Since before I was born, my father has been an entrepreneur. After 22 years, I've watched my parents run and handle their company, Lee Tools, which involved importing and exporting tools and supplies from China to Argentina. We actually lived in an apartment-style unit above the warehouse
– it was also connected to their offices. They were always busy. My father was always communicating via the walkie-talkie function on his Nextel. And my mother spent days at a time in her office taking care of the accounting.
After my mother, sister and I moved to South Florida, the business started dying. The economy in Argentina had taken a step and a half in the wrong direction and my father had to figure out something else to do. His second business, Maossage Express, was a little franchise he quickly put together. He liked the idea of the massage stands you see in malls and opened up about 10 of them around Buenos Aires. He would set them up, manage them for a short period of time, then hire someone to do it for all for him. I was 14 years old when he put these plans into action, and I remember feeling utterly impressed.
As Maossage continued to grow, my father had another project he was working on. Osara would be a Japanese fast-food chain with a half dozen locations across Argentina. One of my father's favorite things to do was cook. He loved taking over the meal plan at our yearly family reunions, so it was inevitable he turned his pleasure into business. Argentina's first Japanese fast-food restaurant was modeled after a combination of hibachi-style cooking and typical Chinese takeout. It was also the first restaurant to integrate free refills into the menu.
My father saw opportunity and ran with it. His diverse set of businesses may be the reason I still have yet to figure out what to do with my life. I understand the degree of dedication it takes to be successful. For about 9 years he lived on a different continent than his family. At the same time, I've certainly reaped the benefits of a prospering entrepreneur's business. I've taken all business advice given to me by my father and it's been easy to
– I mean, it's in my blood.
Wow. Your father's determination and relentlessness when it comes to his business aspirations are inspiring! Even after his first tool business started to go dry he quickly came up with another idea and that's what entrepreneurs are great at. I've learned not to give up even if one idea doesn't work out. Also, Hibachi restaurants are my favorite types of restaurants so I'm very jealous you are related to the owner of Osara. I'm impressed at how many business' your dad has had his hand in and the fact that he ran them while living away from his family! My entrepreneurship story is different than yours in the fact that mine is through a friend who made hand-made soaps and sold them in boutiques ( http://rmathisonent3003.blogspot.com/2016/01/my-entrepreneurship-story.html). Yours is more larger scale than mine and has reaped what seems like a lot of benefits. I hope you can continue on your dad's track in the business world if you choose to!
ReplyDeleteWow this is such a cool story. That is such a great entrepreneurial story that involves great perseverance and hard work from your father. He did not always succeed with everything he did, but he kept on pushing towards his goals and that is something that we can all learn from! I also think his diverse set of business opportunities is good for you! If you want to eventually run businesses with your father, you will be able to choose which market interests you the most.
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