Today we’d like to introduce you to CLAUDIA MOSQUERA.
Hi CLAUDIA, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Maria Claudia Mosquera Vivanco, and I am an engineer in international trade living in Ecuador. The journey to becoming the entrepreneur I am today began in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. My family and I were going through an economic crisis, and in the middle of all the chaos, an idea, my business, was born. It’s really true that some of the best ideas come during the most difficult times. The economy in Ecuador collapsed in 2020, and, unfortunately, my automotive parts business, Motorec, went down with it. I could not bear seeing my children go through poverty and lack. You can say the motivation behind my drive was my children, Agustin and Isabella. I literally woke up one day and told my husband we could not keep living in poverty. That is when Clickbox, an international shipping company, was founded. It happened on April 21st, 2020.
During the global crisis It was nearly impossible to get shipping from the USA, but I was determined and was able to come across a contact that was still shipping merchandise from the USA to my country. At first, people would laugh at me and tell me no one would want to buy merchandise from the USA since everyone had taken a financial hit. I was also afraid of packages not arriving and the business just failing. I was already at a low anyway, so I went ahead and proceeded with it anyway. I obviously did not have the funds needed to professionally market my business, so I began using my social media accounts to market the service I was providing. I was aware that the service I was offering was rare in my country, but I was not ready for the business I would receive. It was a huge hit! After constant promotion and because I was one of the only shipping companies around during the crisis, my phone became overloaded with hundreds of WhatsApp messages and thousands of calls daily that the phone literally died on me. I began pulling 24 hour shifts just working, working, working on my business. It was not easy as I still had to balance being a wife and mother.
There is no doubt one must be crazy to be an entrepreneur. One must believe in herself or himself despite all the possible negative outcomes. There’s sacrifice after sacrifice one must endure. One just must take a leap of faith one day towards the dream only he or she can see.
My husband is someone very special and important in my journey. He was the best business partner I could ever ask for, as he was not only mentoring me and working side by side with me, but he was also there to encourage me through the tough times. I am truly grateful to him, and I could not have accomplished this without him.
Fast forward to the present; we currently have a shipment location in Doral, FL, which is the heart of the company. We receive merchandise from online orders made by people living in Ecuador. After receiving it, we make sure it gets safely to Ecuador and to the people that ordered it. My company is currently medium-sized, with around 15 employees, but at this rate, I have no doubt we will one day be as large as FEDEX or UPS. We are soon to open more shipping locations and offices. Next month we are opening a location in New York, and in the next couple of years I expect to have more locations across the USA. This journey has not always been easy as many people have let us down and scammed us out of large quantities of money, but we, as a company, and I, as a person, will not give up, as I aspire to see my purple and yellow logo and company name on planes around the world. My company has already inspired others in my country to follow in my footsteps. I am very proud to be a woman, an entrepreneur, and the CEO of Clickbox.
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?
No, it has definitely not been a smooth road. Every success story has its ups and downs. As I mentioned before, my business was scammed several times, and it was also robbed by former employees. We were naive and trusted too soon, but at least we all learned a lesson. Shortly after taking those hits, we were able to adjust in order to take better precautions.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our business is merchandise transportation of online orders from the United States and other countries to Ecuador, including the Galápagos Islands. We receive the merchandise in our warehouse in Miami, and afterwards it takes 8 business days to be transferred and dropped off at people’s doors in Ecuador. It’s very convenient for American citizens who reside in Ecuador because they get to order merchandise and goods from Publix, Walmart, Target, etc., and we ship them right to their door. Apart from online orders, we also offer regular ground service within Ecuador, where all a person has to do is stop by one of our warehouses, drop off goods, and we ship them to their desired location.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
It’s important to realize that it takes a lot of hard work to make your vision or dream a reality, but it is well worth it. Be thankful for those people who support you and have your best interests at heart, but as we learned, unfortunately, not all people are trustworthy. Some good advice for people starting out to follow is that trust must be earned, you have to pay attention to that. ClickBox hopes to earn the trust of our valued customers, we will work hard every day to make choosing ClickBox a good experience for them – something every business should strive to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clickbox.ec
- Instagram: clickbox_ec
- Facebook: clickboxec
Image Credits
mcm
