Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business solutions but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Marcello Gortana, Co-Founder of Tennis, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Tennis is a user experience and digitization firm. We help medium, enterprise, and VC-funded startups with digitization projects helping them connect humans and technology through design.
Tell us about yourself
I first started getting interested in design in high school. My initial inspiration was skateboarding. I loved skateboarding, and I started getting really interested in photography and design, which ultimately led me to produce my own magazine, which I designed and shot all the photography and tried to distribute to stores in my city.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest personal achievement is to continue seeing the growth and change in the business as we continue to scale up. We are completely self-funded and have never been interested in raising any external Monday, so in the early years, it was tough to scale and continue building on our success, but we now average growth of about 27% per year, and what most inspires me is just seeing the change and growth of the business knowing where we started.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Focus. You have to wear so many hats, and you're constantly presented with so many opportunities and directions you could go in, but I learned very early in my career as an entrepreneur that focus is crucial to actually moving your business forward.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Focus. What is the product or service you are specializing in, and who are your initial customers
- Think big and start planning to achieve those goals. Work on your vision
- What you think is a big problem or challenge won't seem that big a year later, so don't stress that much
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.designtennis.com/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/DesignTennis/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcello_gortana/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/design_tennis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcellogortana/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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