Rock Tops Digital Media

Originally from New Mexico, Randy Asselin owner of Rock Tops Digital Media and Rock Tops Food Trays, had his sights on living in different parts of the United States. Randy found himself moving to Hawaii and then Arizona for career opportunities. He then came back to Albuquerque for just a visit when he found himself staying instead. In Albuquerque he founded his companies Rock Tops Food Trays and Rock Tops Digital Media, which creates mobile apps for businesses throughout the United States. A true entrepreneur, Randy is on several boards and is a mentor to other entrepreneurs. For anyone seeking to move to New Mexico to start a business, Randy’s advice would be to study the market for your product or service and find your early customers outside of New Mexico. New Mexico only has about 2 million people in the state and this sampling size may be too small to truly understand if your product or service will be successful. When you do find your target audience, Randy explains that New Mexico is a good place to start a business that has a “national appeal.” Albuquerque has a very low cost of living which in turn will be a “huge” advantage for entrepreneurs. A new company has to have staying power to be around long enough to give your product or service a chance to succeed. With high cost of operations or high cost of living, a new company can go through their funding quicker than planned and will ultimately fail. So with the low cost of living, a company can have a longer staying power compared to other places in the United States to give their company a chance to get off the ground. Randy describes Albuquerque having a “vibrant start up community” and “a lot of great community networking resources” as additional positives for starting a business in New Mexico. Within the small community, it is easier to connect with local business leaders. Randy found when developing his mobile apps business, it was not as complicated to execute his business model because he was able to speak directly with business owners or business decision makers. It was not difficult for him to evolve his business in the local community because of this access.

Overall, Randy not only believes that starting a business in Albuquerque will be an advantage for entrepreneur’s but the city as a whole will provide an amazing quality of life. The city pushes for an active lifestyle, with plentiful trails to enjoy hiking and cycling or even skiing and snowboarding during the winter being minutes away. There is great food, an “incredible microbrew scene”, and a rich culture that you can experience in Albuquerque to give you an enjoyable lifestyle.