Starting your own company is always a tough decision. Do I have what is necessary to start it, run it and be successful? It’s always the same question, but what lacks to almost every entrepreneur is the answer to the question “Why?”. Hugo Paviana launched his own company, alongside with his brother. Nowadays, Paviana Construções is a success story as it transformed its management style into a more professional one, in an industry booming and growing to numbers never seen before.

The Magazine interviews Hugo Paviana, alumnus of The Lisbon MBA (2015-2017) & co-founder of Paviana Construções

The first step towards starting your own company is feeling that you can work by yourself. Most of the people are working in companies with a self-determined structure and culture, but not always feel engaged. For Hugo Paviana, alumnus of The Lisbon MBA (2015-2017), that’s what really happened. “At a certain point of my career, I felt I needed to do something different. I thought I had the ability to do it by myself and be successful.”, says Hugo Paviana, co-Founder of Paviana Construções.

Building a company is almost an impulsive decision, because, if any entrepreneur thinks about the possible consequences of a failure, it will block him to create his own business. When Hugo decided to build his own company – 18 years ago –, he didn’t think too much. The most important thing is to “believe in ourselves and think, always, that we will succeed”, he says. Obviously, the formula is not just about feeling that you can succeed, but also work a lot, be resilient, have a positive attitude and a great capacity to turnaround obstacles that any entrepreneur will find in its way.

At that time, founding Paviana Construções was a simple process. However, Hugo noticed some challenges, especially to find a balance between the professional and personal life. “When you need to dedicate yourself to a new business, it is very important to fix a schedule to meet your family’s expectations. I can’t say my family was an obstacle, but it was necessary some negotiation with them”, he states.

Eighteen years ago, there weren’t as many supports as exist today. In Hugo’s case, they kicked-off the company in a romanticized version by “offering a fax machine as Christmas gift to the company”. “The company had a tiny budget, but that doesn’t mean we were not able to think great and try to achieve new goals”.

The changing point

The changing point for Paviana Construções, and especially for Hugo, was The Lisbon MBA, where he did the Part Time program, between 2015 and 2017. At the end, there was the opportunity to apply the knowledge acquired during his program. “The MBA shed a new light on the company’s management. We decided to hire a general manager, who brought a more independent and non-biased way of running our business”, he says.

In fact, Paviana Construções, was selected to be one of the case studies of The Lisbon MBA. “In this assignment, we had the opportunity to gather eight colleagues and analyze everything about Paviana Construções. This global analysis resulted in the internationalization strategy, which is now being implemented in the exact same aspects we’ve designed it, two years ago”.

Hugo also highlights the importance of getting training in strategic management. “We are now implementing our internationalization strategy to Senegal. The Lisbon MBA allowed me to make Paviana Construções my private laboratory. I tested all the necessary experiments and there was the possibility to apply all the knowledge acquired in The Lisbon MBA program. It was great and helped me a lot”, he shares.

The transition to a new management style is running well so far. The Lisbon MBA gave him the opportunity to deploy a series of knowledge in an in-depth way. The new managing director is helping the company to grow and to roll-out the internationalization strategy according to the plan. Now the company has projects overseas, including Africa and Europe. Brazil was a long-time project, but Paviana Construções is moving on different locations to diversify the business.

What about the future of Portugal and the construction sector?

“In our sector we are very used to read and anticipate the future. Annually we buy Euroconstruct, which is a book where the most important trends are gathered. In Portugal, we are in an excellent moment for real estate rehabilitation. There are some tax benefits, low interest rates and Portugal is fashionable. It has contributed to a great market development”, he refers.

A sector that is interesting now and can have great potential is tourism. “Tourism represents now more than 20% of our GDP annually. We can affirm that there are a lot of opportunities to explore, especially infrastructures related to sea and water activities”, Hugo Paviana concludes.

Portugal is now a different country. “We, the Portuguese Citizens, have a wonderful attitude about getting things done. We are a global people and that can be very important for business”.

Paviana Construções, with more than 18 years in the market, will continue its internationalization strategy towards new markets and new opportunities.