Building a Business from Scratch. Passion on Purpose podcast guest Richard Blank Costa Ricas Center

Instead of two months, I spent four years working in my friend's center from 2000 to 2004, learned the business from the inside out, decided to work at the family real estate company, making calls from Costa Rica to a brokerage out of Arizona for my brother. But when the market crashed, this is where I was at. I had a little bit of money saved for at least two years worth of living. And I was in my mid thirties. I had maturity and impulse control and some capital. And I really wanted to throw my hat in the ring. What could I do? Well, I knew this industry. but I could start small. You'll love this. Started working out of my home, put the website up in October, landed my first account February 6th of 2008, but I was renting a turnkey station from a blended center, like an internet cafe. There was no privacy, but it had reliability. So I paid the taxes, made my margin, and I could scale accordingly. And I was there for a couple of years. It wasn't glamorous, but I learned really what to do and had stable clients. From there, I rented space and bought secondhand equipment and furniture. So I was able to scale for a fraction of the cost and was there for about six years until I had enough money to build out this 300 seat center where I'm at right now. And it's been a blessing. I mean, I was building on momentum, stars being aligned, the wind on your back. And why would you? when you keep betting on yourself and as long as i was willing to go 15 rounds and be accountable and feed families in this country knowing that i'm a guest here and by all means the odds were in my favor .