaustion, where you just are ready to walk away.

Cesar Quintero  15:13

100% and I was definitely there a couple of times, for sure. Yeah.

Heather Pearce Campbell  15:18

What do you love about entrepreneurship?

Cesar Quintero  15:22

I believe entrepreneurship changes the world. So it’s not institutions, it’s not governments, it’s not big business, who changes the world are the entrepreneurs, it’s the people who are in the ground, who make a difference in the community and will make a difference with their people. And like, I believe that’s true. But that’s only true. If the entrepreneur spends all their time and energy and things they love to do, and they’re great at. And that’s where I think the trap is, a lot of us create a business just to have a job. And we’re not, we’re not transforming ourselves or the people around us by really living our superpowers and really focusing on what we’re great at and love to do. And I think that’s my mission. My mission, with this book with my firm and with my businesses, is around really creating that power entrepreneurship has in our country and our world. And then how do we leverage entrepreneurs and really get them to focus on the real problems and the real things we need to solve?

Heather Pearce Campbell  16:25

I love that you and I speak the same language. And, you know, I push so hard, I tell people, I deliver legal support. But really what I’m sneaking in is business leadership. Right, you can’t lead a business without understanding or having some legal support along the way. And yeah, and how do we get the folks that are, you know, trying their hardest to build a successful thriving business? Who are the people that are committed to social causes that are committed, they are the socially conscious entrepreneurs who, who do have the capability of changing the world, we need those people to create thriving businesses.

Cesar Quintero  17:09

Yes, yeah. Yeah. And in reality, we think about it like innovation, all of these things like big corporations don’t do that, the government is way behind institutions and don’t even go there. Like that. That’s who gets acquired whoever’s innovative and craves change, then they get acquired, then they grow. And, you know, it’s not like you always start a business to get acquired, but you always start a business to make an impact either on yourself, on your community, on your, on your peers. So it’s the place where you can really make a difference.

Heather Pearce Campbell  17:39

Oh, my gosh, well, and it’s so true, what you just said about innovation. And, you know, the ability of small businesses to be scrappy, and come up with solutions that don’t exist in the marketplace really is tremendous. We have such tremendous opportunities right now. Anybody who has had a frustrating experience with the government, or with like, I literally remember, and this was years ago, I was probably still pretty green, I was doing a lot of land use and real estate law at the time. And so it meant that I was down in the building department and land use department for the city of Seattle often, yeah. And you’d end up in a line, and then you’d get to the desk. And it would be like 359. You talk to the person, they’re like, oh, sorry, the close up, we close at four. And I’m like, but your offices say, you know, eight to five, or nine to five or whatever, oh, well, we don’t pull any more documents after four, you know, and it’s like, I just waited in a freaking line for like two hours or whatever, just to be told that you’re literally not going to go walk 10 steps to your filing system and pull one more set. Like, I just remember thinking, if this was a business, this would never fly. You know, it just is not sustainable. So yes, the truth of that cannot be overstated. And I think that as small businesses, we can constantly be asking ourselves, what are the ways that we need to be serving our clients in a way that’s not happening right now? In the marketplace at large? Right? Yeah, yeah. It’s huge. Yeah. Well, what, I’d love to hear more, because I know you mentioned briefly the framework for your you know, both your book book, and I think probably what you teach through your business, right? Yeah. Where do you see people getting most stuck? I mean, we’ve talked about kind of an area of business growth wise, where people really get stressed. But talk to us a little bit about what you see, and what are the really sticking points for folks that you help them work through?

Cesar Quintero 19:35

Yeah, what I see is, you know, there’s five separate stages that define, you know, their startup, which is really understanding your market fit, how to scale and how to become profitable. That’s kind of where a lot of tactical people get stuck. You know, it’s more of the entrepreneurial artists. I need to make this business work and, but usually that one most people can really go ahead from right you don’t need to. I think a lot of people get stuck on A leader by design is really embracing your vulnerability and what you’re good at. And you’re not. For instance, in my case, you know, everybody kept telling me it’s like, as the owner of your business, you need to be on top of your finances, you need to know your numbers, you need to manage all the cash flows and the loans and the banking relationship. Like, if people knew me, I’m the worst possible cash manager there is like, I should not be managing the finances in my business. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  20:22

I’m so glad that you’re saying this, can I just put a pin in this because I really truthfully believe just based on personalities based on, you know, over 20 years serving businesses, there are people that are here, to generate, to create to generate, and then there are people who can be in a totally different personality, that are the trackers and the ledger. And then you know, and I just love that you’re saying that it’s okay not to be that.

Cesar Quintero 20:52

That’s the biggest, I think that’s where most people get stuck in, in the leader by design is. Well, just because I start a business doesn’t mean I have every job in it, right? It just means I need the best people to do this job. And if it’s not me, it’s okay. Just embrace that and understand what you’re good at what you’re not, and just plug the holes, you know,

Heather Pearce Campbell  21:12

Do you think this is what we’re talking about right here? Do you think it keeps people from thinking of themselves as a CEO? Because they go, Oh, I don’t relate to that. And I probably should if I were actually a CEO.

Cesar Quintero 21:25

CEO or like the way I try to say it is to position yourself as a shareholder. If you have shares in your company, would you hire yourself to do that position? Or not? Right? Like, is that something that you would recommend? Like, you’re doing all your money and your investment as a shareholder is there. And that’s so true as an entrepreneur, like, all my money was in my business, but I kept doing the I wouldn’t do this for my investments? I wouldn’t do this. So I think that’s a big area where you know, self awareness, understanding what we’re good at, what we’re not, and really understanding and plugging into, what are the things that the worst part is we’re always stuck in the things we’re not we’re good at. But we don’t like to do it? Yes. Right. Like, I know, I don’t need to be doing this. But I’m gonna spend so much time teaching this other person to do this, right? Yes, talking about the things I don’t like to do. And that’s where energy just drains, right. So, we need people to love what they do and be good at it is to understand your superpowers and focus most of your time on that. So that’s a leader by design. I think that team by design, where most people are stuck in the third in the third stage of a team, is externally, like a lot of entrepreneurship is lonely. It’s a place where not everybody knows you’re not everyone understands you. You’re one week, you can’t make payroll, the next week, you’re flying off to Paris, right? So it’s like this lifestyle that nobody gets. And I think a lot of times we need people around us to really lift us right, we’re the average of the five people around us. So if you find a peer group, entrepreneurs, organization, accelerator groups, chambers, places where people say minded you know, not say minded, but you know, people who are going through the same experience, you can relate to them, you can, you can see how you can go. So creating an external team, mentors, coaches, consultants, so important, all those things, right. So even legal, like I had no idea what I had right or wrong, going into this class action, I could have prevented so many things, if I had the right legal protection in my company to do so. Right. But I need people around me that helped me become a better leader and a better person. So I think having a team not only externally, but also internally, right, that’s what you’re saying. Some people are great at tracking, some people are great at our operations. Some people are great at different things. So who do you need in your team in order to succeed? So as a team by design, that’s number three. And then we need to go to business by design. Right? See most people stuck there that they’re doing everything, there was me answering the phones delivering the meals, I had 37 employees, but I made every single decision in that business. Right? Like there’s a cop, you can only do so much, right. And I think business by design is creating a business that doesn’t work without you, that doesn’t need you to work. Right. So when I started implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System, there’s a lot of systems out there scaling up EOS Gorinchem. A business there’s, there’s different ones. I chose the OS because it’s just simple. And it’s easy. So I use that. And within a year, I was working one day a week, we had doubled in sales and quadrupled profits. It’s like amazing what better way I’m like, Oh, I was the issue in my business. Like I just needed to get out. I just needed to let them make decisions.

Heather Pearce Campbell  24:45

Well, and I think yes, I think so many people recognize that right relates to you just saying, Oh, I’m the issue in my business. And yet they don’t exactly know how to solve it. They don’t know where to start to solve that.

Cesar Quintero 24:57

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that’s why like all And this book is messy and and you’re saying like, which stage Shouldn’t you start with. And it’s like it’s a circle to all. We’re doing all of these all the time. It’s just that the way it’s designed, the flywheel is designed is where you’re stuck. Just go to the lowest level, get unstuck from that first and then move to the next. Right. So that’s how this model and framework works if you go through the book. And that’s what I say in the first chapter of my book is, this book is the same as entrepreneurship. You don’t read it cover to cover, there’s no order, it’s where you are stuck, and just go to that chapter, get unstuck, and then get out, do what you need to do, and then come back when you get stuck again. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  25:39

it’s an evolution, it makes so much sense when you describe it that way. Because it’s not like in any business, like, put a marketing plan together and you’re done. You never revisit your marketing, you put a sale together and you’re done. Right? It’s just not how it goes and legal is not set it and forget it you like as your business evolves, your needs evolve and change the categories. That’s right. Yeah.

Cesar Quintero 26:04

Yeah, it’s funny you call it evolution. It’s an evolution flywheel. It’s the entrepreneurial evolution flywheel, so yeah, I love it. So it’s all about evolving as an entrepreneur and really going through each stage. And then lastly, when you have the time, and usually people, that’s when you go to life by design, that’s what my jam is all about. Because that’s when we get to life by design, now you start creating projects and businesses that are really aligned to your purpose, really aligned to your lifestyle, really aligned to what you need to do. And then you really drive impact, right, so that’s that, and usually sometimes it takes two businesses, sometimes it takes three, sometimes it’s the first one. But why we call this a flywheel is the Jim Collins referenced the first time you go around, and it’s really tough. But then the second, third, fourth, it becomes easier and easier. You already know what you need, you already understand each stage, you understand, Oh, I’m stuck again, here. Let’s do this. So it becomes easier with time and then the more impact you can make, right?

Heather Pearce Campbell  27:02

I love that I just connected with a woman who has, she’s in the middle of launching her aid business, right? So her she’s a serial entrepreneur, I’m sure you can relate to this where she builds a business and maximizes it sells it builds the next business maximizes it sells it and so like you she’s like pat it each time, you have walked the path, you know that there’s gonna be bumps along the way you meet those things, but it does become easier each time. And she’s like, the thing I’m really good at is quickly shifting into revenue generation. And that’s what you have to do to create a successful business. She’s like, it happens to be the one thing I’m really good at. Yeah, exactly. She’s like, there’s other things. Of course, she said to build a team and do all of that as well. But I think

Cesar Quintero  27:47

I’m great at building teams. That’s my super, because I love people so much I can see people. So in all of my I’ve started six businesses sold three and closed one so so I haven’t you know, so I’ve gone through these but the what I love to do is put teams together on a team and I’m like, I need you, you, you, you you we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna it’s gonna be an amazing experience.

Heather Pearce Campbell  28:12

Everybody, everybody needs you in their businesses, what you’re telling us because I struggle with that piece, right? How to Build a Team like, yeah, I love people. And I’m a total people person. And my problem is I’m like, Yeah, I love you. I like trying to choose somebody based on like, well, you know, to mean it, it becomes very challenging, because I want to give everybody a chance. And so there are those of us who, like, I’d feel like I should be so much better at it. And it still feels like something that’s a real challenge for me.

Cesar Quintero 28:45

Yeah, yeah, I can see that. Yeah. When I was interviewed always in my first business, I always loved everyone. I’m a people person to like, oh, yeah, no worries. You don’t know how to cook. It’s fine. I didn’t know how to cook. And I did this as well, just come and learn. You know, Cesar stop doing this.

Heather Pearce Campbell  29:03

Oh, that’s such a good example. Yeah.

Cesar Quintero 29:07

I didn’t know anything about food. And I made it. So yeah. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  29:10

Gotta learn on the fly. Yeah, totally. Oh, my gosh. Well, and what would you say to people, though, that point of people because I think that’s one of the sticking points for a lot of small businesses is how to successfully build a team because small businesses don’t have a lot of budget to waste and they don’t have a lot of time to waste.

Cesar Quintero  29:30

Yeah, and in my case nowadays, so what I like about the new model is that what I’m seeing everywhere is a fractional work right. Now you can get a top shelf marketing person, five hours a week out of the fractional of a price, CFO, fractional CFO, fractional COO, fractional integrators fraction. I’m seeing fractals everywhere, which I love.

Heather Pearce Campbell  29:50

Good. So you support that. I love..

Cesar Quintero 29:53

I definitely support that 100% especially smaller businesses are growing. So I have several clients at what they do. As they hire the fractals, and once they can afford them, they hire someone to fractionalize and train them. Right and then levels them up. And then they’re ready. Right? So I love the fractional model. I also love assessments, culture index, predictive index, different assessments that can give you a heads up on different things that you want to look for. I’m an assessment junkie, I love them.

Heather Pearce Campbell  30:23

Oh, my gosh, you would have loved the guest literally, immediately before this. Do you know what her eighth business is? What is assessment? It’s an assessment. Yes, it is helping other businesses create an assessment model within their business. Yeah, yeah. I love that. Oh, good.

Cesar Quintero 30:39

So yeah, so assassins makes it easy as well, because you can kind of understand what, what, what you’re looking for. But then the most important thing you said was that the budget was important and building a team, as the entrepreneur, as a leader, we need to sell the vision. Because the problem is that, you know, people will go like, why would I want to work for a small company? Why would I want to do this now? You can get your upside much bigger than that, right? So as leaders aren’t our job is to sell the vision, it’s to sell our purpose, sell why we do this, why we’re changing why nowadays more than ever purpose and cause Trump’s salary, right. So it’s, as an entrepreneur, I go like, Okay, this is a plan, I’m putting everybody in the room, this is my new business, this is what we want to do. Is everybody in, right, and we need to sell that vision. And if they sell that vision, then you know, sky’s the limit. You know, what I try to do when I talk about negotiating, is what do you need to make? And what do you want me to make is, you know, this is a thing on the floor, you need to make, but then want to make, let’s figure out a way for us to get there somehow, right? And it’s my job as a leader entrepreneur, to figure that out, Oh, if we grow this, if we do this, if we do that it’s a bonus incentivize? Let’s get it, right. So when you’re attracting talented people to your business, we need to sell the vision and then figure out a way for them to have an upside, that will be more than if they’re incorporated. They’re doing it right. When I was in Procter and Gamble, I ran $60 million budgets and savings and all these things, and I was making nothing doesn’t change based on the amount of things I do been in a small business, though. No, bonuses can be a big incentive there.

Heather Pearce Campbell  32:29

Well, and this, the thing that I love about businesses that are doing this the right way, is it’s much more of a win win win scenario for everyone, right? It’s not it’s, it’s a little bit like so for me, I’ve always considered myself a little like, on the outside, not integrated into the real traditional legal model. I didn’t know any attorneys, I didn’t come from a lifestyle of having any experience about what the legal world looked like, just was a good fit for my brain and for my love of business. But there were no inroads. I, you know, everything that I created in my practice was ground up. And, I look at the traditional legal model, and like so many big companies, it’s built on the backs of associates. Yeah, you know, and, and there’s very little upside, unless you’re one of the few that becomes partner track level, right. And even then, it’s quite a trade off for a lot of people, because you’re giving up so much control over your practice and over your life. So anyways, I could go on all day about this, but I love it. This is who really think about that model differently, to build those win wins into, you know, into their business for their team so that their team gets to participate in that upside and, and, and understand how that effort directly pays off, including for them.

Cesar Quintero 33:51

We had open management in my business, our margins were so low, I’m like, I need your help you need you need to help me, you know, oh, yes, yeah. And then eventually, that led to two of my employees buying the business because they understood the numbers, they understood the risks, they understood everything that was going on. And when we were going on a high, they’re like, Okay, and when we plateaued, they’re like, this is a time for us to buy. I’m like, okay, great. Um, I already have three other businesses. So it was a great place, the more they know, the more they’re vested into the company growing, the better the company performs. For sure.

Heather Pearce Campbell  34:25

Right. Well, it’s, it’s, I mean, from a business succession standpoint, right? If you’re somebody that doesn’t want to permanently be in that business, it’s huge to train people up and to create an opportunity for them to take over. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that’s so fun. Well, and I feel like we could talk all day about all things entrepreneurship. What who, who really are the entrepreneurs that you best love to serve?

Cesar Quintero 34:50

Yeah, so we talk about all five stages of entrepreneurship. So we have companies that are mom and pops 400,000 a year you know, Have an employee’s. And we have companies like Crocs and publicly traded companies that we do several divisions. And so we go the gambit, right? Because it all depends on what stage of the entrepreneurship journey you’re in. So we have solutions and resources for all stages. But what we love to do our main main, you know, like, favorite is, you know, people who have between 10 and 150 employees, they’re in that stage, where they’re growing, and they need to go through that adolescence of, I need to build the structure to scale, I need to do all that. That’s my sweet spot. That’s where I love to be. But you know, it’s really, it goes all over. And then you know, there’s resources, there’s a ton of stuff on the profit recipe.com that people can go in and check out. And then the book, you got the book with all the stages, and all the things that people can look at.

Heather Pearce Campbell  35:54

Yeah, love it. Are your clients all over? Tell me if you have a focus.

Cesar Quintero  35:58

Yeah, so we are all over the states. We have a big presence in Latin America, as you know, which I love. Yes. marketizing entrepreneurship in Latin America. So we, you know, that’s all in Spanish. We have an online business there, where we’re trying to motivate people to start businesses. So but yeah, we as a firm in the profit recipe, we work all states. And we’re centered in Miami and South Florida, but then we go all over. Yeah.

Heather Pearce Campbell  36:28

Talk to us. Is there a difference in entrepreneurship in Latin America versus other places? Will you share with us what your insights are?

Cesar Quintero 36:36

There’s a big difference. Yeah, I think like Latin America, Africa, Asia, developing continents, that if you don’t come from a family, business, or a place of money, there’s really no real opportunity for you to be an entrepreneur. Right? So we take that for granted, people here can start a business online, right? 

Heather Pearce Campbell  36:59

And like, you could be 14 years old, and throw up a website in your mom’s garage overnight, and suddenly be in business.

Cesar Quintero 37:05

Register, right? You can register and have all the permits, and all the things, everything online, it’s and Latin America, it’s just not that easy. And a lot of our I think it’s also culture based, you know, the risk adversity and the more conservative, traditional countries, you know, it’s harder for people to start business. So we started inputting the load growth model, which I’m putting the load is entrepreneurship in Spanish, so that we can help professionals start a minimum viable product service on the side. So then they can make the leap and jump into entrepreneurship. So we have a community of coaches, a community of nine University, where we help people go through that process. And so, you know, being from Latin America and seeing that if you go down, you know, there’s a lot of entrepreneurial spirit, but there’s not a lot of entrepreneurial impact. So that’s what we want to change in Latin America. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  38:01

No. I love that. So how and I assume, let me ask her, do you have two different websites? Where can you find out like, for folks that maybe would be listening to this podcast from any Latin American country? Can they find out about you through your primary website? Or is there a secondary? We should?

Cesar Quintero 38:19

Yeah, the profitrecipe.com is our main website for the firm, and then emprendedorgrowthmodel.com is the Latin American one. Yeah.

Heather Pearce Campbell  38:27

Okay. Awesome. I love it. Well, Cesar, I so appreciate you, I can tell that you are super passionate about what you do. Where do you like for folks to connect with you online? Obviously, we can send them to your website. Do you do social media, or do you prefer people to connect through your website?

Cesar Quintero38:47

Yeah, I’m on LinkedIn. I’m on LinkedIn. I’m Cesar E. Quintero. Cesar C-E-S-A-R, the letter E, which is my second name. Okay. Quintero is my last name. So that’s my LinkedIn handle. And then orc came third was my last name. cesar.com. That’s my personal website. So you can people can go there too.

Heather Pearce Campbell  39:05

Okay, awesome. Well, we will share all of those links. What final takeaway would you like to leave people with today?

Cesar Quintero  39:13

Hmm. I think I’m going to leave people with, as entrepreneurs, we change the world. But that only happens if we’re spending our time and energy and the things we love and we like and we’re good at. If we just have a job. We’re not creating the impact we need to create.

Heather Pearce Campbell  39:35

So good. That’s a double underline. Yeah, yeah, spending time and things that we love and that we’re good at is huge. Cesar, thank you so much. I’m so grateful. We have the chance to connect and I really truly wish you the very best on your journey. I hope that we have the chance to be in touch again.

Cesar Quintero  39:52

Thank you, Heather. It was great being here and I hope talking soon. Absolutely.

GGGB Outro  40:00

Thank you for joining us today on the Guts, Grit and Great Business™ podcast. We hope that we’ve added a little fuel to your tank, some coffee to your cup and pep in your step to keep you moving forward in your own great adventures. For key takeaways, links to any resources mentioned in today’s show and more, see the show notes which can be found at www.legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and if you enjoyed today’s conversation, please give us some stars and a review on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast so others will find us too. Keep up the great work you are doing in the world and we’ll see you next week.