My Entrepreneurial Journey

Being an entrepreneur definitely takes grit. It isn't an easy road and is filled with surprises, disappointment, and downright failure. However, if someone is willing to work hard and persevere, it can be a very rewarding life! Three things that will help an entrepreneur succeed are: 1) Having realistic expectations--If you take the time to learn about the life and talk to entrepreneurs who have succeeded, you will get a better understanding of what to expect. Knowing what is ahead can give you an opportunity to plan for failure and initiate Plan B. It also makes disappointments less painful when you are already expecting them to happen. Having a mentor you can connect with often will help you get through those challenging times. 2) Having a clear vision--When things get tough, it may be tempting to give up. If you can step back for a minute and remember where you want to go and why, you will be able to face the challenges that come with fierce determination. Having a clear vision ...

 As an entrepreneur, it is important that the people in your life build you up and encourage you. Finding people who will help you achieve your goals will be a great strength. In A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey , Jeff Sandefer shares three essentials in determining what type of people you should seek out: 1--"Surround yourself with people of integrity. We all have lapses, but it's pretty easy to tell the difference between people who a trying to be good and people who aren't." Having a network of people which high moral character will remind you to act with integrity. As an entrepreneur, there will be many opportunities to blur the lines of honesty to get ahead--or avoid falling behind. It is critical to have people in you life who encourage you to do good and would never lead you to cheat. 2--"Surround yourself with people who are optimistic and kind." The most successful businesses are those that do good for others, that provide something that enr...

 There will always be important things demanding our attention that can easily be justified over our families. "I'm working late so I can have enough money for my family." Over time, we will gradually justify a few little things at a time until we find ourselves so busy, we rarely have time for our family. My husband has worked in business for 15 years. In that time, he has seen many examples of how people choose to balance work and family. He has also adopted boundaries that help him keep a healthy balance. Some of his boundaries are not having work-related dinners, unless spouses are invited, not working Sundays, and arranging business trips so he is home before Sunday. There have definitely been customers who were upset or annoyed at his commitments to his family, but he stayed true to his boundaries. I learned another tip from a book my cousin wrote (Purify: What Clean Water Teaches Us About Making Smarter Decisions in Business and in Life). He talked about hiring com...

We recently learned about the value of an entrepreneur's time--when requesting to learn from them via personal interview. What really stood out to me was the idea that I could ask 1,000 different entrepreneurs if I could "pick their brain", but it wasn't of much benefit to them, and actually wasted their most valuable asset--time. As I read through the article, I was first offended, then recognized it from the other person's perspective. I am currently homeschooling 5 kids from age 6 to 16, in addition to finishing school and running a small cake business. I am BUSY! I turn down many opportunities because I don't have extra time. Thinking of other entrepreneurs in the same light helped me realize how important it is to be aware of their time. They aren't typical nine-to-fivers, and don't get a lot of free time. So, it is very important to me to be mindful of their time and RECIPROCATE their generosity. Throughout the last week, I have made an effort to...

Why can't I just be average? We all know entrepreneurs are not average. They are driven my an insatiable need to create and become. But a business owner must also have high moral values to truly succeed. A leader (entrepreneur, business-owner, etc) succeeds when he or she lives with integrity.  One thought that really stuck out to me this week was the idea that we must trust others first if we want them to trust us. The example given was Amazon. They ship to customers for free, and accept returns for free--all based on complete trust in their customer's word--and they have been incredibly successful. We trust Amazon because we know they'll keep their word--because they treat us the same way. We've had a few experiences where we returned things and weren't refunded correctly. My first thought has always been "This is Amazon, they'll make it right." And they always have! This week, I applied this principle to my small cake business as I considered using ...

 It was really helpful to talk to someone in the field I'm interested in. My friend's husband owns a small accounting firm. He has had experience working for a large accounting firm, in a bank, as an auditor, and for a couple different businesses. He said his experience in different aspects of accounting definitely helped him decide what type of accounting enjoys most. He also favors owning his own business over working for a large firm or bank. He finds joy and satisfaction in his work and feels he is doing a lot of good for people who need help--as opposed to bringing in more money for a large corporation. While the demands of being a small business owner blur the lines of work-life balance, he appreciates that he has the flexibility to work when he wants and spend time with his family when he wants. He has also found that diversifying and providing different services increases the variety of revenue streams he has. It also helps distribute his work load, since tax preparatio...