Argentina.  My name is Gerardo Saavedra Martinez.  I am 32 years old and currently live in Mexico, in the city of Queretaro to be exact.  Approximately 8 years ago, I began a restaurant in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  At the time, the only things I understood about being an entrepreneur was to have my own business and to make the greatest possible effort to make it successful. 

Regardless of the many hours I invested in my restaurant, I remember that I often had difficulties with planning and staying current with my paperwork.  I rarely knew how much money was coming in because I was so involved in the kitchen and I didn’t know how to delegate such responsibilities. At the end of a long day, the last thing I wanted was to see the financial outcome of the day.  For four years, I lived only with the purpose of making my restaurant, Laztana Bistro, be successful. 

And then I met my mentor, Chaly, who introduced me to the MBS program which made me open my eyes and made me realize that not only was my business important, but there are two other aspects of my life that are also very important which are my community and home.  I looked at my life and realized that although I had a very successful business, I had no one by my side to share it with.  Little by little I began to understand that it is good to delegate as long as you know how to choose the people that work with you.  I began to give more time to my relationship with family and friends, including my wife who has been a great friend of mine since I was 13 years old.  She was here in Mexico and invited me to visit this great country. I remember the first time I came here how much I loved it; it was love at first sight, haha.  And so after a year of going back and forth from Buenos Aires or Queretaro, I proudly sold my restaurant in Buenos Aires; I will not deny that I felt some sadness when this happened but I also felt great happiness because I knew that better times were coming.

As soon as I arrived in Mexico, the Covid 19 pandemic started which almost forced us to start from the bottom again but this time I was not alone.  My wife and I teamed up and thanks to the MBS program, we started with a different mentality.  With a plan, a vision and tools we were able to develop two restaurants in one year:  Tentazione Pizzas and Pasta and Burger Porn & Ribs. We are even planning on opening a second branch of Tentazione in September.  

To conclude, I can say that even though the pandemic was a worldwide catastrophe, I feel that thanks to the MBS program and my mentor Chaly, I was able to find an opportunity in this worldwide crisis and today, together with my wife, we are able to develop a healthy and prosperous  business which gives us a lot of joy.