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Latino Leadership: Facing The Sun Home Improvement
Felipe Bicuo and Teresa Gutierrz of Facing The Sun Home Improvement share, in English and Spanish, their journey to founding their own business in California.
Starting a business can be a scary prospect, especially when you believe you have to be the only person running the business. But as Felipe Bicuo discovered, building a team and listening to others is how to succeed.
Bucio tells the story of how, while working for another company, he ended up feeling like just another worker. That feeling drove him to form his own company, Facing The Sun FBG Home Improvements Inc., in Fresno, Calif., in 2024.
The Facing The Sun president said one of the main obstacles to overcome, aside from the difficulties of establishing an office or understanding the nuances of running a business, is overcoming fear.
“You know how to work, you know how to do the things, it’s just starting to do it by yourself,” said Bucio. “Take the time to start learning more about the business you want to do, because everyone wants to do, but they don’t put in the time.”
Bucio and Gutierrez provide answers in both English and Spanish, speaking directly with the Latino community about their journey and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Going back to his previous point, Bucio noted that, if you don’t know how to manage something like payroll or administrative work, that’s when you bring on people like Gutierrez who have those skills.
“You have to have a team,” he said. “I know many contractors, they think in the old style, like ‘I’m the roofer, I’m the seller, I’m the one doing everything.’”
He offers some sage advice to contractors who have spouses as well.
“Listen to your wife. She has a lot of things to say. She’s the one looking on the back and saying, ‘this is wrong, this is bad, this is good,’” he said.
Watch the full video here for more information, and sign up for the Techos y Más eNewsletter for more content en Español.
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