Entrepreneurship Is All About Adding Value

It is time to stop idealizing entrepreneurship and put the facts back on track: there is no secret formula or a step-by-step guide to building a successful business. In Mexico, new companies, on average, do not last more than five years, according to the Mexican Entrepreneurs Association (ASEM).

I’ve heard people say these thousands of times: “I want to be my own boss, and I am going to become an entrepreneur.” There is nothing wrong with that. I celebrate people’s interest and desire to want to do it; unfortunately, there are few success stories because most people forget that a business should be based on meeting people’s needs and not, as happens in many cases, on personal benefits.

From my experience, I can say that the presumed step-by-step and the phases of creating a startup are not completely real. Each organization works differently and there are various aspects beyond our control that can be impediments, preventing a company from prospering. That is why each project must add value to society. If this is crystal clear, new businesses will have a greater probability of success.

When I talk about the value that should be given to people, I am referring to that X factor, meaning the solution to a fundamental and core problem, regardless of the sector, business model or type of product or service. It is essential to be clear about the main issue that is going to be solved, to understand it exhaustively, to internalize it, and to empathize with those who need it. Once you have all of those questions checked, then you have the right solution.

For example, for Flink to become a pioneer in offering fractional shares in Mexico and provide an accessible trading service tailored to the needs of Mexicans, we had to go through different stages. When we understood that in the Mexican and Latin American financial systems there were systemic frictions that led to people being left aside by "traditional companies" for decades, we focused on creating exclusive products or services to empower them, giving them the opportunity to add more value to their money.

For this reason, the fintech boom is associated with the fact that, to a greater or lesser magnitude, these companies solve problems that have been ignored for years; hence, this sector grew 112 percent between 2018 and 2021, according to the study, "Fintech in Latin America and the Caribbean: a consolidated ecosystem for recovery," by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).

Back to Flink's case: We are aware of the value we bring to millions of people since we are developing a new market where, through financial tools, we are getting people to change their relationship with money, helping them to generate greater wealth and, above all, empowering them to manage their money through secure and accessible platforms.

The bottom line is that being a successful entrepreneur is not a matter of luck, capital or academic preparation but of having a mission to add value to people, putting them at the center of the business and serving their needs.