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.