Sitting on his office with a cup of coffee besides him and his fingers on his keyboard, Eduardo Kouri typed an e-mail with the daily pricelist for his customers.
There is a shopping cart stationed at the center of his office filled with the most popular products he sells. He has two chairs by his desk and a small stool besides him. There’s a computer screen on his desk and a laptop right next to it. He has small posters of different places hanging off the walls of his office, and his door open.
Kouri, 29, has accomplished what many others wouldn’t even dream of at his age. He is the owner of Jetset Foods, an export company that is based on Miami FL, and a full time sales associate for Allied Caribbean, which is a company based in Miami that supplies merchandise to the Caribbean.
Jetset Foods has grown from $10,000 to $800,000 sales in over three years; with only four employees working part time, including him. His employees mainly work remotely from their homes and report to him over the phone and by e-mail.
His company has achieved more than a 40 percent growth in less than 4 years.
“The best way to start your company is to work for another company that’s already in the field and learn from them the industry,” Kouri said. “I have been working in other companies for over 7 years. I finished my bachelors and my masters, but there is a lot to learn from the industry that you specialize in.”
Kouri came at the age of 20-years-old to the United States from Mexico. He was an international student for the remaining three years of his college career. He was able to find a program called, Florida-Mexico-Institute sponsored by the Florida government. This program gave his parents the opportunity to pay for his tuition every semester, instead of getting loans.
“Paying for your education should be doable; not easy. Kouri said. “Your best investment is education.”
At first he started working for a moving company during the weekends to get some cash. Later, he was working in a restaurant, taking out the trash and helping with basic things. He later became the assistant of the manager and he started learning from them. He later found a job in an export company, which gave him a lot of expertise and ideas of what he wanted to do.
Kouri’s mother, Edith Gomez Pedrozo, has an export company as well. Kouri was born in a family of entrepreneurs.
“I think he has accomplish a lot by being 29, because everything he has made it’s for himself. He is a vey intelligent person, who is always open to learning and open to new things. He always has a goal to pursuit and he doesn’t stop until he accomplishes it,” Gomez Pedrozo said.
Eduardo has to manage his time between Jetset Foods and Allied, the company he works full time in. He also travels, he uses the weekends and holidays to travel and promote his products to new customers, mainly in Latin America.
“He is a good person, but he’s stubborn. I think that at this moment he has alot of stress, and he sometimes is a cranky person. Sometimes he thinks he knows everything. He needs to have more patience and relax,” Gomez Pedrozo said.
Carol Teruel, is one of the few employees that works for Jetset Foods. She manages many things, and oversees the logistic parts of the company as well as the human resources.
When asked about the experience of working for a small company, such as Jetset Foods she mentioned, “It is a very small company, but it’s growing and growing little by little,” Teruel said. “There are more opportunities in other companies for sure, but in Jetset Foods I have a better experience.”
Working with Kouri has inspired Teruel to pursuit her dreams sooner rather than later.
“I always wanted to put my own restaurant, but I’ve always look at that as a very distant goal. Now I look at myself and I say, in 3 years I’ll reach my goal,” Teruel said.
Kouri always wanted to have his own company, as long as he can remember he dreamed of having his own company, he has it now. Even it it’s small he hopes to keep working on it.
“My dream is to be able to work in my company full time,” Kouri said. “Everything takes time and it’s a lengthy process. “With each step you make a risk must be taken, but you need to be smart about it.”
Kouri has accomplish many of the goals he had six years ago, but he thinks that everything can be gone in a minute, the important thing is to have the right attitude to accomplish whatever you want all over again.
“People tell me that I have the right attitude towards success. The truth is that I ask questions, I am honest—you’ll be surprise to find out that honesty is a rare skill—and I listen to my customers and colleagues,” Kouri said.
