Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Nieto.
Hi Aaron, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in Venezuela.
From a very young age, I was interested in business and entrepreneurship topics, so at the age of 18, I decided to start my first business called “DigiMark”, a small digital marketing agency.
As you can imagine, I was an inexperienced young man and that business failed, but my desire to continue learning and developing professionally continued to grow and I decided to study management and marketing at the José Antonio Páez University. Halfway through my career, I decided to start my second venture, an administrative application for a gym called “Barbell PR”. I invested a large part of my time and money for about 2 years. Even though I managed to spread my app across the country, and already had many customers, I did not have the necessary capital and ran out of funds before achieving a stable MVP in the market. I had to put that project on hold (which I hope to resume one day), however, that did not discourage me, in 2019 I finished my degree and decided to start my third business, called “YouPork”, a small pork sandwich restaurant, which grew very quickly with the efforts of my partner Guillermo Bellera and myself. We went from a small place in the baseball stadium, to a large location with more than 15 tables, 10 employees and many regular customers. And despite the lack of inputs that existed in our country (such as electricity, gasoline, gas, and more) we were able to keep the business afloat. Unfortunately, the pandemic season began and it became difficult for us to work, which did not stop us, but we had to leave our premises and start with a food truck. At that time, I decided to move to Utah with my family (which had been here for 4 years), and left the YouPork business to my partner.
Now, I am telling you this because, despite the fact that I “Failed” all those times, each one of those experiences helped me learn a lot and improve skills that I would not have today if I had not dared to undertake.
Once I arrived in the United States, the first thing I did was investigate how to start a restaurant, and I realized that there was not much information for people like me (Spanish-speaking Latinos) and that the amount of money I needed was very big, so I was put off. But despite this, I continued to investigate and noticed that there are many Latino people with large and successful businesses here in Utah.
So, it came to my mind to show how all those people achieved their goals, and with that, to motivate more Latinos like me, if it is possible to achieve it. From there the idea of Climb Goal was born, a training company for entrepreneurs and small businesses, in which we seek to teach people how to start and develop a business idea in the best possible way in the state of Utah, through talks, conferences, presencial and online seminars.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Since I was very young I was an “empirical entrepreneur”, and one of the main problems I had was the lack of knowledge, which I acquired over time, and although today I am still learning, I know that to start a business you should not have 1 million dollars, or be the best at what you do, but you must have a plan and surround yourself with the right people. A big obstacle I had to overcome as a Latino was English, and if any Latino is reading me, my biggest advice is to study the language, you have no idea how many opportunities that will give you.
I could also say that the biggest problem I have had when starting a business in the United States has been choosing a business idea to develop. This country is full of opportunities, but also a lot of competition in all areas. Despite this, I realized that if you do things well and with love, people and your potential customers will notice it, and it will be a great support during you develop your business. I also have to say that I have had great support from my parents, my girlfriend, my friends and others entrepreneurs, who believed in me and continue to help me every day to improve and grow as a professional.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The idea of Clim Goal was born from the need of the Latino community to learn more about business in the state of Utah. In the United States, there are around 66 million of Latin people, and a huge percentage of them are people with a career or professionals in what they do, but they think that because they are immigrants, it is impossible to start a business, and work in what they really love. Our idea is to show all those people that it is possible to start a business, regardless of their legal status or nationality. But in addition to this, we want to teach you the right way to develop your idea, through the experience of other successful business owners in Utah. We are also faithful believers that networking is a fundamental point for any entrepreneur, so in our events, we look for connections between the participants, sponsors and special guests who can be supported in the future.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
The best way to make things happen, it is by having our objectives clear and having the plan to make it possible. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.climbgoal.com
- Instagram: Www.instagram.com/climbgoal
