Friday, January 25, 2008

Alberto Gonzalez > www.gustorganics.com

Alberto Gonzalez Owner of Gusto Organics First Certified Organic Restaurant in New York

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
Like Sir Winston Churchill used to say, you need to the ability to go from one failure to another without losing the enthusiasm…

What did inspire you to start your business?
I always saw New York as probably one of the most sophisticated societies in the world but in my opinion the city had a very pour overall quality of food, and was also a very damaging area to the environment. Therefore there was an opportunity to thrive doing the right things right. (Somebody needed to do something about it…I decided to take a small step…)

How did you finance it?
I brought all my savings and my two former partner’s savings, and that was not enough so I had to raise another $800,000 but when something is meant to be everything flows so I met the right people who helped in many ways.

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?
In our case it is decisive because we created the first certified organic restaurant in New York and the food we serve is absolutely Latin. I believe to be Latin in this particular situation is an phenomenal advantage.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
One of the main sources of self esteem comes from starting and finishing things, so for me to quit was never an option. Besides I’m completely persuaded that if you really believe in something the likelihood of success is truly enormous.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
To be able to make better mistakes in less time. We needed to dramatically increase the speed of learning… two day before the opening of our restaurant I had only $3,800 left in the bank… A slower learning pace could have resulted in bankruptcy even before the opening…

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
In the overall picture honestly nothing. We are really doing the things in the way we believe are right. About the operations, many things, at this time we improve about 50% every day…Still a very long way to go…

What was your childhood ambition?
To be a jazz musician.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire?
Einstein, Richard Branson and the owner of IKEA (I don’t know his name…)

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Dinner

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
I don’t think I’m a business success, anyhow in order to come to this point I left my home town Buenos Aires with my family and friends and it has been two years since then…

What is your favorite quote?
“Everything happens for a reason”

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
Not really and on top of that it is very rewarding!

Biggest mistake made?
Many, but the one that comes to my mind is the construction company that I hired. I select it from out of five companies and they were really terrible. My entire mistake.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
Absolutely! There are many creative people in the world (those who envision a different world..) but just few innovators (those who create a different world…) the difference is the execution. I promised to create the first certified organic restaurant in New York and I did.

Contact Alberto Gonzalez at http://www.gustorganics.com/

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice interview. I've been at the restaurant and it's great. It's a work in progress and he has a lot of future there. I really like your vision.

Tasir Mandir

restaurant loans said...

Yeah being a restaurant owner you have mange all the activities like restaurants equipments,staff.
And one of the major problem of owners is money. Restaurants loans is a good option for them to keep their finance problem away.

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