Last Lecture

It’s hard to believe this is my last journal entry for the semester. I have learned so much over the last few months about entrepreneurship, particularly as it pertains to start-ups and small business. If I were to give advice to someone wanting to take the entrepreneur’s journey, I would tell them first to start reading. I really loved the book “The E Myth” by Michael Gerber. In he talks about a couple perspectives that we may have as we are considering going into business for ourselves. He talked specifically about the technician’s perspective. This is the person who works for someone else and is probably pretty good at their job. Because they do well with their technical work they feel that they are qualified to run a full business themselves. Gerber points out that being good at your job doesn’t qualify you to run a business and more often than not this perspective can put someone in a situation where they are in over their heads. This is valuable advice, to consider the technician’s perspective in comparison to your own, before starting a business. I would also advise upcoming entrepreneurs to find a mentor. We had several assignments in which we were to interview existing business owners. They each brought up things about running a business that I would never have thought about. Like how the hardest thing about keeping a business going is hiring the right people, or how purchasing company vehicles rather than pocketing extra cash would be a good tax benefit. It pays to find someone who already knows what they are doing. They can help you avoid pitfalls that would otherwise get the best of you. Last but certainly not least I would advise to always go to your Heavenly Father in prayer when considering a start-up or any other type of business venture. He will be there to guide you as you make such big life decisions. This course has been a good experience for me and I look forward to/dread what will be coming next in B383!

A Safe Place to Admit Failure

As I read “Strategies For Learning From Failure” I was fascinated by the idea of creating an environment that is safe to admit failure. According to the article it takes “strong leadership” to create such an environment. I thought about my time in the corporate world (10+ years) and I would not say that we had this type of culture. As difficult as it was I still always admitted my mistakes, I found that if I came forward and admitted to failure the consequences were less severe and in some cases even positive. One of the results was that I became a trusted member of my team because people knew that if I failed I would not try to hide it or blame anyone else but I would own up to it and try to do better next time. Money can’t buy the kind of trust honesty can bring. I think as subordinates we can do our part by admitting our mistakes but I agree with what the article states, “Only leaders can create and reinforce a culture that counteracts the blame game and makes people feel both comfortable with and responsible for surfacing and learning from failures,” This actually made me think about myself as a leader in my household. Am I creating an environment where it is safe to admit failure? I am so glad to have read this article. I am going to discuss this with my husband and find things that we can do to make sure our kids feel safe in admitting their mistakes and where we can help them learn from those failures.

Regarding my $100 project, I thought it was very beneficial to put together a narrated presentation and then get feedback from the class. I received some very helpful comments from my classmates. I really liked the question, “What would you do if you had more time?” That really helped me ponder and think through what I would do with my project if I truly intended to make it a large successful business. I signed up for B383 next semester and if I have a similar assignment, I think I will try to take this business to the next level.