Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Christian Espinosa, CEO of Christian Espinosa, LLC, located in Pocatello, ID, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I help highly rational, intelligent (High IQ) people in tech industries, mainly cybersecurity, develop people skills (EQ skills) to help them hit new levels in their careers and life.
Tell us about yourself
I'm an entrepreneur. I founded a cybersecurity company, Alpine Security, in 2014 and sold it in 2020. During my entrepreneurial journey with Alpine Security, I noticed that 99% of the company problems were because my super technically intelligent (high IQ) staff lacked people skills. I wanted to bring back the "human element" to my technology company. I focused on this for nearly 5 years and succeeded. I wrote my book "The Smartest Person in the Room" about this journey. I'm motivated to help close the "people skills gap" because I believe it is the reason we are losing the cyberwar and the reason many technical people feel misunderstood and unappreciated.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My personal growth through the journey is my biggest accomplishment. I've become a better human being by running a business. I paid a lot of "dumb tax" and have learned from most of it. A personal highlight was getting my business built up to a point I was able to sell it in 2020 to a publicly traded company.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
I wanted to grow my business, so balancing sales with delivery capacity was one of the biggest challenges. The sales and delivery capacity scale was rarely balanced. I had to work to develop a predictable sales process and delivery optimization processes to get these balanced. This required constant work. Sales would often be very good, yet delivery capacity was lacking. Or, sales would slow down, and my staff wouldn't have enough work; less revenue with consistent payroll creates cash flow challenges.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Master sales and marketing. If you build it, they will not come. You must market and have a proven sales process that converts.
- Niche it down. At first, I tried to market to everyone - after all, everyone needs cybersecurity! This resulted in limited sales and limited inbound leads - it was a red ocean strategy. I then niched it down to Medical Device Cybersecurity - this was a blue ocean strategy and allowed us to rank #1 in Google search results for medical device cybersecurity, which greatly increased inbound leads and sales.
- Hire slowly and fire quickly. Hire people that fit your culture and core values. Do not hire people based only on their skillset. When your gut says to get rid of someone, do it immediately. Don't wait.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://christianespinosa.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christian.espinosa.official
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christian.espinosa.official/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ironracer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianespinosa/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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