For more than 50 years, Pedro Gilberto Fuentes Hinojosa has been a businessman, developer, and constructor. He began his career in the automotive sector at a young age in Mexico City, where he worked as a Ford automobile dealer with Autoproductos SA de CV on Avenida Insurgentes Sur, and afterward with Ford Fuentes Interlomas in the western area, which was positioned as the continent’s largest Ford distributor.
Pedro, who is passionate about construction and design, has created a number of architectural works, including the Fuentes de las Lomas subdivision in Mexico City’s western outskirts, which was the first subdivision in the area to feature a central park concept for families to enjoy nature within the city. He founded La Antigua Restaurant in Interlomas, as well as the Fuentes Club House in Fuentes de las Lomas, in the hotel and health sectors.
Mr. Fuentes Hinojosa attended the IPADE Business School and majored in Senior Business Management. His construction, hospitality, and vehicle sales businesses stand out in his entrepreneurial career. He was invited to join the Bancomer board of directors because of his business experience. He is still serving as the CEO of his businesses.
Where did the idea for your career come from?
Talking with my wife, she told me why not make a park in the subdivision that was about to be built.
I really liked the idea and I enriched it by adding a central lake, waterfalls, a spectacular island as well as a clubhouse that has a semi-Olympic indoor pool, first-world fitness equipment, steam sauna, spa, and an excellent restaurant with meat, fish, and seafood of the best quality. Likewise, a beautiful central park was built that has more than 80 thousand square meters of surface area, with beautiful cobbled avenues, ridges, and fountains with palm trees around the subdivision, with spectacular quarry entrances and totally walled with very high fences. , being everything of first quality, likewise, buildings were built that the sum of all of them make a total of 210 floors of super luxury apartments, spectacular lobbies, today we have sold 70% of the apartments, likewise, 65 Italian villas of luxury leaving nothing more than 4 vacant lots, everything else is sold.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
My day is – in the morning I follow up on all my pending issues, I organize my appointments, I have a meeting with a thousand collaborators and I ask them to inform me of all the pending matters they have and the progress of each one, as well as proposals for improvements to have better growth day by day, at lunchtime, which is when my mind is clearer, if I like to think, plan, in short, organize all my ideas and in the afternoon I recapitulate all my pending, I do desk work to organize plan and schedule my next day, regardless of the fact that in the evening I always try to socialize, go somewhere to have dinner, have fun with family and friends and also plan my weekend.
How do you bring ideas to life?
If I like them, I make them, I analyze them if they are not feasible, both in terms of the investment that has to be made, as well as in the competition that I have to face, and if all this is positive, I give life to them and begin to specify them.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Business in general, yachts, horses, tennis, sporting events, concerts in general, Disney World hahaha, but I do like it.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Perseverance, tenacity and always trying to be the best in all my projects. If you are a serious professional person, if your product is of good quality, you have to be a person with a lot of tenacity and perseverance, as well as persistent, not letting yourself go. Win and never despair.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Being a correct, upright person, with professional ethics, very ambitious, honest, responsible, always trying to be visionary, formal, respectful, always speaking the truth, always, always thinking positive, being punctual in all business and activities, etc.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Most developers try to build up to the last centimeter of green areas. I believe the opposite; the more green areas I can leave in a project of mine, I am very happy, because I think that people should have a decent place to live. They should have free spaces where both they and their children can enjoy, live together, play, and breathe in the fresh air. Unfortunately, most of the developers leave almost nothing of green areas and that is a custom that the majority of those who carry out the developments do and -for my point of view- is a very bad habit and I really disapprove of it.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I recommend that entrepreneurs follow up on all their projects and that they solve all the obstacles that come up. They should hold the highest of professional ethics, and make sure that their product is of the highest quality in the market. They should be punctual with all their payments, comply with their suppliers, as well as customers in general, and always have a quality control department so that total customer satisfaction is obtained.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
You always, always, always have to distinguish yourself by doing avant-garde projects that have a lot of quality, as well as the importance of service, the punctuality with which the products are delivered, and the presentation that they have. The bottom line is to provide excellent customer service.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I have had some mistakes, as is normal, but fortunately, I have never failed
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I think that there are no good or bad businesses, either you make them good or you make them bad. For it to be good, my recommendation is to always be professional and put a lot of enthusiasm into what you do.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
The construction that I made of a rest house that has spectacular architecture and wonderful views, beautiful gardens, located on the banks of an impressive canal, where my yacht is, beautiful yachts always pass by. It really was a magnificent idea because, as I have been commenting, both my family and friends enjoyed it a lot.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
I use social networks, such as web pages, Instagram, Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, and our main page www.fuentesdelaslomas.com, which is where we can appreciate all the beauty of this subdivision. It has photos and videos to be able to perceive each one of the precious corners you could reach.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The book “Amazing World of Howard Hughes”, written by Noah Dietrich – CEO of Howard Hughes Companies.
What I liked most about this book and what I have put into practice that has given me very good results is not having partners.
What is your favorite quote?
Fuentes de las Lomas- the first world at your fingertips.
There are no words to describe such beauty.
A different place for different people.
Fuentes de las Lomas is located at the point of a full stop.
The best place to live.
The best place to invest.
Quality of life.
Fuentes de las Lomas unmatched exclusivity.
Fuentes de las Lomas security for you and your family.
Fuentes de las Lomas with an avant-garde concept.
Key Learnings:
- Always follow up on your projects and make sure every obstacle or problem is handled and solved.
- Having perseverance and tenacity will allow you to have the best ideas in your career and be able to execute your goals with ease.
- Always provide excellent customer service.
Steve (Stefan) Junge hails from Germany and helps with the day-to-day publishing of interviews on IdeaMensch. While he and Mario don’t share a favorite soccer club, their enthusiasm to help entrepreneurs is a shared passion.