Immigrants go to America seeking a better life for themselves and their families, only to face different problems once they arrive, especially when it comes to sending money back home. 

Manuel Godoy is helping these immigrants to support their families with his incredible platform, Felix. We had the pleasure of chatting to Manuel about his entrepreneurial story. From self-awareness to passion to marketing, no stone went unturned in this interview and valuable insight lies ahead for all those looking to start their own business.

What are three things every entrepreneur should know?

Manuel was very transparent when answering this question, stating that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Of course, when an entrepreneur that loves what they do talks about what it, their passion and drive is inspiring to anyone, but that doesn’t mean everyone will enjoy being an entrepreneur. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Manuel recommends carefully considering if you would enjoy running a business. 

Secondly, an entrepreneur must be extremely passionate about the problem they are trying to solve, and they should have a clear understanding of their skills and how they can use them to address the problem. Passion is the driving force that helps entrepreneurs persevere when faced with challenges and setbacks. 

However, passion alone is not enough. You must also have a clear understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses, and how you can use your skills to address the problem you are trying to solve, which requires introspection and honest self-awareness.

Lastly, an entrepreneur should be prepared to go through a roller coaster of emotions for a prolonged period of time, and they should be willing to take on the risks and challenges that come with building a company. Manuel emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, generalist skills, and bringing in qualified people to help in areas where you may not excel.

What problem does your business solve and who are its customers?

Imagine you grew up in rural Mexico and realized the opportunities to provide for and maintain your family are not there. You then move to the US to make money that you can send back home to better support your family, you get a job and now are looking to send money back home. You have to go to a physical store and pay $10 to send $100 to your family.

This is the reality for so many people that go to the US hoping to support their families. This process is unnecessarily time-consuming and requires money to get to the store and pay for the fee. 

Manuel’s business, Felix, aims to solve this problem of expensive and time-consuming money transfers for immigrants in the US who want to send money back home. Felix’s customers typically work in agriculture, construction, and manufacturing and often earn low wages, making it difficult for them to send money back home to support their families. 

Manuel’s business provides a solution that allows their customers to use a chat platform, specifically WhatsApp, to send money back home, eliminating the need for them to physically go to a store to send money. This platform provides the convenience of online payments while still allowing them to have a human experience with a chatbot. With over 400 million transactions every year, Felix is providing an incredibly valuable service for immigrants who need to support their families back home.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur and would you do it again?

The inspiration behind Manuel’s specific business is clear: it hits close to home because he recognizes the struggle of sending money back home to your family. However, Manuel was inspired to become an entrepreneur in general because of his love for building things around technology and providing real value to people. 

As an engineer, he enjoys using his skills to create something that doesn’t exist yet and knowing that it can make a difference in people’s lives. Despite the challenges of building something from scratch, Manuel finds it exciting to work on a project that can take years to complete. He admits to struggling with the temptation of pursuing other ideas but remains committed to his current venture. 

When asked if he would do it again, Manuel didn’t hesitate to say yes, emphasizing the satisfaction he derives from building something that helps people.

If someone had given you a million dollars when you first started your business, what would you have spent it on?

The million dollar question was an easy one for Manuel: a faster way to build brand awareness for his consumers, i.e., marketing. 

Manuel would have used a million dollar investment to improve his marketing strategy and learn how to quickly gain the trust of his users. As an entrepreneur starting a business in the financial services industry, Manuel understood the importance of conveying trust to his users. He believed that a systematic approach to testing different marketing channels, including digital marketing and physical presence, was crucial in the early stages of his business. 

Manuel also emphasized the need for a faster learning process, starting from day zero, to ensure a quicker launch and exponential growth. By investing in marketing and a comprehensive learning process, Manuel aimed to provide better and faster services to his users and ultimately gain the attention of potential investors.

What is your proudest accomplishment as an Entrepreneur?

Manuel’s proudest accomplishment to date is the fact that his product has served almost 10,000 people and has received positive feedback from users. However, beyond just the numbers, Manuel values the feedback from users who have found the product to be fast and easy to use, which was the ultimate goal of the product. 

Knowing that the product he created has made a positive impact on people’s lives and allowed them to spend more time with their families is a great achievement for Manuel – an extremely rewarding experience. He hopes to maintain the same experience for future users and to continue expanding his user base so that he can help more people.

Another entrepreneur story done and dusted, and we can definitely see a few recurring topics, namely passion, self-awareness, marketing, and delegation to name a few. 

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but those who are passionate about solving problems can create innovative solutions that make a significant impact. Are you passionate about solving a particular problem? Have you created an innovative solution that is helping those that struggle with the problem? Connect with us today so that we can learn more about it and other entrepreneurs can learn from it!