Today we’d like to introduce you to Ilesh Patel.
Hi Ilesh, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story of entrepreneurship began with trauma, I tried to be a W-2 employee after cremating my brother 3 months prior. 4 months later the W-2 job laid me off, I became an entrepreneur because I did not meet the mold of the W-2 employee. 8 years later I tried to work a W-2 job and I just couldn’t.
Leveraging my character, my street smarts, developing pure relationships and keeping my word got me to where I am today. My own drive, tenacity and hunger for wealth made me acquire more businesses.
Myself just wanting to grow and learn made me want to diversify.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Anything but smooth. Opposite of smooth. My own mental health issues made it very difficult to grow in a way that should have been more financially sound. But at the same token, if I didn’t struggle with mental health and finances I don’t know if I would be this clear and strong today. If I looked back I would regret certain things that I would not repeat, but certain things I had to go through and learn from to be here today. Some of the struggles along the way were banks not believing in me growing at the speed that I was so I would be denied financing, but I would always figure out non-conventional ways to acquire the money.
We’ve been impressed with Hill Park Cleaners, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets me apart from everybody is not a novelty, it’s not something new. It is very simple, very basic, and very very difficult to do. I am in the people business, almost every single entrepreneur is in the people business. The people being employees and customers. I am just a mere broker collecting my commission. I show my love, my connection, my interest to the customer, and relay those values to my employees with love, respect as humans and financial gratitude. I try very hard to make sure that an employee that is valued will never leave me because I neglected to see their worth, their value or them as human beings. If I had to summarize what makes me different is I see the customers and the employees as humans with needs. My job as the middle-man is to fulfill those needs as possible with whatever resources I have available.
How do you define success?
Success is if you can take the human model, scale it and prove to the world that money is a byproduct.
Contact Info:
- Email: ilesh@hillparkcleaners.com
- Website: hillparkcleaners.com
