Andrew Lafuente is the President and Founder of Lafuente Sign & Awning, the leading awning manufacturing company based in and around Greater Boston. Andrew was first introduced to the industry at the age of 12, where he indulged himself into every aspect of the industry through when he opened up his own company – Lafuente Sign & Awning – in 2015. With a passion for innovation and over 20+ of industry experience, Andrew has built a reputation for delivering high-quality, custom-designed awning solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Under Andrew’s leadership, Lafuente Sign & Awning has become synonymous with craftsmanship, customer service and a commitment to enhancing outdoor spaces across New England and beyond. Andrew graduated from Bentley University in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management, Business Law and Finance.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I wake up at 4:45am and I start my day off with a quick run before spending another 30 – 35 minutes in the gym. Then it’s a shower and breakfast before the workday, which I can always count on to be busy and productive, mainly focusing on sales, business development and how I can assist my team’s needs.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I’m able to accomplish this in two ways. I’m a visual person, so I like to write ideas down first before bringing in my team, listening to their input and perspective, and thinking about our ideas into the late hours of the night before bringing those collaborative ideas to life in the following days.
What’s one trend that excites you?
One trend in the sign and awning industry I’m very excited about is fabrics – it’s all about fabrics. If you love the industry as much as I do, then it’s hard not to get excited about the different acrylics, vinyls, polyester fabrics, and products protecting them from rain, the elements, etc. It allows me and my team to get real creative for our clients.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Journaling small tasks by the hour, which helps me be productive, stay disciplined and minimize the carrying over of tasks into the next day.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would give my younger self an earful. Be even more aggressive than you think you are. Keep your eye on the end goal, stay hyper-focused. The bigger you dream, the bigger your threshold for accomplishments will be along the way. Listen to the people around you; God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
That it’s all worth it.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Try to never look back and ‘see how far you’ve come.’ I’m all about looking forward, moving forward, going bigger and not being complacent. We have a strong foothold of clients and prospective clients here throughout Boston and Greater Boston, but I want to tackle all of Massachusetts, then New England, then the east coast, and onto projects throughout the U.S.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I go for a workout, and start to knock out the small tasks to give me that sense of accomplishment before tackling the bigger tasks.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Ruthless determination. Have one vision. Focus on the end goal and do not waver.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Being fired by my father in the family business, and same industry Lafuente Sign & Awning is in now, which I had planned on taking over at some point. I overcame it by stepping away out of respect for the family, even though I had been in love with the industry (and the family business) since I was 12. There was lots of pain and suffering along the way. It affects you, and to be honest, it crushes you, but you find a way to channel it into something good. The ‘good’ was having the confidence to start my own business and watch it grow and thrive in the last 8 years.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Stay small, or go big, never stay in the middle.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Trello for organization and keeping track of my daily tasks; and Microsoft Teams for communicating with clients and my team when they’re on projects
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
Taking my daughter to Strega restaurant in the North End for her favorite meal, pasta and chicken parmigiana.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
My favorite book, hands down, is ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ which provides very simplistic views on finances and investing that you can translate into business.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
The Last Dance on Netflix. I like to study the greats, always looking for inspiration, motivation and takeaways. Michael Jordan showed throughout that while most people just show up for practice, they just show up. But if you’re an outlier and you treat every practice like it’s your last, you can attain greatness.
Key learnings:
- Learn not to complain about the hardships, and use those experiences to motivate you to keep moving forward.
- Be relentless in the pursuit of what you want to achieve.
- Never stop looking for sources of inspiration, especially from fellow entrepreneurs from all industries.