Very Short Interview

Alejandro Ortega is the owner of A&J Mart Plaza, in partnership with his brother. Over ten years ago, their parents found an unmet need of opening a gas station in a isolated community where it’s nearest gas station was over five miles away. They opened a Texaco, and a few years later, they bought the rights to become their own firm. Today, there are two more gas stations across the street, but they continue to thrive during economic recession, and have adapted to the community and provide products that the consumers want. They have also opened another gas station, and a car repair shop.

What should my expectations be in this course?

Mr. Ortega: Keep an open mind and do not get discouraged. An entrepreneurship course is not the place where you will be taught how to open a business and how you will become successful. Instead, your expectations should be on how to find opportunities, and how to apply them in your career and every day life.

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

Mr. Ortega: To be an entrepreneur is to scan your environment, and find opportunities to get the right target market to come to your business. Also, to be an entrepreneur is to not be affected by externalities such as the economic turndown or competition.

You have to be innovative and creative in all situations, and focus on keeping your customer base but also widening it at the same time.

What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?

Mr. Ortega: What you should learn from this course is time management and innovation.

What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? 

Mr. Ortega: I’m a self taught entrepreneur, when I attended college I attended to study mechanics in order to work for Mercedes, which I did. Few years later my parents decided on moving to Florida in order to open a family business, and from that day I became an entrepreneur. My knowledge came from being placed in the role of an entrepreneur, and I succeeded in that role. Even though I did not have a business background, I encouraged my children to do so because they will be taking over the business once I retire, and I want them to have the right knowledge to take our family business to the next level.

·      My biggest takeaway from this interview was speaking to Mr. Ortega from a business perspective, and not an employee, and I was impressed on how they have excelled in my community, even when they faced many externalities.