Interview with Patricia I. Santa Cruz Montero, CEO and founder at PSM CONSULTANCY and a participant in the previous edition of StartupLeap. Find out how she managed to follow her dreams while working.
Did you have a job prior to becoming a founder?
When I started off I had a job and I decided to start my company as part-time founder.
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
There were many reasons why I wanted to become an entrepreneur.
Firstly, you are your own boss and you decide your work schedule. Moreover, creativity increases because you must find solutions to the problems for your company to improve. Next to that, you got the freedom to work in what you like.
Another thing I also enjoy is the fact that I can create employment opportunities for other people, which has a positive impact on economic development.
Last but not least, with the startup, I have an opportunity to improve the lives of other people, solve problems, satisfy customer’s needs and transform their environment in a positive way.
What’s the coolest thing about being an entrepreneur?
One of the best things is that you create an innovative service from scratch, which is highly satisfactory. If that idea works well and helps a group of people, it is much more gratifying. In addition, spending your time, effort and energy to follow your own dreams, gives you a great fulfilment. Every day is full of challenges and goals, which you overcome and achieve with effort.
How do you keep up your motivation?
Working to make my ideas and goals come true for myself and not for someone else’s, is one of the greatest satisfactions as an entrepreneur. Realising that the more I try, the better results I get, for the best development and growth of my company.
Tell us a surprising moment in your entrepreneur experience.
The surprising moment was during the second year that the company was founded. I realised that the number of clients increased quickly, so I needed to automate the administration, the processes, and the calculation of the tax declarations through an online platform. I knew that the system would improve the processes of the company, but I never thought that the number of clients would increase so quickly, so I had to find solutions to manage the new amount of clients.
How did you solve a problem/crisis as a founder?
The development of a computer platform is a slow process, in our case took several years to be developed, that is why it was necessary to increase new professionals in order to reach the deadlines of the tax declarations. Since the computer platform was implemented, the number of clients in PSM Consultancy has increased year by year.
What’s your typical work week
A typical workweek always begins by answering customer emails including their questions or requests. Then I organise the week by checking which declarations still must be sent and to follow up with the tax advisors to see the status of the designed declarations. If a new service is arranged with a client, the client’s information is sent to one of the tax advisors and they can prepare the tax returns. I am always in constant communication with the tax advisors and we discuss which are the objectives or goals that we must achieve to be able to declare correctly and on time. I am constantly aware of any question or complaints from our clients in order to keep the satisfactory service.