“Through preparation, aspiring entrepreneurs will see how much they need to start their business, and how they can get their return on investment.”
Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself to our readers. They want to know you, some of the background story to bring some context to your interview.
Yeremia Poco: My name is Jeremy, Co-founder at Eggplain. We are a digital marketing agency that specializes in animated commercials or explainer video production.
At the beginning of my career, I worked at an established digital company as the head of sales & marketing. And since 2015, I started my own digital marketing agency business that specializes in animated content from commercials, explainers, educational, social media, and more.
You are a successful entrepreneur, so we’d like your view point, do you believe entrepreneurs are born or made? Explain.
Yeremia Poco: While people are born with different characteristics, I believe that being an entrepreneur needs more than just a gift. Being in the right environment, or going to the right school, does have a big impact on entrepreneurs.
Use me as an example. None of my parents are entrepreneurs, but growing up I liked to read business books and watched entrepreneurs. I studied marketing at college, and after I graduated, I decided to work at a smaller company so that I can work directly with the owner. After a few years of learning, I started my own business. So I believe entrepreneurs are made.
If you were asked to describe yourself as an entrepreneur in a few words, what would you say?
Yeremia Poco: I’m a successful entrepreneurs that offer unique benefit to my clients, and have full support from my team.
Tell us about what your company does and how did it change over the years?
Yeremia Poco: Eggplain is a digital marketing agency that specializes in animated content such as animated commercials, explainer videos, social media content, and more.
A major change that happened in our company is, at first we focused on big projects. But over the last couple of years, we decided to work on more but smaller-scale projects. We want to reach smaller businesses and startups.
Thank you for all that. Now for the main focus of this interview. With close to 11.000 new businesses registered daily in the US, what must an entrepreneur assume when starting a business?
Yeremia Poco: New entrepreneurs must able to answer this before starting their business; what unique benefit that your product/service offers compare to the competitors?
Did you make any wrong assumptions before starting a business that you ended up paying dearly for?
Yeremia Poco: Maybe not a wrong assumption, but I did overlook the importance of SEO at the start of our business. That affected our website performance, and revenue a lot.
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what advice would you give yourself and why? Explain
Yeremia Poco: Spend more time and investment for SEO. Our business runs through the internet, and I didn’t understand much about the importance of SEO back then.
What is the worst advice you received regarding running a business and what lesson would you like others to learn from your experience?
Yeremia Poco: Thank God we didn’t have major setbacks throughout our business years, so I don’t have a ‘lesson’ to share. However, I do believe that we need to have a side business as a backup. Not so much that it takes most of our time, but find something that can run as a passive income.
In your opinion, how has COVID-19 changed what entrepreneurs should assume before starting a business? What hasn’t changed?
Yeremia Poco: After Covid-19, new entrepreneurs might want to consider doing their business online (if applicable). Or if their business must be offline, then they need to invest in a health and precaution system. The thing that hasn’t changed is customer demand for a unique offering.
What is a common myth about entrepreneurship that aspiring entrepreneurs and would-be business owners believe in? What advice would you give them?
Yeremia Poco: ‘You must be rich or have a lot of money before you can start a business.’ Learn your product/service inside out, and plan your business correctly. Through preparation, aspiring entrepreneurs will see how much they need to start their business, and how they can get their return on investment.
What traits, qualities, and assumptions do you believe are most important to have before starting a business?
Yeremia Poco: For entrepreneurs, I believe we need to have the resilience to get through the difficult times, and an open mind to keep learning/improving our business.
How can aspiring leaders prepare themselves for the future challenges of entrepreneurship? Are there any books, websites, or even movies to learn from?
Yeremia Poco: I’m sure there are a lot of books and guides to keep up to date with the challenges, and it might depend on their niche. However, one thing that stayed with me until now is; there is no one answer/key to success, keep learning and see which one works for you.
You have shared quite a bit of your wisdom and our readers thank you for your generosity but would also love to know: If you could choose any job other than being an entrepreneur, what would it be?
Yeremia Poco: Probably teaching or consulting.
Thank you so much for your time, I believe I speak for all of our readers when I say that this has been incredibly insightful. We do have one more question: If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore, but not a politician, who would it be; why?
Yeremia Poco: Someone that gives their life to humanity, someone like Gandhi or Mother Theresa. Because our world, especially now, needs someone like them.
This interview was originally published on ValiantCEO.