Last Lecture

If you want to be an entrepreneur you need to view everything around in a different way.  You need to look at the world as a huge opportunity that is just waiting for you to improve everything about it.  Be forewarned though, once you put on those entrepreneur glasses they are next to impossible to take off.  I find myself looking at even the small, tiny problems in life as possible opportunities for me to improve on.  My daughter gets headaches from her swim camps during swim team practice.  Can I make a swim cap that works the same but doesn’t give her a headache?  It can be very distracting!  Two ideas that have proven the most helpful to me is to write down ideas as they come to you and to think in opposites.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, read everything you can and ask questions of anyone who will answer.  Information and ideas are free for the taking, you just need to be willing to do the leg work.  I was amazed at all the information that is available from books, business blogs and case studies.  Be sure you are either improving on something that is already being done, or you have a completely unique product.  Do not try to compete in a market with the same product without offering something new.  Learn from others mistakes and move forward with a new vision.  A vison is one of the most important things to an entrepreneur.  You must be able to picture the end result and be able to have your end result vision change as problems and solutions arise.  The vision must always stay in the forefront of your mind which will keep the focus on the goal.

With that being said, don’t be afraid to take calculated risks and don’t be afraid to fail.  Every failure will get you one step closer to a success.  Failure is part of the journey!

Failing Forward

This semester and especially this week I have really been pondering this idea of failure in order for success.  This is really a new concept in my mind as I am definitely in the category of perfectionist.  What's interesting to me about this concept is that I think my life has actually followed the course of experiment instead of perfectionist so I think that if I can get my mind into that frame then I will learn more from my experimental life and be able to move forward more quickly.

When I was in college in my late teens and early twenties, I was definitely in experimental mode.  My sister had known she wanted to be a teacher from the age of 5 so she had gone to college and graduated right on time and went to work as a teacher.  I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do and so I would change my major often and took classes that sounded interesting to me.  I wanted to learn everything and anything.  I'm excited now because I realize that all that experimenting did count for something and it wasn't the entire waste that I have always viewed it as.  Even though it was a failure in the sense of not getting a degree, I learned a lot and have been able to apply that knowledge throughout my life.

I'm excited at this point of my life to have a greater understanding of why it's ok to fail.  Failure is not the end of something, or at least it doesn't have to be.  Failure can actually be the starting point of getting something that was stuck, unstuck.  For years, I was overweight and I had literally tried everything to lose the weight.  While I wasn't successful in losing weight until I had weight loss surgery, all the knowledge I had gained about nutrition and exercise and how the body works remains useful to me and to the family I care for.  Every path I took to get to this point in my life contained souvenirs that I picked up and placed in my pocket along the way.

$100 challenge

The challenge is over and I am happy to report that the business was a success.  I still have people asking me if I am baking, so this might be a business I continue after this semester.  However, at this point and for this challenge, the doors are closed.  Here are my final numbers.  I sold 16 loaves of wheat bread, 6 glazed cakes, 1 unglazed cake, 12 dozen cookies, 4 dozen gluten free cookies and had 2 delivery fees.  I collected a total of $238 in revenue plus $13 in tips and delivery fees.  My costs totaled $84.75 for a total profit of $166.25.

Family Business

I again enjoyed the readings this week.  The case studies were thought provoking and it’s nice to have the opportunity to visit these decisions in theory instead of waiting to come across them in real life.  I found the idea of family business intriguing and wished there had been a case about a husband and wife business.  This is the plan I have is to open a business with my husband and I would have liked to visit the possible pitfalls with this type of family business.

I also enjoyed imagining I had a large amount of money to invest in a business. I realized something I probably already knew about myself.  I am not very good at taking risks.  Even while fully knowing I was imagining I had this money I was still unable to fully take a risk and jump into a large business.  I was gravitating towards small, side businesses.  This tells me I have not fully committed to the idea of being an entrepreneur which is helpful information for me to ponder.

$100 challenge

I did not have much activity for my business this week.  I posted that I was baking but did not get any orders.  I had a few people ask me if I was planning to bake for Christmas but we are taking a trip.  I think I could have sold some holiday items otherwise.  Overall I am still very pleased with the outcome of my business.

I have sold $228 worth of product with a cost of $81.25 for a profit of $146.75.