Exclusive Q&A Interview With American Entrepreneur, And Investor Alfred Munoz

American Veteran, Entrepreneur, and Investor Alfred Munoz. He is the Founding & Managing Partner of Apex One Ventures. Apex One Ventures LLC, is a Miami based, privately controlled real estate venture, development, and management company.

What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?

Push Your Limits: There is no golden rule to be a successful entrepreneur, which is why the successful entrepreneurs, who have established their empire on their own, keep pushing the envelope of their capabilities. They do not encircle themselves within their comfort zones; they keep making small targets for their own and try to meet the targets. One, who has built his house with his own hands, is not afraid to dig his hands in shaping the walls.

Aim big: Success is a journey, not a destination. For being successful in any field, the dream has to be big enough that it will make you jump out of the bed and chase the dream. The aim has to be big so that the motivation will be intact. Successful entrepreneurs do not let the fuel of their ignition burn out. That fuel is the dream or the aim; they keep in their eyes till the end.

Action: I have seen many start-ups fail to handle success; they earn overnight and ultimately fall flat on their face. Success is a good servant but a bad master when it makes its way up top your ego. Be a committed entrepreneur; Keep learning all the new things taking place in the company, if it requires staying back in the office for long. Know the nitty-gritty of your company.

Love Your Work: If you do not work for what you love, then you have to love your work. Unless you fall in love with your work, you will not be able to give your 100%. There are people, who force themselves to sit for 12-14 hours, to earn bread and butter for their family. If you love your work, even 12-14 hours would not feel like pain. You will enjoy your work, its progress, and its fruit equally.

How do you market your business, and which tactics have been most successful?

Developing a marketing strategy is vital for any business. Without one, your efforts to attract customers are likely to be haphazard and inefficient. The focus of your strategy should be making sure that your products and services meet customer needs and developing long-term and profitable relationships with those customers. To achieve this, you will need to create a flexible strategy that can respond to changes in customer perceptions and demand. It may also help you identify whole new markets that you can successfully target.

You can then create a marketing strategy that makes the most of your strengths and matches them to the needs of the customers you want to target. For example, if a particular group of customers is looking for quality first and foremost, then any marketing activity aimed at them should draw attention to the high-quality service you can provide.

Can you describe/outline your typical day?

Morning

7 – 8 am – Wake up at somewhere between

7 – 8 AM, Before even getting out of bed in the morning, the first thing I do is grab the phone to see all the missed calls, text messages, and emails that I need to respond to.

8:00 am – Hit the gym (depending on the time available). The workouts aren’t that rigorous and mostly include some light weights, treadmill while watching TV, and steam room to relax. After the workout, comes breakfast while reading the newspaper.

9:30 am – Getting dressed up for the day.

10:30 am – It’s time to communicate with the world. For almost two hours in the morning, I try to talk to potential clients and other entrepreneurs.

Afternoon

12:30 pm – Lunchtime with the team members and employees. I also sometimes meet with clients on a regular basis.

1:30 pm – It is mostly having all-team meeting in the conference room to get up to speed on what everyone else is doing.

3 pm – Since a few hours of phone calls during the morning aren’t enough, the next two hours are spent on phone calls or in-person meetings.

Evening

5 pm – This time is truly the highlight of the day. Take walks with a team member/employee every day as it’s a way of connecting with people. Many creative ideas come out of these talks. When there’s no time for walks, simply get back to checking random emails, going in for the sale, sharing a vision for the future and trying to close deals.

7 pm – Handle some of the larger strategic deals that don’t fit into any category.

9 pm – Dinner and some ‘me’ time. Doing business research, hanging out with family and friends to relax, or watching TV, with this time is used for refueling.

11 pm – Communicate with the world again. Heading back onto the computer and complete more web work and answer emails if any have come by during the evening. Online until about midnight. That concludes the day.

Running a company is not a 9-to-5 job. Entrepreneurs’ schedule is not very defined, and they consequently tend to work 7 days a week. In today’s environment where entrepreneurship is often idealized, there is still a bit of mystery surrounding exactly what modern entrepreneurs do on a daily basis. Everyone is different, of course.