FINAL WEEK #14

This week we are to write as if giving a final lecture to future students of this course.
Welcome to your Introduction to Entrepreneurship.  This will be the beginning of your discovery into whether or not entrepreneurship is right for you.  There are many who say that anyone can own their own business, and that may be so, but everyone cannot be successful and happy owning their own businesses.  It is okay to not know right now.  I was not sure if I wanted to be a business owner.  I came into this course having started my own business but stopping it to further school.  I was not sure if I wanted to start it up again later or not.  After this course, I am fairly certain I will not be doing that again.  It takes a lot more to own and run a business than I had imagined.  Through this class I was able to discover more about myself.  More about what I want from my education and a career.  What I want in life and what I do not want in life.  What I will always choose to do and what I will choose to never do.  This course also helped me realize that as a disciple of Christ, through whatever I choose to do in my life, I am to build His kingdom.  Whether I am at home with my children, or out in the business world, I need to be His disciple in all that I do.  I ask you to look at what your interests are.  Is there something that you truly enjoy that you could help the world be better?  Could you be happy being in charge of all aspects of a business?  This semester you will learn about what you need before you become an entrepreneur.  Do you have a plan in place?  Have you thought of your possibilities?  There are so many turns that a business can take that you need to be prepared for.  This will help you prepare yourself for these situations.  You will interview an entrepreneur that you know.  This interview can be extremely helpful if you allow it.  Your questions that you ask and the conversation that you have, can help guide you towards the right path for your future.  Let this entrepreneur be a mentor to you and help you in your path towards or away from entrepreneurship, depending on what your feelings are at that time in the course. Through this semester’s studies of successful entrepreneurs, I was able to learn that entrepreneurship is not the right fit for me.  I am grateful that this course helped me learn that now, rather than realizing it later in my future.  Make sure you work on your portfolio early on and go by the weekly guide.  It is much easier than procrastinating and trying to do everything in a short amount of time at the end of the semester.  Good luck in this course and good luck in your future. 

Week #13

As we come nearer to the end of the semester, I feel the need to remind myself of many things I have learned.  This week is about gratitude and we read a talk from Pres. Monson.  He discusses six people or things to encourage our gratitude.  One, be grateful for our mothers.  Two, be grateful for our fathers.  Three, be grateful for our teachers.  Four, be grateful for our friends.  Five, be grateful for our country.  Six, be grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ.  In addition to being grateful for these things, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to attend BYU-I and expand upon my knowledge in this life.  I know that this school and programs have been brought about by revelation and are great blessings unto many.  I know that they are blessings to my family as I am able to continue my university experience when I thought I would not be able to finish. 
I am grateful for our living prophets who are in tune with the Spirit and able to receive revelations for the Church. I am grateful for daily revelation from our Heavenly Father.  I am eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father for all that He has given me as I live this test on earth.  

Week #12

This week we finished reading the book "A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey".  As I read this book, I came to realize that it is a fantastic book to close out this course.  It summarizes many of the things that we have learned and done throughout the semester.  It discusses how to start the journey by stopping the excuses and keeping a journal.  We did this by starting this blog to track our progress each week.  This blog has helped me to realize the things that I have learned and grown from.  Also, I now am able to look back at this later on in my journey through business and see what concepts I can continue to learn and grow from.   The book continues through discovering who you want to be (not what you want to be), setting guardrails (the stars and stepping stones we created earlier this semester), choosing friends and companions wisely along this path (we created our personal board of directors to remind us of these important things), encounter and growing from obstacles & learning to overcome your fears (we did deconstructing our fears), making sure that you make time for rest and relaxation and lastly, encountering the challenge that will change your life.  All of these items together help guide us on our path through being an entrepreneur, but also are steps that will help guide us throughout our entire lives.


Now for questions regarding a reading "What's a Business For?" by Charles Handy

• Based on what you read in the first two pages (pages 3 and 4), why are virtue and integrity so vital to an economy?

The future of our economy is based on the choices of today.  We are saving now for our futures tomorrow.  For those in charge of corporations it is important for them to show integrity and virtue so that their employees and the public shareholders know they can depend upon them to make choices in the best interest of everyone, not just themselves.  If honesty is betrayed, it is hard to earn back.  Many people do not trust businesses with many fall outs that have happened and continue to be shown in the news.  Those in charge often are feeding their own interests before the interest of their shareholders or employees.  They are taking care of their retirement accounts and stock options now so they don't have to trust in those who take over for them when they retire.  With this lack of trust, comes the decline of money circulating throughout.  Without trust, why would we want to let go of our money?  

• According to Charles Handy, what is the “real justification” for the existence of businesses?

The "real justification" is that businesses need to make a profit so that they can do more or be better. 

• What are two solutions proposed by Handy that you agree with? Why?

I think that Handy's suggestion that businesses need to be involved with charitable giving is an excellent idea.  I know that many large corporations are involved with charities.  Hander says, "To survive, even to prosper, is not enough.  We hanker to leave a footprint in the sands of time".  Associating with giving back is something that builds up trust from the community. 

I also like his thoughts on compensating those who work harder through their skills and talents to for such.  The balance of working harder for your money would be more equal than currently when employees get compensated regardless of them doing just enough or whether they go above and beyond.  Spreading this I think would increase productivity in companies. 

Week #11

This week we read and watched many items regarding balancing work and family life.  Rather just having a balanced life that is satisfying and makes you happy.  "Money doesn't buy happiness" is the phrase that constantly was either heard or came into my mind.  There will always be many different things begging for your time, the main thing is to know what order your priorities are in.  As we read over some case studies, I was able to ponder on my thoughts of having my own business and how it would interfere with my family time.  Would I have to miss out on some performances or some games?  Or would I make my family a priority over my business?  I came to realize that if I did start up a business, this would definitely have to be a discussion between myself and my husband.  A self owned business would definitely have to have many decisions decided between both of us so as not to create any contention in the family.  We are a family first and the business would come afterward. 
I realized that not everyone had the same views on this.  I hope and pray that I do not ever have to have any issues with this, but I know that if we pray for help that Heavenly Father will help us.  He is with us in our marriages, we have made covenants to Him as we have with each other.  He wants our families to succeed and we will report at the judgement seat to Him about our families.  We will not be asked how much money we made or how successful our businesses were.  I do feel like we will be asked how we made our families feel or how we raised our children.  Did we teach our families the gospel?  Did we teach them to pray and study the scriptures?  How can we teach these principles if we are absent and always at work?  

Week #10

This week we had to write up our paper about our interview on an entrepreneur.  I actually interviewed a few so I could get advice and help from many different people in different careers.  However, I wrote my paper on my interview of Dr. Jonathan Powell, DDS.  My bishop, longtime friend, neighbor, and of course my dentist.  He told me about when he attended BYU, he really enjoyed biological science courses and this helped him realize he wanted to go into dentistry.  His biggest advice was to make sure I fully understand the field I want to go into before trying to start a business.  There are so many hidden things that business owners do not speak about on a regular basis.  He has paid for coaching that has really helped him learn how to better run his business and be happy.
I think Dr. Powell is a great example of a successful entrepreneur.  Over the past 8 years, I have watched his clientele base grow constantly.  His office staff has grown over the years also.  He has started marketing more, or at least I have just noticed it more.  As the owner, he is responsible not only for the dentist procedures, but the growth of the business, the marketing, the finances, the insurance, the maintenance, and so much more.  Yet he says the benefits definitely outweigh the challenges.  He is able to see his talent and skill bring smiles and happiness to many who used to hide those smiles due to self-consciousness.  What a great thing to know that you are helping make a difference in someone else’s life.

Week #9

This week is titled "Disciple Leadership".  What hit me most this week was going through the readings made me think about my calling.  In the readings, I read about delegation and how much of the world nowadays is not full of "go-getters".  There are many who will ask a million questions if asked to complete a task, so we will want to do it ourselves instead of constantly asking and answering more questions in order to get a task completed.  It sure would be faster and simpler for us to complete it ourselves.  But does that allow for growth in the "employee" or the company?  As I compared this to my calling in Primary, I realize that my hardship with delegation and trying to do everything on my own does not allow anyone else to grow as leaders or within the ward and church.  I am possibly stunting the spiritual growth of the children and leaders, and possibly even myself.   In “Leadership with a Small “L”” by Pres. Clark, I recall reading this when I started Pathway last year.  I thought it was very interesting at that time and yet it still is wonderful today.  The principles he teaches are: Lead by example, Lead with vision, and lead with love.  I know if I follow these principles I can be a good leader in business and in other areas of my life. 

Week #8

This week we studied about entrepreneur overcoming challenges or hurdles in their way.  Many different stories.  One story about an engineer that stated behind every technical problem is a human problem, it just may be down the line a few steps.  A programming code error, why?  Because it was input wrong by the coder.  Why?  Because he is new and wasn't trained.  Why?  Because his manager doesn't believe in training.  And there is the real problem to confront. 
Another story about Elder Holland as a young father.  As moving across the country with his little family, their car breaks down.  He has to hike miles back to the nearest town for help.  After getting towed back to town and car being fine, they start the journey again.  Same spot and same problem with car again.  The young father again sets to walking back to the town for help.  The setback could cause many to decide to not make this trek, yet he still made it.  Just had to figure out a way to make it happen.  Without the old car. 
I know there will be many hiccups along the way of building a business.  It will not be easy and breezy.  Yet Heavenly Father is always there to help us be comforted and guided in righteousness through the difficult times. 

Week #7

This week I finished the book Mastery by George Leonard.  He discusses mastery as a journey.  So many wonderful things in the book that I would like to remember.  So at the bottom of this post is the book report I did on it.  I also read about Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  They are:
1 - Be Proactive
2 - Begin and end with the end in mind
3 - First things first
4 - Think win/win
5 - First seek to understand, then to be understood
6 - Create synergy
7 - Sharpen the saw
These are wonderful things to remember and understand further in life.

The Principles of “Mastery”

                In the book “Mastery”, Leonard discusses what his definition of mastery is and how to get it.  Not as something that a normal person would think when we hear the word mastery, but instead as a process of continuing and practicing something.  Through this book and definition, I was able to learn some principles to help me in my future.  To take the journey of mastery, I need to first understand how I react to new situations, learn the five master keys, and learn the tools to use in mastery.
                There are three different categories where most people can find themselves associated with in a certain area of life, whether it be business, love, art, sports, school, etc.  Leonard titles them the Dabbler, the Obsessive, and the Hacker.  The Dabbler is one who tries many new things.  As he tries a new thing, he gets bored when he is doing the same thing and hits a plateau in his process and quits to try another thing.  The Obsessive is one who only focuses on the end results.  He quits when he hits a plateau because he is not seeing immediate results and progress.  The Hacker is one who is content.  He is fine not progressing and is fine hanging out on the plateau forever.  Through these categories, we can find what defines us better and how we can better stay on the plateau and continue towards improvements.
                The five master keys are Instruction, Practice, Surrender, Intentionality, and The Edge.  Instruction is for us to find the best instructor to guide us in what we are striving to master.  Great teachers want their students to surpass their own skills.  Practice is not something you do, but something you are.  Constantly practicing, especially when on a plateau, is mastery.  Surrender is you needing to fall into your teacher’s demands no matter what they are.  Be willing to make a fool of yourself.  That great teacher is teaching you something through this, you just may not understand it at this point of your learning process.  Intentionality is making sure to visualize that you can do this.  The vision in your mind is a powerful thing when embarking on a new mastery journey.  The Edge is making sure that you are willing to step to the edges, but understanding the safe limits.  There will be goals along your path that you will stop and obtain, and that is okay.  The journey of mastery is not a goal, but has little goals along the sidelines. 

                The tools used in mastery are understanding why so many resolutions fail and what you can do about it, having the energy for mastery, avoiding the pitfalls on the path, and packing for the journey.  Through understanding these things, we will be closer to understanding how to achieve mastery.
                The reasons resolutions do not work so often, is that we all resist change.  Whether it be good or bad, change is change.  To fight this resistance, you need to: 1 – Be aware of the balance and the environment needed to continue balance when starting a change, 2 – Be willing to deal with and go around your resistance, 3 – Gather a support system, 4 – Maintain a regular practice schedule, and 5 – Commit yourself to learning forever. 

Even after these steps, we need to have the energy.  To get the energy needed for mastery we need to: 1 – Maintain our physical health, 2 – Know the negative that is out there, but bring out the positive, 3 – Be honest in all things, 4 – Respect your dark side, but do not be accepting of it, 5 – Make sure to have your priorities straight, 6 – Keep your promises, and 7 – Stay on the path of mastery once you get on it. 

Still along the path we need to know what to watch out for so we can stay strong.  The pitfalls that Leonard warns us of are: 1 – living a life different than what you are trying to master, 2 – obsessing over goals, 3 – bad guidance, 4 – not having the desire or drive, 5 – having too much drive to achieve, 6 – being lazy, 7 – being injured, 8 – drugs, 9 – mastering to obtain prizes, 10 – mastering for the vanity, 11 – being too serious, 12 – lacking consistency, and 13 – trying to achieve perfectionism.    

Now that we know how to get on the path and what to avoid, we need to understand what to bring on our journey.  Leonard concludes that we should make a checklist with all the items we learned about through the book so we can look at the list throughout the journey.  The list contains the five mastery keys, how to deal with change, getting the energy for mastery, and the pitfalls to avoid.  Once we have this list, we can pack and begin our journey toward mastering what we have chosen to focus on. 

Leonard ends by reminding us that in order to become a master and a great learner, we need to be willing to look like a fool.  Allow new things to enter into our minds from our instructors that we never would have imagined.  Great things are brought to pass by doing things we would not think of as normal.  Success is found in mastery, and that is something we can journey towards. 

Week #6

This week is titled "So You Want to be an Entrepreneur?"  The materials studied this week discuss things needed to be a successful entrepreneur.  Also to be successful in all areas of your life.
I really enjoyed the short clip by Jan Newman that we viewed.  Titled "Loyalty to God and Family".  He states the two most important things are the Lord and our family.  If we put those things first, we will be happier.  "Don't be too busy for a calling", he says.  I really like that as sometimes it is tempting to say no to a calling because so much is going on in life.  The Lord wants to make sure your heart is in the right place.  Don't say no to the Lord because you are choosing work over Him.
Other items of study this week discussed how to be prepared before jumping into the business world.  A pamphlet titled "So You Want to be an Entrepreneur?" gives three things needed before you can start a successful business: “industry knowledge,” skills of “running a business” and “capital.”  I know I need to learn more about all of these things in order to think about having a successful business.

Week #5

This week I wrote out my Personal Board of Directors.  I really enjoyed thinking about this and the people who I would like to guide me throughout my business endeavors.  They consist of: President Hinckley, my Grandpa Cox, my husband, Elder Russell M. Nelson, my aunt Debby and uncle James, one of my best friends Sassy, and my high school English teacher Mrs. Miller.  These people have all had great impacts on my life and some continue to every day.  I know each of these people would continue to guide me in the best ways to a successful business.  I also would be put in my place by some of them, if I was not doing my best.

I also enjoyed the talk of Jeff Sandefer's, "A Hero's Journey".  This is the second class I have watched this clip for and it seemed as if I really needed to learn from it if I have to watch and report on it in multiple classes during different weeks.  He gives great guidance during it and I would love to continue to keep a record of his words.  I love his remarks about what people over the age of 60 always ask themselves about their lives: “Did I contribute something meaningful—is there something I did that mattered?” “Was I a good person?” and “Who did I love and who loved me?"  Knowing these questions now, I think can help me make a better life for myself for the future.  

Week #4

This week was filled with eye opening moments.  I have come to find out more about what I want to be and the person I want to be "when I grow up".  Writing my personal constitution and typing about my worst fears made me really think this week.  I have a lot available in front of me, I just have to choose what path I want to take and to where.  
Here is my Personal Constitution so I can return to it often and revise it as needed.

Personal Constitution

Values: Honest, Giving, Dedicated/Hard-Working, Friendly, Financially Self-Reliant

I am honest in my dealings with all my fellow men. 
I am giving in all that I do.  In my time, my love, my money, my work, and everything I do, I enjoy to give of myself.  I do not give to be thanked, but give to help others.
I am hard-working.  I enjoy seeing the end result of my work.  I am dedicated to something once I start. 
I am friendly to all those around me.  I am friends to those who need a friend.  I enjoy giving a smile to those on the street or who cross my path anywhere.  The world is greater with more smiles and friends.
I am financially self-reliant.  I am able to not worry about where tomorrows funds will come because I know that I have sufficient funds built up.  I am prepared for financial emergencies.  I am able to help others financially if needed.

I know that all people in the world are my brothers and sisters.  Through my hard work, I want to be able to bless and help others.  I want to give all that I can and befriend as many as I can throughout my journey in life.  I will be honest in all of my dealings and show integrity by example.  By example I will be able to help many others I encounter to turn towards Christ and be giving toward others also.  I will make the world a better place through my kind heart.  I am giving and kind hearted. 

Goals:
Short term - I will not neglect my church or family duties while taking classes.
Long term – I will graduate with my bachelors before my son graduates high school in 2023.
Long term – I will try substitute teaching to see if I would like to be a teacher.


Daily tasks:

545 Wake up early
615 Prepare breakfast, lunch and get children ready and off to school
7-9 Volunteer at the school for a few hours
10-2 Come home and study for 4-5 hours
2-230 Remind myself to eat lunch
230-3 Pickup children
3-4 Run children to after school activities
4-5 Study schoolwork while kids are doing their homework
430-5 Prepare dinner and pickup around house
530 Have family dinner together
6-8 Study schoolwork alongside my husband
8 Scripture study and family prayer
830 Put kids to bed
9 School work time
10 Bedtime

Week #3 - Ethics

This week we studied an article about Magdalena Yesil.  A determined learner and gifted business woman.  Her dedication and interest in learning helped her build businesses, be able to sell her own business barely after it was created, and continue to build up her profile in many different areas of business as she took new position upon new position to continue learning new skills within businesses. 

The main theme of the week was “honesty and business ethics”.  From talks about pride and integrity to videos about ethics and building your businesses, I was able to take away the true way to put to use the values I have been taught through Primary to Young Women, in the business world. 
I have been told before that many places like to hire from within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because of our values and integrity.  I know that I have had to previously defend those values and stand up for myself in previous careers.  I am proud (in a good way) to be able to say that integrity is something that I highly value.  I do not know that enough people in the world continue to value it as a must have quality when in business.  I hope that as I create my own business, that I will be able to find those who have and understand the true meaning of integrity so we can grow a great business together. 

Stars & Steppingstones

This week we learned about “Stars and Steppingstones”.  This assignment was to sketch out a plan for my life.  The stars are my goals and the steppingstones are the smaller goals to help me achieve the star goals.  So, I chose my star goals as: get my bachelor’s degree, become a teacher, write a book, serve a couple mission with my husband, and send all of my children to college. 
My steppingstones to achieve my bachelor’s degree are: do homework early or on time, take classes every semester until I graduate, ask questions or for help, prepare for class, and balance my time.

My steppingstones to become a teacher are: finish college, intern or TA at a school, lookup qualifications for certification where I am living, take the training and test to get my teaching certificate, and apply for teaching jobs once the kids are out of the house.

My steppingstones to write a book are: continue brainstorming ideas of books, continue writing pages in ideas already started, do not overdo it and be burned out on writing, start with outlining characters, settings and background info, set specific page or chapter goals once I start a book, search into on submitting books for publishing, and send to publishers.

My steppingstones to send all my children to college are: finish college myself as an example, have finances to help assist if needed (encouraging high grades and activity in extra curriculars for scholarship opportunities), research schools with my children but encourage BYU, pray fast and discuss with family, & help kids apply to multiple schools.

My steppingstones to serve a mission are:  be well off financially to support us, prayer daily together, scripture study together, attend temple together at least monthly if not weekly, and put in our papers.

My ethical guardrails for these stars and stones are: keep moral standards strong for ourselves and as examples to the kids, and balance my time in all things so that God and family are not taken over by anything else. 

Lastly, this week we watched and read a speech by Randy Pausch.  He was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams due to the way he lived his life.  He led his life to get his dreams.  Nothing stood in his way that he did not figure out a way to get over or around it.  “Brick walls are there for a reason:  they let us prove how badly we want things.”  I love that quote from his last lecture he gave. 

From watching his last lecture, it made me think about my dreams.  As a child, I had some crazy dreams.  Wanting to become a dentist was high on the charts at one point.  It definitely is no longer near any charts as that is something that does not interest me at all and would not bring me any joy doing on a regular basis.  However, once I was in high school I wanted to become an Accountant.  Sometimes I still think about doing that and I know I can achieve that goal if I still want to.  I just need to focus on education right now in order to be able to obtain that. 
I feel that dreaming is very important.  Dreaming helps lead to some great goals in life.  Without dreams I do not think that there would be many people who aspire to what they want to. 
I look forward to next week in this course and what I will get to write about on my blog. 

Week 1

This week studying the readings and viewing the videos in B183 class, I was a little uncomfortable.  I am unsure if this is the right class for me.  Do I want to be an entrepreneur?  Am I cut out for that kind of thing?  As I ask myself these questions, I realize that I have already been an entrepreneur before.  I had a business making and selling cookie cakes until it was too much with school this summer.  Someday I hope to go back to that after I learn more about running the business side of it all.  I look forward to learning about myself more as we dig into this course as well as if that type of work is actually what my skills, talents and interests will be best suited for.
I really enjoyed the videos and words from our church leaders this week as I really felt what they were saying.  My education is my responsibility to my Heavenly Father to do as much as I can with this mind and life He gave me.  I need to do my absolute best and not just "good enough" to pass.  I know that how I do in school will directly influence how I am in my future career and how I am with my family.  I don't just want to be good enough for them all, but I want to be and do the best for them all.