The Business of Meetings 73: Get What You Want From Your Business with Cesar Quintero
We are delighted to be speaking to another amazing entrepreneur today! Cesar Quintero coaches and advises people with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). He is joining us on the show today to share his knowledge and expertise.
In this episode, Cesar talks about the EOS operating system. He also discusses the different stages of entrepreneurship and explains the importance of vulnerability.
We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation with Cesar Quintero!
Cesar Quintero’s bio:
Cesar Quintero’s purpose is to empower leaders to build a business by design so that they live a life by design. His core values are to Share Vulnerably, Spark Action, Spot individuality, and Spread Passion.
At age 24, in 2004, Quintero moved to Miami, given the economic turmoil in Venezuela, to pursue his dream of starting a business and helping others achieve a healthier lifestyle by founding Fit2Go. (The first corporate, healthy, meal delivery service in Miami). In 2013, Quintero graduated from the MIT Entrepreneurship Masters Program and founded two new companies: RawBar2Go (the first licensed food boats in Florida) and The Profit Recipe, a coaching firm that focuses on empowering entrepreneurs through a journey of focus ON the business and not IN the business by implementing best practices and the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
Cesar has been an active Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member for over 10 years and has held multiple volunteer leadership positions at the chapter, regional and global level for the organization.
His passion for teaching and business has also compelled him to get certified as a Trainer for Traction implementation, Why Discoveries, EO Accelerator Program, and EO Forum.
Cesar’s journey
Cesar comes from Venezuela. Sixteen years ago, when he was twenty-four years old, he got married, moved to Miami, and started a healthy meal delivery service business called Fit2Go.
A lawsuit
Cesar’s business kept on growing. He was busy and had to make all the business decisions. Then, in 2012, he was hit with a class-action lawsuit. Everything came to a halt, and Cesar started to question what he was doing.
A journey of self-discovery
He realized that he had nothing to show after being in business for eight years. It was a wake-up call for him, and he knew that something had to change. So, in 2012, he embarked on a journey of self-discovery and learned that he focused on the wrong things.
Empowering others
Cesar wanted to empower others to live the life they wanted. So, he started implementing EOS in his company to empower people to make decisions, take accountability, and take ownership. He eventually sold his business to two of his employees and started two new businesses more aligned with empowering others. One is an online university in Latin America for entrepreneurship called Emprendedor University. The other is a firm in South Florida to empower entrepreneurs to evolve by proven systems.
Different stages of entrepreneurship (The Evolution Flywheel)
Cesar realized that every entrepreneur goes through the same stages of the journey, so he mapped out five different stages of entrepreneurship, which he calls The Evolution Flywheel:
- The Opportunity (The startup phase.)
- Leadership by Design (Discovering your strengths and weaknesses.)
- Team by Design (Building an external team through coaches, mentors, and peers, and building a supportive and trusted internal team to which you can delegate.)
- Business by Design (Setting up systems and processes to allow your business to run successfully without you.)
- Life by Design (Finding your purpose and ideal life.)
A cycle
The final stage of Cesar’s Evolution Flywheel, Life by Design, should bring you back to another opportunity. The first time you go through the cycle it is hard, but it gets easier and easier as you go on.
A realization
Growing up, Cesar always thought that leaders told people what to do, so that was how he ran his business. When the class action happened, he took it personally and internalized the experience. As a result, both the company and his health began to deteriorate. When there was nothing left in his business and personal accounts, he realized that things were not working, and he had to change the way he was doing things.
The power of vulnerability
He had a meeting with his team. He told them that he did not know what to do and needed their help to figure things out. Everyone rallied together to help, and that was when Cesar realized the power of opening up and being vulnerable with his team.
Taking ownership
His entire team started taking ownership. Cesar realized that he had been depriving them of the power of knowledge, effecting change, and understanding their part in the team by not telling them the truth for so many years.
Twelve months later
Twelve months later, Cesar was working less than ever because everyone took full ownership. They doubled their profit, and their sales went up by forty percent. Cesar launched his two other companies because he had more time.
Two systems
Cesar implemented two systems. The first one was The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack, and the other was EOS, the entrepreneur operating system.
EOS
When they implemented the EOS system, everybody started taking full accountability. They also had a clear structure and a clear vision of where they were and where they were going. That was why Cesar’s employees later bought the business from him.
What Cesar Quintero learned about opening up
Cesar learned that opening up opens the door for people to connect, relate, buy-in, and take ownership. Now he is authentic and shares everything!
EOS is a simple system
Cesar went with EOS because it was a simple system for him to implement. It also matched his values and what he wanted from his business. Cesar self-implemented EOS in his business for eight months and then brought in an implementer from Chicago who stayed with them for six months to fine-tune the business.
About the EOS system
Cesar started implementing the EOS system for other companies in 2016. He loves teaching people the EOS system because it is tied to his purpose and also to helping people with proven processes. They do not tell owners what to do in their businesses. They teach them how to use the system to maximize their vision, and then they leave. They promote team health, solving issues, and everyone taking ownership of their roles. EOS helps business owners get what they want from their businesses.
The benefits of using the EOS system in your business
The EOS system is based on an agile philosophy. It creates a real environment because it gets people to be authentic, open, and honest. It is a simple process and operating system that helps business owners to align their vision and monitor their businesses at a high level in a simple way. It gets results because it is focus-driven. It does not have to be perfect initially because you will get better with it as you practice it more.
The Integrator and the Visionary
In the EOS system, the Integrator is someone who lives in the now. It is t
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A free Life by Design Assessment
Books mentioned:
The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack
The E Myth by Michael E. Gerber
Traction by Gino Wickman
Get a Grip by Gino Wickman and Mike Paton
he opposite of the Visionary, who lives in the future. The Visionary focuses on many different ideas and things to do. The Integrator focuses on the things that need to be focused on and followed through to deploy the ideas of the Visionary and build consistency.
More efficient with time
The EOS system helps business owners to be more efficient with time. Compartmentalizing decision-making and issues helps to move that forward.