Personal Narrative
Being born and brought up in a family of business-minded parents, I developed my interest in business at a tender age. My mom was a famous fruit vendor in Phoenix town of the Arizona state, United States of America. My father owned several real estates and commercial enterprises in the entire state of Arizona. I spent my childhood in Apple Groceries, the name of my mom’s business. The customer relations, communication, management and financial skills that I learned from my mother’s business would later help me build my business portfolio.
I was ten years old when an idea struck in my mind that I should begin building my empire. Before then, I had passed through various business journals, articles and amassed myself critical knowledge of what it takes to survive in the business world. To build up my knowledge, I had also learned key takeaways from some of the then entrepreneurs like Oprah Winfrey of the Oprah Winfrey Network and Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Pay pal and founder of Palantir. With such knowledge and first-hand experience, I believed I was set to go, and to move from imaginary to practical, I open my fruit vendor shop still in Phoenix but from a different location. Apple Groceries had become famous, so to strategically penetrate the market, I used the same brand name, and it worked out to the best. With the governments call on the need to maximize fruit and vegetable consumption for healthy living, I was on the right track.
For the first month in business, I operated at break-even. But in the second month, the business started picking. I began building my clientele base, establishing relationships with suppliers and making business friendships with the market competitors, because business people states that for one to survive in an area where stiff competition, they must make their competitors their friends. More importantly, I kept on studying the market for more opportunities. Business picked, and all went on well until the first six months when I experienced a setback. I could not account for the proceeds from the business because I did not keep proper records. Another mistake I had made was mixing with business money with my money. I went back to my mom for business advice, and this she did accordingly. The mistakes were a lesson that would later help me in managing my business portfolio. After rectifying the mistake, I went on with my business. I had learned that diversification was the road to travel and so I put some of the returns from the business into agriculture, specifically planting of vegetables.
Luckily, vegetables were always on demand in the state, as they do today, and this was a life-changing opportunity for me. I used to supply some of my competitors with whom I had developed a good network. My parents also secured schools and hospital tenders for me to supply fruits and vegetables. By the age of twenty-two, I had amassed myself a lot of wealth, and then I began building my business empire. I ventured in real estate business through the help of my father. I have also tried my luck in the hotel industry by running a chain of hotels. But more importantly, I opened a one-stop-shop for veggies and fruits, which operates by the name Phoenix Greens, and it advocates for a health living to combat infections like diabetes and obesity.
In conclusion, I have come to learn that in life, we get whatever we put into it. If people put little effort in their endeavors, they get little rewards. Another lesson I have come to learn is that networking is a crucial technique for survival because it can make people win life-changing opportunities. Additionally, people should follow their passion. People ought to identify their passions as early as in their tender age, and then start pursuing their dreams from there. Finally, choose a solution that solves a society’s problem, and one will win the game.