When he started studying Communications, he did not tell the truth. He assured his father that he had entered Administration. He found out that this was not the case when he was already in the eighth cycle.
LOOK: Julio Velarde: “They think they can spend almost without limits”
He graduated in Communications and took another bold step: he wanted to develop technology for public relations in the 1990s. “It was crazy,” he recalls. He went bankrupt. There was fear and even shame. He lost his money and confidence. He had to look for a job and, without knowing it, embark on a successful corporate career.
Luis Alberto Flores worked in mass consumption, mining and the Lindley Corporation, among other sectors and companies. Today he is the executive director of Innovatorsan innovation consultancy that, at the same time, has a program of the same name on digital platforms Peru21and is getting ready to return for a new season.
Once at the top of his professional career with Inca Kola, one day he came home and found his father. He was drinking a wine that Juan Alberto treasured with a certain zeal and that cost about 500 soles. And he said to him: “You did well to study Communications.” His words seemed to come from irony, but in reality they brought the taste of satisfaction and pride. “And we drank the wine,” he remembers and laughs out loud. His voice has the loquacity of a great salesman, perhaps like his father.
LOOK: PedidosYa: “The Sandwich and Hamburger category is growing at a great pace”
How to explain the work that Ynnovadores does?
It is always said that Peru is a country of entrepreneurs, and it is true. But we are full of SMEs, mypes, which is like something small… Why don’t we look for and find entrepreneurs? When I create Ynnovadores I try to understand and look for that high-impact entrepreneur. In short, what we do is develop businesses with people who have a high-value proposition, and we give them all the resources to make that takeoff happen.
Are we really a country of entrepreneurs or is this a way of covering up our shortcomings?
We are a country of entrepreneurs out of necessity. But I think we need to find the real side of the Peruvian entrepreneur, who is not the mean-spirited, the unfortunate, the miserable. But neither is he the romantic who believes he can start a business and tomorrow generate millions. We have to find the one who really works his ass off every day to deliver value, to generate employment, generate income, generate taxes, who works his ass off to pay his fortnightly and thirty-day wages on time and be a responsible businessman who generates impact, who thinks about the local market, who thinks about the international market.
Are there more of that type today?
Today there are few of those types. We have to look for them, because they are there, we just have to identify them and give them enough resources so that they can follow a different path and not become just another average Peruvian entrepreneur.
He who gets around the rules.
The one who crosses the line, the mean one. But also the other one: the superficial one, the one who sells you smoke. The perception that people have of the Peruvian businessman is not very positive. We cannot be blind. But there are good businessmen in Peru and they are parading through our program (in Peru21). We must show the real side of entrepreneurship and of doing business in Peru.
LOOK: Pablo Ezzeta, businessman: “It is difficult to compete in Gamarra” (VIDEO)
Is innovation a condition?
It should. There are different ways. Suddenly, when one thinks of innovation, one thinks of very disruptive things, but not necessarily. I can tell my winery friends that innovation is having a different element versus the competition: the service itself, the friendly smile, the pleasant conversation; or it can also be the delivery or how the product arrives. Everyone says that starting a business in Peru is very difficult, I don’t believe that. I think that the process is difficult, but the satisfaction is immense. Doing business should generate pride in whoever does it. Of course, if you start a business in Peru, you start a business anywhere (laughs).
You have to have a purpose, right?
It is essential. There may be plans, strategies, but if the purpose is clear, you change the plan, you change the strategy, but the direction is clear.
Another point is: those who are just starting out often have a regular job. What should they do: keep their job and move forward with their venture or quit and devote themselves fully to their own company?
You have to focus. If you have the possibility to dedicate yourself 100% to developing that business idea, do it; if you are working and you are earning your salary and you are gradually developing your business idea, that is also valid.
But in the latter case, the business idea can be diluted.
What should happen is that the business idea begins to materialize and that is when the big decision comes: taking your business 100%. The true entrepreneur is the one who really does it quickly: making the company take off.
Are Peruvians more cautious or risky?
Cautious, conservative. People want their bonus, their salary. But the true entrepreneur wants to bring well-being, wants to generate wealth and also wants to have a positive impact on their community, their society, the country and there are those of us who want to have an impact on the world.
Is social enterprise the future of entrepreneurship?
That would be ideal. If you have a social vision, you are going to do business anyway. There must be a human purpose to being an entrepreneur.
Self-portrait:
-“I am Juan Alberto Flores Contreras. I am 52 years old. I was born in Lima. I studied Communications and I only knew that I wanted to communicate. My father was a small businessman, he had an auto parts store. He was a great salesman, very funny, he knew five thousand jokes.”
-“I started my career at Procter & Gamble and reached the top at Lindley, where I was part of the board of the Inca Kola Foundation and was director of Institutional Affairs for the Lindley Corporation. And I was 40 years old. Before that, I worked in mass consumption, and in Support.”
-“I moved into the electric power sector. I have traveled around the country following transmission lines. I was drawn to mining, to the Milpo group. And they called me to Lindley. I left and I didn’t want to go anywhere else. And I said I had to start my own business and Ynnovadores was born, and now I want to publish the Ynnovadores book.”
Take advantage of the NEW EXPERIENCE: receive our enhanced digital newspaper by email or WhatsApp.
Perú21 ePaper Get to know our plans!
Recommended video:
