You can build much faster than we did. Our first 10 years were focused on Panama, a much smaller economy with only 4 million inhabitants. We entered the USA in 2021 and the results speak for themselves.
Reinvest as much as you can. Dividends are a killer because compounding really does work. My partner and I draw a salary that is built into Opex. We live good but not ostentatious lives. Our families are happy. Yet we still reinvest 80%+ of our yearly profits. We have been doing so for years.
Laser focus on cash production. You cannot reinvest profits. You need cash flow. Understand it, focus on it, and maximize it.
Always buy bigger. We wasted some time with smaller bolt-on style acquisitions. While most were accretive, we would have been better off hoarding cash and waiting for a larger transformative acquisition.
Focus on the CEO. A great CEO is your biggest asset. Find them, cultivate them, and then reinvest as much money into their operation as possible.