A Sit Down with Robert Herrera

Outside Insights

On the perpetual journey to entrepreneurial leadership and growth, the ability to be nimble is key. Success doesn’t come overnight, but keep the grind going and take the licks. That’s entrepreneurship.

On this week’s podcast, Rob Herrera, architect, real estate developer, entrepreneur, and founder of The Mill, and Placers President Chris Burkhard, warn that entrepreneurs shouldn’t scale for the sake of scaling, especially during economic uncertainty. Growth, they agree, should be market-driven.

By all reports, small business exploded during the pandemic and carried the economy – more so than big business. That’s enlightening news for entrepreneurs. In fact, big business, which struggled during the public health crisis, experienced such an eye-opening experience, it’s now adopting small business operating models and philosophies. More good news for entrepreneurs!

One of the newer, small business operating models like shared work spaces is a flex solution that contributes to entrepreneurial synergy, networking, and relationship building. “Co-working space is a shared work environment centered around a community of entrepreneurs,” explained Rob, adding that as a human-centered design, co-work spaces bring culture to life while nurturing collaboration and enticing employees to embrace return to office orders.

The Mill, the brainchild of Herrera, is a booming and aesthetically pleasing repurposed workspace with two locations — one in Wilmington, DE, and the other in Springfield, PA. Herrera took both from ghosted, blighted locales to thriving, flex workspaces. This growing trend in innovative community redevelopment that benefits small business operations is spreading nationwide because it navigates entrepreneurs through planned growth and allows for market-driven uncertainty.

Enjoy this episode’s banter while these Delaware OGs target the significance of entrepreneurial discipline and innovative repurposing in communities and its impact on the labor market.