Last Post

The end has arrived. It has been a great semester and if I had to give one last lecture on the most important thing that I have learned this semester it would be simple and straight to the point.

Never, Never, Never Give up. When you get knocked down get back up and keep going. Learn from each experience and build upon it for your next venture. Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. If you cant get back up and adapt to change you are in the wrong area of the business world. If you are one who is optimistic and can adapt to new challenges that come your way, if you are one who can endure a beating then this might be the area for you. If I have learned anything from this semester is that it takes real hard to work to make your own venture work but if you can keep picking yourself up and apply what you have learned each and every time then you can make it as long as you keep your hopes high and maintain a high level of optimism.

That would be it. I feel with all the success stories and even those that have struggled to make their journey work is that your hard work and optimism is what brings you out on top in the end.

$100 challenge

The challenge is done and over with….at least the start. I plan on working off of what I have learned as it has been a very positive experience that I have had. I know that as we work towards making our small starts large ventures we can be successful as we apply what we have learned in this class.

Lesson 12

 

Mixed emotions here as this is my week 12 journal entry and with one last week ahead of me am nearing the conclusion of my college career. I will be embarking on an internship this January and will be graduating this April. I am excited from what I have learned from this class and the being able to take a chance on a business idea that I have had. I have very much enjoyed learning from great entrepreneurs ideas and the very helpful and considerate feedback of my professor. I will take with me many great lessons that I will be able to apply.

In being the last time I learn from a great entrepreneur it was great that we ended with my favorite who teaches us about optimism.

Tom Nail exhorts us to stay true to our selves. When we go out into the business world we should not be afraid to be our selves even though it may be different. The right way is by staying true to us. Also interesting fact about him is that he grew up in Garland Texas which is about five minutes from where I live. He also teaches us that you have to have imagination. When you are a small company with one or two items you need to set your selves apart from the big companies that you are trying to compete with. It does not mean that you have a small means to go about it, but rather staying optimistic about your fears in taking risks can help you calculate the risks that you are going to take. I did like his analogy of how optimistic you need to be. He said we should be like the guy jumping off the Empire State building who half way down says “so far so good” his light hearted mind set and his optimism has truly made him an inspiration in staying true to who you are.

His lesson that he taught to us seems to sum up our week. If you get knocked down get back up and keep moving forward.

$100

As for my hundred dollar challenge. How did it end up you may ask? Well I will let you check it out on youtube and you can be the judge. If I have any input in your decision I would say it was pretty successful in proving that my theory can and does work. Follow the link below to it if you would like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIbLagVPXIY

Lesson 11

As always we learned about an entrepreneur who can truly be looked at as an example this week it was Erick Slabaugh. Starting out in life we wonder how we can climb high into a company starting out. Erick Slabaugh shows us that hard work in life can help each of us become a CEO in our own lives. Knowing that there is hard work that will be ahead of us is one thing that each entrepreneur should understand. Erick taught me that while he saw his friends working hard and getting a regular paycheck and having the weekends off he was still working making little money. In the long run that was flipped to where he has more freedom and is making more money. Another point that I thought was very interesting is that of the importance of having a mentor. He said he has more mentors and asks more questions now then he did when he was younger. Asking from people who have been there and have the experience can be the key to us being a great success in the future.

I also learned a lot about buying someone’s business. Before this week I thought that would come with a lot of searching out to see who even wants to sell. Little did I know that there are web sites up that have hundreds and thousands of businesses for sale. I would very much consider taking advantage of a tool like this and have an easy entry into being my own boss and starting my own business.

$100

Well I have made my last sales over the Thanksgiving period. I will not release the final value of my project just yet;-) I will give a much more in depth analysis of it and what I have learned next week. I do with great pleasure can say that I have broken the $100 amount and that comes after paying my wife back as well as once all the Ebay fees come through…I think it will be close but once I get the bill I will know for sure. I am starting to work on my final presentation just trying to get jing to work to show off what I have done. I will try to attach the video and results of my project here on the blog as well.

Lesosn 10

As always I get to know about entrepreneurs each week that have had a successful career in doing what they have done. This one especially interested me as she is around the same age and has accomplished what I would like to in the near future (just a different product)
Nichole Donnelly was a very relatable entrepreneur to me as she is similar in age. She saw a simple solution to helping her baby stop having diaper rashes that and developed stockings that would help them. This simple idea was able to spread. She teaches us that you need to commit to the trick. As a snow border she says that you cant stop a flip half way through the trick. You need keep going or you are going to get hurt. When you go into an idea we should work hard to make sure we go through the process of making our ideas succeed. It surprised me that she changed gears and started talking about numbers and how it is important that even if you have hired someone to do your numbers you still should be able to know what they say and what they mean. Knowing this will help you have an idea of what is going on. The last thing that stuck out from a woman who sells leg warmers is that she gives back. She said it comes from such a simple product but her company is able to give back to those in need and that is a real motivating factor for her.

I also got to write a paper on franchising. Below are some of the things that I picked up from this weeks studying and how franchises can be successful.

            I would be very open to owning a franchise. I think it would be a lot harder for a company to turn their business and let others franchise it since they may not offer the same quality of work or share the same vision that the founders did but from the position of starting a chic filet or Wendy’s franchise or one of the other 2,500 franchise systems out there I can see me taking part because of the many positives they have to offer.
            Often times when we start our own business it is slow and a painful process because we are not sure how to get the day to day operations up and running in and effective manner. When we buy into a franchise the know how has already been taken care of this reduces the amount of risk we face. The reading tells us the reason is “franchises typically get up and running faster, and are profitable more quickly”, which can be a direct result from “better management as well as a well-known name” Many consumers have their favorite food place on their list for when they are out and about and seeing that friendly name rather than some new place that opens up can easily make up the mind of those driving by to play it safe.
            In getting going faster “when you lease a franchise, you are leasing that managerial know-how”. You are not left in the dark saying here is the name and some supplies now go to town. All of the information that the company has gained and that is required to run the operation smoothly is now yours. This is because a company would not want to open up other stores under you, if you are not going to run them well because it will have an effect on the whole company.
A store such as Walmart can often times get better deals on items then a mom and pop store at the corner of the street because of the weight they can toss around by being on of the bigger names in the game. This will be a blessing for me because I will be able to get supplies cheaper because the company can buy in bulk and disperse it throughout the rest of the chains. I am not left fending for myself and worrying about trying to cut deals and get prices and margins always better.
     There are some cons but when you look at it realistically you are paying for the service you are getting. There is a franchise fee and that fee can vary pending the franchise you are hoping to open up. After that initial contract is up you will have to resign if you continue after several years but this also allows you to get out of the game if you would like and walk away from the project. Royalty fees are ongoing payments that are paid by taking a percentage of your sales. This may turn many people off but for me this is like paying to continue to use the name and the deals and all information that comes with being attached to a proven company. Their name alone is driving in sales for you and they should still be rewarded for having done their part to make it possible for you to run one of their stores. The other fund that is paid is advertising funds. I talked to an owner of a taco bell restraint and he says that the headquarters will send you signs for your windows and displays that showcase new items but you pay for them whether you like it or not. This advertising fund also contributes to commercials and other ways of getting the brands name out there. This to me is one of the biggest pros because they are paying people high number of dollars to figure out new foods and ways to market them and run tv adds and other means and you can just sit back and not worry about that aspect of the business.
     There are other things set in place about non competition rules and trade secrets all of which are set in place to help those that are giving out the franchise tag. This in no way should be looked at as a negative. This shows me and whomever is looking to start a franchise that the person you are going into business with have done their home work and know how to protect themselves. This in return helps your business grow because if other stores are not breaking rules and running the franchise name into the ground then people will continue to have a positive association like we listed before and continue to come back for more and more.
     The last great thing about starting a franchise is that you get to pick what area you would like to work in. The reading points out that you can figure the type of schedule that you like such as working long late hours, hiring or dealing with the public. This allows you to know if you want to stay in the food area, lifestyle or even be able to involve your whole family in a wholesome setting. There is plenty of research that will help guide us into picking the right franchise for our selves so that we can truly be the boss of the type of company that we have wanted to be in charge of.
Being a part of a franchise allows me to be my own boss but use a system that has been proven to work. Yes there are fees and part of your profits that are taken but overall I feel you guarantee of success is dramatically improved pending your location. I would be a part of a franchise as I don’t always care if it is my show or not as long as I am the one who is in charge and running things. The price to pay is a small thing for getting an already proven method.

$100 Challenge
I understand that this is a little early to be posting about a week when I should be giving my update but with Thanksgiving coming up and family in town I would like to have as much time available with them. Seeing that I have a short amount of items to sell on Ebay not much should change from the time that I post this and what will take place. I will be listing all items that I have (assuming that all mail gets here) and posting them up on Monday so that I can have them run for five days and be up on black Friday. I have never tried selling items up on that day but I hope that it will bring in more buyers who are in the buying mood for Christmas. I’m hoping that with Christmas buying coming into play that I will be able to still buy items with people being willing to spend more money on items. I will make sure my update for the week after thanksgiving covers a little more in depth than usual of what is going on.

Lesson 9

This week I was able to learn about 4 different types of structures that businesses follow and the pros and cons of them. I feel that this is good knowledge to have so you are better prepared to know how to position your product.

Sole Proprietorship   An example of this would be our $100 challenge.

Pros: its your business, little is needed to set it up and can run from your home, minimal government fees and paperwork

Cons: personal assets are vulnerable to creditors and other liabilities such as lawsuits. Don’t get to take advantage of certain tax breaks that are reserved for more formal structures such as corporations. Your company name is not protected.

Partnerships   example would be doing your $100 project with a friend

Pros: easy to set up like the sole proprietorship, no fees or annual state paperwork, have another person to share the work load with.

Cons: if you default creditors can go after your personal bank accounts even if your partner did it. You cant raise capitol by selling stock and private investors may be wary of investing without some liability protection. Your company name is not protected as well

Corporations examples include walmart, Pfizer  and Kohls

Pros. Shields alow you and members of your company to have no personal liability which means creditors can not go for you personally. Usually a larger operation, significant tax savings, greater business flexibility, company name protection and increased opportunities for raising capitol. Two ways to set it up to save more either as a c-corp ors-corp

Cons: initial set up fees, regular maintenance such as keeping up to date corporate records as well as file annual report with state.

Limited Liability Comapany   examples can include start up painting companies

Profewer formailities and less on going paper work than corporations while offering the same personal liability protection. Company name is protected and are shielded by creditors, minimal company records and no limit to the number of members you can maintain.

What did you learn about the different forms of business ownership? There are different ways and the pros and cons really only relate to what type of vision you have for your company. Knowing what the pros and cons are can help make sure that you start out in the right area and know what is protected and not.

What kind of forms would work with some business ideas that you have? All of the ideas would work for things that I have thought about other than corporation. I have not thought of ideas that would fit under that but most would be limited liability and partnership. These would work because I would be going into business with some close friends and being able to protect our selves would be important as to help insure our families lives stay safe.

As always I was able to learn from the example of some great entrepreneurs, here are two that I learned about this week. Catherine Rohr is a go getter in the most extreme form. She finds great pleasure in turning a no into a yes and closing deals. This excitement of hers is one of her great strengths and she  has used this to be a very successful entrepreneur. Once she had an experience of meeting with an inmate her once negative thoughts toward them has changed drastically. She being a 27 year old woman decided to change and help those within the prison to better their business skills. Her take no for an answer attitude helped as during her second class the program got shut down. After an investigation things got put back on track and she continued her work. She says that her success comes from others that she has within her circle. She likes picking the brains of those people that have done things that she can learn from. Another note that I thought was great is she pointed out that she would not want the world knowing her worst thing that she has done. She said those in prison are branded with that bad thing that they have done but we should allow them to have a second chance. She has seen a murder/drug dealer become a loving father who is giving back to the community he lives in is the change that continues to inspire her along her one day at a time towards this vision she has.
Corey Bell is another entrepreneur that I was able to learn from this week. He has worked hard to teach that the word cant does not exist. If you want something bad enough you will go through or around any problem that you face in order to reach that goal that you have set. Everything is possible if you want it and this helps inspire and motivate him as he goes on. The first step he took is write what he wanted out of this life. He knew that he did not want to look back and wonder what if. The goal of his life is that there will be no what if questions at the end of his life. He enjoys working for himself and helping those along the way. He makes a great point telling us that we cant give back to others if we don’t have anything to give back. This helps me realize that if I want to truly be someone who gives back then I must strive to have things whether they be monetary items or skills that I can give back and help others so that I like Corey I can help make a difference by being a person of impact.

Another thing I accomplished was finished up my interview with Colby. He is a local entrpraneur and a friend of mine that I was able to gain some insight from him on his thoughts of what he has done. He feels that having side projects are always a good idea to make sure there is that extra source of income coming in each week to help your family so you are taken care of if something goes wrong.

$100 Challenge.
I re-listed the one item that did not sell and set it back up for the same price and someone has already bid on it. It seems that a lot of buyers will watch an item and if it does not sell hope it will be relisted for a lower price. However if they want the item bad enough they will pay the original price. If things end well for the rest of my items I have online I will be past the half way point to the $100 mark. It does take a little more time than I thought about having to wait for a card to get here since pending where it is coming from it could take a lot longer than I want to resell it so that is a good factor to remember in the future.

Lesson 8

As always I was able to learn from examples of real entrepreneurs. Here is who I learned about this week.

Matt Stewart has started over 13 companies. He has had successes and failures. Interestingly enough Matt says the ones that he tried to make money were the ones that failed. The businesses that they focused on their purpose are the ones that brought in revenues. Matt is an example of showing that we, no matter what direction we are heading, things can always change. During his travels down the legal road his company fell apart and he started a painting company to keep things afloat. He teaches us that you must control the inner marketer that once you see an idea that you cant always go with it. Sometimes we do get caught up thinking that we can do anything and make any dream a reality. As this can be true we need to stay focus and look for life in our ventures that we are currently a part of and not get distracted by the shiny object off to the side as Matt calls it.

The second person that I was able to learn from is Henry Stein. As a Marine he has been able to take that ideal of working for something bigger than yourself into all work aspects that he went into. He was proud of the Marines and it made him feel like he could achieve anything. Moral is high and helps all feel like they are fulfilled in their life. By brining that to a company culture they help others feel better about the work that they are doing. Finding the right people that want to adapt that and continue to learn and grow are the workers that he likes to have. They come to work and treat it like a sport. They want to improve, they are willing to learn from their mistakes and keep pushing forward no matter what the case is. You don’t need many of these employees since there are not lots out there, but we should always remember to take care of them once we find them.

Some other things that I was able to study on was how to hire people. In the readings I came across the idea of not hiring fast but taking the time it takes to find the right person. In relationship to that we read an article on jet blue which described some of the success that they had with hiring those that fit their right criteria. I enjoyed the reading because they played well on each other not only telling us what we should do but showing us a good example of how it can work. Below are some thoughts I had on some discussion questions from this week.
  Jet Blue is an excellent entrepreneurship story—they took an existing business and took a different approach. Let’s review some elements of Jet Blue. What does it take to make money in JetBlue’s business? What are their sources of sustainable advantage?
They found ways to stay ahead. They became the first paperless airline. They followed others ideas such as following southwest idea of stimulating demand in under-served markets with low fared. The techonology as well improved the passenger experience.This and many other things they did allowed them to turn profit in six months which is a huge thing for any starting business.

  Since we’ve been talking about how to hire GREAT people (like yourself), let’s discussion the human resources side of Jet Blue. How does HR contribute to JetBlue’s strategy and value proposition? What are the specific HR practices that add value in your opinion?
Ann said it best in the reading that she would often hire people without previous airline experience. The reason for this is to bring in some new life and excitement to the job. Sometimes we get stuck in a rut in the way that we think and we never truly escape it. They also have a five value guide which they follow in order. because of this they can narrow down a little bit who they are looking for and what type of people they want on their team.

  What can we learn from Jet Blue? In what ways are the various practices used by JetBlue transferable to other businesses like your Big Idea? We should look for people to hire that are excited whether they have been in the industry before or not. Knowing who we want and what type of personalities is a great thing instead of deciding on the spot if the person will fit in or keep the company culture moving forward. Also I liked how they followed southwest in an area that was working. WE don’t have to always do our own thing to be successful. Taking ideas (laws pending) can help us be more profitable as we latch onto all greatness that we can.

$100 Challenge
This past week only one of my items sold. I did a little bit better than doubling it which is good. The other item did not sell which was a bummer especially with four people who had it saved while it was listed. I will most likely reset it back up for another week at the same price. The hard thing about doing this on such a small start up is if I cant sell the two, soon to be three items I will get stuck on being able to move forward. The negative thing is that there is a little bit more time that takes place in buying getting and then reselling items.  Hopefully I get the new card in time to list it for three days and get both items sold for next weekend.

how to lead

 In talking about leadership this week I learned about leaders. In one assignment we were asked to look at the Savior and an example in our lives. I have included my responses to that below.

1. What are the Saviors attributes that President Kimball describes? Pick one and describe how you would demonstrate as a leader in a business? understanding others,fixed principles, selfless leadership, responsibility,accountability,wise use of time, secular leadership are what he discussed as attributes that the Savior had. One that I feel is important is wise use of time. Christ showed us that He worked so hard but still took time to talk and bless children and eath with others. Was He waisitng time? No! He was very effective with His time and I can learn to do better with my time in the work place making sure the things that I do help me accomplish my overall goal. Taking time to relax in an appropriate way can be ok but everything should help move things forward.

 

2. What is selfless leadership? Do you have an example of this attribute in your life? My mom. Ha even as a 24 year old married man with a wife, kid and another on the way I understand that my mom portriad this attribute as close to the savior as someone could get. She is always loving and never controlled us. She allowed us room to grow and make our own decisions and constantly went out of her way to serve and lead us. Its hard to write it out to describe my mom cause the words dont do it justice but she really is an example of that for me.
This week I had the opportunity to learn from the example of another great entrepreneur. 

Russ Rosenzwig quite his job with a few others after writing a business plan that would be interested in their product. He says the important moment he had in their business breakthrough was when they figured out who their customer is. Instead of trying to find anyone and everything to come and try to use them, they had to step back and say who are our customers and once they focused on that the money started to come in. They told the others that were not who they wanted as customers. Once he started gaining more and more money Russ found the importance of giving back to others to continue to achieve happiness. Russ teaches me that when are blessed with success it is ok to have some nicer things and improve our standard of living but that we should also take a moment to look around and see who else we could help with the success that we have gained. 

In following the example of our Savior and those in our lives who are good leaders we can find ways to continue to improve our leadership abilities as we apply what is great about our examples. Knowing what type of leader we are and how we can improve should always be on our mind if we want to reach our potential.

$100 Challenge

So far I have spent my original $20 for two autographed jersey cards on Ebay right now I have them re-listed back up on Ebay that will end Saturday late afternoon when I feel that the most people will be looking for them. If all goes well I will have $40 in my paypal account having doubled my initial investment that I started with and will hope to keep that doubling process going till the end of the semester.