My advice to entrepreneurs looking to grow their business is to think big, but start small!

When we started Living Tours, over 20 years ago, we started with a 9-seater vehicle with guided tours in Porto! We reinvested all our money we earned into the business to grow and explore more opportunities.

We took the opportunity with both hands and it didn't all work out, but we learned some great lessons along the way. The important thing is to detect errors early and correct them. Make small mistakes to hit big!

The business grew with new vehicles, new tours in other regions, face-to-face reception agencies in Porto, Lisbon and later internationalization with Barcelona and Living Tours Spain! The Groups and Events areas and tourist trains arrived, followed by LivingTransfers.com, LivingDMC.com, LivingTukTuk.com, LivingPrivateTours.com, LivingCruise.com and thus the Living Tours Group expanded from there

Even today, we are always looking for new opportunities that can benefit people and the planet. Whether it's investing in new technologies like Living Tours Online and others, we're always looking forward to continuing to push our limits.

It is encouraging to see the survey that the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), a study that aims to assess entrepreneurial activity in several countries, considered undertaking in Portugal a great option to boost innovation.

Thus showing how the entrepreneurial spirit in Portugal is alive, growing stronger and presents several favorable factors for entrepreneurial activity.

Portugal is the second country in the European Union with the highest birth rate of new companies (15.75%), surpassed only by Lithuania (19.72%). Overall, this percentage increased by about 3.63% from 2009 to 2017, and from 2016 to 2017 there was an increase from the 4th to the 2nd country with the highest number of births of companies in the European Union. This indicator shows that entrepreneurship in Portugal can be a great choice for people with a high entrepreneurial spirit.

Some advice and tips for those who want to undertake, as I did 20 years ago:

• Search for an area that you are passionate about;

• Create a product or service that solves a problem;

• Focus on Sales – Without sales any company goes bankrupt;

• In the beginning, it is essential to master a little of all areas;

• Persistence - Resilience - Determination - Never give up;

• Focus on People! Employees – Team, Customers, Partners;

• Constant Adaptation Capacity – “It is not the strongest who survive, but the ones who have the greatest capacity to adapt – Charles Darwin;

• Think Big but Start Small! - We started 17 years ago, with a car… but always with a big thought until we grew up!

• Focus on the Solution and Not the Problem - Life is a constant problem solving;

• Faced with the problems, we have two options:

• Stay forever complaining and we'll never get out of it;
• or act, go after, solve, surpass and move on;

• Always seize opportunities;

• Lead by Example - Human Behavior!

• Good Emotional Management skills - Know how to manage huge no's and closed doors, until they open;

• Make small mistakes to hit big!– Learn from mistakes;

• Be true and transparent with everyone, Clients, Partners, Collaborators – Vision of the Future and continuity;

• Have a constant Innovation Culture in the company - throughout the team;

• Be an Investor and not an entrepreneur! The Entrepreneur wants to withdraw the Investor wants to reinvest!

• Having a Strong Business Culture: Having it well defined – The Mission, Vision, Values and Purpose of the company, the reason for its existence:

• Move the entire organization for a clear and true purpose;
• Well communicated internally and externally;
• What is lived and practiced daily in the company;

• Create a work culture where people can be themselves and where all ideas are welcome;

• Having a critical thinking and being open to other opinions and being willing to change opinions is fundamental for the company to progress;

• Support Social and Environmental Causes, will involve teams, customers and partners, add value to the brand, strengthen company values and helps motivate the company's employees;

• Allow Intrapreneurship and Innovation - Entrepreneur is anyone who is looking for change and innovation. In the established companies it is also possible to have entrepreneurs and this fact is increasingly valued in organizations.

• Promoting Diversity and Inclusion, cultural, racial, gender… enormous potential - It is in diversity that we are able to grow, with the sharing of different forms, perspectives and different visions that we can reach the best possible way to innovate and grow.

• Always celebrate victories and achievements with the team – They are the ones who help create and achieve the results and purpose of the company, successes are the result of the work of the entire team;

• Promoting Teamwork - Everyone adds value - Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships

• Knowing how to delegate is fundamental for growth – very difficult to implement but when we do it and we have the right people in the right places the results appear;

• Hire with Passion – We will only be able to perform a work of excellence if we are passionate about the work we do;

• Focused on Customers – They are the ones who pay salaries and guarantee everyone's future – it is essential to create and have a strategy focused on the Customer experience;