Entrepreneurial Journal Week 14

Entrepreneurship is a difficult endeavor, and it's not for everybody. In order to start your own business, you have to be a fast learner, know a lot about the industry, be passionate about it, be willing to take big risks, and be good with people. I learned a lot from the case studies and from interviewing an entrepreneur in my ward. It's common for new businesses to go under, so you need to be willing to work for an unsteady paycheck and to change course as needed or alter your plans to make it work better or jump to a business that will work better or be more successful. It's critical to be able to look at the big picture and figure out what your passion is and where you want to end up so you can see how to get there. It's also good to have a back up plan for the worst case scenario so you know what will be necessary to survive if things don't go according to plan. It's good to be optimistic, but also realistic. Hope for the best but plan for the worst, just in case. You don't want to end up living on the streets because you didn't have enough personal savings to fall back on. It's also good to have role models and a support system so you have a mental board of advisers to turn to when you need advice. It's so much harder to go it on your own. Sometimes they can help you see something in a different light if you're too close to it, and they can help give you constructive criticism so you can see the opinions of others and know what people need. I'd say overall, follow your passion, work hard, do your homework, and have a fallback plan.

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 13

Gratitude is a topic that I've always felt strongly about. I feel that it's so incredibly important to let others know when you appreciate them, because nobody likes to be underappreciated, and nobody likes the person who seems ungrateful. My mom says that even as a baby I would look so grateful and happy when she fed me or changed my diaper. When my great Aunt died when I was 17, she had no children of her own, so my dad was the one who had to take care of her estate and go through her belongings. When he was going through her finances, he found a pattern. She kept all the thank you notes that she ever got, and he found that I was the only one of his kids she still sent a birthday check to each year because my mom always made sure I sent a thank you card every year, but when my older siblings moved out on their own and stopped sending thank you notes, she stopped sending them checks the very next year after they missed a note. She even sent me a couple of her custom paintings for my 16th birthday, even though I barely knew her and had only met her a couple times. It just goes to show that when you thank people for the things they do for you, it makes them feel good and makes them want to do more nice things for you in the future.

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 11

§  What is your attitude toward money?

My attitude, at least what I strive for, is to think about money as a means to an end, and a way to provide for others. If I am well off and I have a comfortable income with some extra left over, I am able to give my children a good life and give to charity and help those in need whenever possible. If money is the main objective, and you fill your life with meaningless material things, you have nothing of true worth to bring with you when you die, because you can’t bring worldly things with you to Heaven.

§  How can your view of money affect the way you live?

If you focus on money and the things it can buy, you might have nice things and be well off financially, but you might also miss out on important relationships and priceless experiences. If you treat money like a necessary part of life, but not the main priority, it leaves room for other things to take the spotlight and draw your focus and attention.

§  What rules are recommended for prospering?

The rules are sell what the market will buy, practice separate entities, start small and think big, be nice later, keep good records, pay yourself a livable salary, buy low and sell high, don’t eat your inventory, use multiple suppliers, buy on credit and sell for cash, purchase in bulk, use suggestive selling, increase sales and decrease costs, turn your inventory often, value your customers, differentiate your business, hire slow and fire fast, inspect more and expect less, have written agreements with partners, suppliers, landlords, and employees, work on your business 10 hours a day, five and a half days a week, practice kaizen, make a profit every day, work on your business goals, and focus focus focus. 

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 9

I found the hedgehog concept in the reading pretty interesting this week. I thought it brought up some very good points about thinking of what your company can be best in the world at, what your people feel most passionate about, and what drives your economic engine to generate profits. It’s important to be reflective and think about what you and the people you work with really want to achieve and what you can work towards. Being passionate and striving to be the best are so important for goal setting in any capacity, because it helps you know where you’re coming from and where you want to go.

One of my favorite quotes from the reading was “The real question is not, ‘Why greatness?’ but ‘What work makes you feel compelled to try to create greatness?’ If you have to ask the question, ‘Why should we try to make it great? Isn’t success enough?’ Then you’re probably engaged in the wrong line of work.” – Jim Collins. This makes me realize that we can’t just go through life going through the motions and doing things simply because they work. If we really want satisfaction and fulfillment, we should work towards things we are passionate about achieving.

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 8

I am really looking forward to conducting my entrepreneur interview this week. There is a Brother in my ward with ten children (several of whom babysit my kids) who is a successful entrepreneur. My husband even did his IT service hours for him when he was finishing his degree. They have a nice middle class house in a nice neighborhood, and he obviously does well for himself if he’s able to support that many kids, plus his mother in law, who also lives with them. I also thought about interviewing my in laws, who have started businesses before, but that’s not their main source of income, and their parents manipulated them and basically stole money from them.

Besides the interview coming up, I really enjoyed the talks from this week’s lessons. I always find such inspiration from the words of our church leaders. It’s interesting how well they can apply to things like business and money. I always think of them mainly talking about spirituality and family life, but their words transcend to all areas of life. We can learn so much from our elders with all their life experience and wisdom. They are truly there to guide us in many ways with words from the Lord.