“Doing business alone does not lead to a great future, it only leads to a great failure” — Advice from a successful entrepreneur
I always appreciate people who can pursue their dreams and set goals which can not only change their own lives for the better but others’ as well.
Therefore, entrepreneurs and StartUpers have always been a focus for my attention.
Opportunities to write about passionate businessmen and entrepreneurs allows me to share and disseminate information about successful individuals and thus encourage others to consider and benefit from any advice these people may be able to pass on.
One such person who falls into the category of passionate businessman is our current respondent. Alex Scaglia is the managing director of a successful Italian enterprise, Sognando Casa that operates in the field of tiles. It is a distribution company, based in Milan, which allows customers to order and purchase over 5000 (of over 200 Italian and Spanish brands) products online. Tiles are dispatched and delivered in an efficient manner and within a short time-frame.
The most fascinating thing about this enterprise is that the founders are very young yet to have built up a very successful business. Alex believes that you should never stop dreaming and persisting in whatever you love and have a passion for.
…
Why did you decide to start a business in the field of tiles?
We had repeatedly used tiles in our projects and after visiting the first factory, we were very impressed with Italian technology and design, so we decided to market ceramic products not really aware of what would happen in the future.
When did you realize that you could create your current business?
After organizing some orders of tiles for several customers we realized that we were really passionate about our work and that customers were happy with what we did for them.
What was the biggest challenge at the beginning?
The most complex challenge was setting up the Company Sognando Casa. We, me and two another founders, Andrea and Matteo, were just ordinary guys like many others, with big dreams but little in the way of money, so it was a struggle at first and quite difficult to achieve success and make a profit.
It should be said that the tile sector is very competitive and successful companies are not created overnight. We overcame our initial difficulties by working hard, always attempting to take a step forward and never giving up. After a long journey of learning and disappointments, we finally managed to create a stable and successful company.
Describe your typical working day?
My day is very long! It never ends! I start early in the morning checking all the incoming e-mails on our website and checking all the orders placed from the previous evening / night. I monitor and oversee the work performance of all our collaborators and suppliers who operate in foreign markets and then contact the different factories to check availability of materials and when they will be ready for shipment.
I am always in contact and communicate regularly with our marketing department and try and make myself available if someone needs my help. I also contact our main customers and offer advice about suitable products for their projects. Finally, I always attempt to keep in touch with the various team members and find out if they have any difficulties, questions, or suggestions and discuss our achievements and challenges with them.
What do you think is the key to your business success?
Great focus and concentration, the desire to achieve results, the special people who work on our projects and at the Company. We are all young and all have the same goal “to make Sognando Casa great”
What are the main skills and characteristics that businessman should have?
Everyone can be a good businessman. There are no big secrets to success. Success depends only on commitment and your belief in the project. Then of course, if you are tall, nice and kind, it is all easier! We must always keep in mind and remember that success is for everyone and never for an individual, so if today I am proud of the person I am, merit should go to our whole group.
What are your future plans and how are you going to achieve them?
Our main and current objective is to make Sognando Casa a global company with the largest catalog of tiles in the world. We also hope to help designers to find the ideal products for their project in the easiest and fastest way possible. These are some of our goals and I am sure they will happen soon.
We have many other objectives and projects to implement but we want to build up our success in a stable way. Once we have achieved our first goal then we will pursue the next one.
What techniques do you use when you have an important meeting, do you have special methods to persuade people?
Hehe, very many! I always prepare carefully for all my meetings. I try to assess the strengths and weaknesses that the meeting might throw up. I do not follow a set structure at my appointment and I like to be guided by instinct … I have so much passion for what I do that everything is simple and natural and probably the person in front of me can perceive that and feels comfortable and not tense.
Obviously, not all the matches are a great success, but we learn from our mistakes and today I am much stronger and more determined than when I first started doing my job.
Do you think it is essential to be purposeful and stubborn in business or is it better to be more flexible ?
I think it is always better to be flexible. Arrogance and conceit never leads to good things. We need to know our customers and suppliers well and make it clear to them that we do not want to cheat them and that if they trusts us, they can obtain great benefits. Meetings are always a great opportunity to get to know another person and at every meeting I attempt to learn something new from them , maybe about the customs , traditions and culture of his homeland or his family. Every business meeting is a training process and enriches our knowledge and experience.
What advise would you give to to new StartUpers? How can they achieve success?
I advise them never to stop dreaming! After choosing a business you have to concentrate fully on reaching every goal. It is never easy to start a project because you will not see the results quickly and in most cases there are people who do not believe in what you do. But it does not matter, if you are determined enough , you will persist and you will see sooner or later that such attitude works and you will find your space in the market.
Do you think team working is more effective or are you better off working alone ?
Teamwork is always better . Different cultures, different business ideas, different ways of seeing things help you to improve the business and find the right way to succeed. I believe that doing business alone does not lead to a great future and that if you are not willing to share and discuss your opinions and ideas with others, it will only lead to a great failure. Every business needs to confront the market, why not start first by testing the ideas on people within the company who believe in the business?
Are there any differences between nationalities when you do business? Or can you communicate in the same way with businessmen from different cultures?
There are differences between nations, but also between people from the same country. Certainly, it helps to know the culture and customs of the place from where your customer comes , but every appointment is a story in itself and you need to be able to quickly assess the progress of the meeting and to find winning solutions in order to make a good deal for both parties.
Who is your role model and what is your biggest goal?
There are many individuals around us who might have special trait of characters that should be appreciated and considered. However, for me, as for the most part of the world, Steve Jobs is role model of passionate, persistent, innovative entrepreneur, who has completely transformed our world with his applications. Additionally, I also appreciate Jeff Bezos for his ability to turn Amazon into one of the world’s biggest online trading powers. As for my goal, certainly, I aspire to change and improve the ceramics’ sector for better and use new technological achievements in this regard. No matter how conservative the field of industry is, XXI century belongs to information technologies and we should adapt our style of live to it.
