Cesar Quintero
About Our Guest
Cesar Quintero is a serial entrepreneur since the age of 24. Cesar has experience in what works and doesn’t in business after starting three different companies.
In 2005, he moved to Miami to pursue his dream of starting a business and helping others achieve a healthier lifestyle by founding Fit2Go. His experience as a production engineer shifted Fit2Go’s original concept of a Local Healthy Café to a more innovative and effective Healthy Meal Delivery Service that would leverage technology and logistics to satisfy the needs of health-conscious professionals.
Currently, Cesar is a founder of The Profit Recipe, a coaching firm that helps Entrepreneurs work ON their business instead of IN their business. He centres his practice on purpose and making sure the leadership team can create alignment in its vision and gain traction to achieve that vision.
About this Episode
Before Uber Eats: How Cesar Quintero Took Over a Market
An entrepreneur’s ability to deal with uncertainty is often one of the key factors in both surviving the initial years, as well as achieving success longer term.
Our most recent guest, Cesar Quintero lived and breathed this uncertainty when, at 24, he decided to move to Miami, get married, and start a healthy meal delivery service called Fit2Go. While the business model is a common one now, Cesar was first to market, having started in 2004.
One problem: He knew nothing about food.
Follow along on his journey from knocking on doors and not being able to sell a meal in a year-and-a-half to earning a 12% profit on $3 million in revenue thirteen years later before selling to his own employees.
What you will learn in this episode
In this episode we’ll cover everything from:
- Figuring out how to align your passion to enable your business
- Determining your unique formula to make business growth easier the next time around
- The payoff of investing in people over profit
- And, of course, why you should never make your mum your business partner
Connect with Cesar Quintero
Website: https://theprofitrecipe.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cesarquintero/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cesarequintero
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cesarequintero
Show Notes
(7:24) Entrepreneurs must wear many hats – especially when they’re starting out – but as Cesar learned, the more you grow, and once you hit market fit, the more you need smart people around you.
(11:53) With a focus on profit, product and process, Cesar came to the realisation that it was the 4th ‘P’, people, that would truly catapult him to success. Here’s how he put his ego aside and his business thrived.
(16:58) Business is like a flywheel. If it’s your first business, it’s going to suck and it’s going to be hard. Listen in to Cesar’s advice to his 24-year-old self.
(22:00) Every shareholder agreement will be different, but for Cesar and his first partner, it truly was a line in the sand. With clear accountability of who was responsible for specific tranches in the business, Cesar said this was one of the smartest things.
(31:19) The second exit was less of a process and more of a convenience sell. Navigating what was best for the company, best for the employees, and best for Cesar was made easier because it was an employee-led sale. Here’s the breakdown.
