About a week ago, I was able to get in touch with an entrepreneur from my hometown. Mike DeQuattro is the owner of Venus Pizzeria, a small but thriving restaurant offering pizza by the slice and other classic Italian fare. Thanks to dynamic marketing and solid products, he was able to turn a vacant and formerly problematic storefront into one of the neighborhoods most frequented spots.
Mr. DeQuattro, thanks for interviewing with me today! Like I said over the phone, this is part of an assignment for my Entrepreneurship class. Just to get a different perspective of the field.
"Sure! It's my pleasure."
So, first off, what are some things you wish you had been formally taught in school prior to starting your own business?
"Well, I wish I had been taught the basics of finance. That was something I had to learn by myself and through others. I also wish that I could've had more extensive training in info systems and graphic or web design. I hope thats something kids in your generation are more accustomed to."
You consider yourself an entrepreneur, what does that mean to you?
"It means you have to work harder than a lot of people. In the initial stages, I had to do almost everything by myself. Drafting our business model, figuring out all the laws and codes associated with operating a restaurant, accounting, budgeting, not to mention all the struggles it took to even begin construction of the physical building, damn, I had all of that to deal with everyday for a long time *short chuckle* I'm happy with how it all turned out though. Starting your own business takes a real strong attitude. Keeping yourself 100% determined the whole way through, and when planning you have to have an extremely focused attention to detail. I think being an entrepreneur is very rewarding though, I'm very proud of the work my team and I have done so far."
So, what do you think I should be learning in this course?
"Man, I think it's really cool that you are even offered a course like this! If you're truly interested in this field, make sure that you try to think of ways to realistically apply each concept. Can I ask what the course summary is? Was there a syllabus? *I pull up the syllabus pdf* Hm, this sounds like it could be a very creative and relevant approach. I hope that you will also learn the basics of marketing, advertising, and accounting as well. You can't make it very far without a good knowledge of technical skills. Besides that, I think you guys should be given a lot of accountability when working on projects so you can really develop a sense of how to realistically plan and process your ideas."
Well, thanks so much for letting me do this little interview! I really appreciate all the insight.
"It's no problem, best wishes for the rest of your semester."
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To reflect, I'm just glad that he was so polite and easy to interview. It was interesting to confirm just how much work it takes to start a business. I'm sure he gave me the cliff notes version of the steps he took, but even so I agree that the attitude necessary isn't something you can teach. I learned that it isn't just about the start-up, you have to continue applying the entrepreneurial process throughout the whole operation. One thing that surprised me is how multi-skilled you have to be. Before the actual interview, it was brought up that he even learned basic maintenance and fixes some of the plumbing and electrical issues himself.
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