Lesson Seven

There were a lot of good things this week. We watched a bio of Bud Brigham. He is very into finding your purpose in life as that will guide a lot of decisions you make. He mentioned how he found this for himself was reading and studying philosophy. He also says it is important to surround yourself with similar values and beliefs. We also read some things about the importance of dedicated employees. There are a lot of ways that employees help the company. They can be detrimental to growth if they aren't dedicated and feel good about what they are doing. And a video we watched about Zappos and how they value their employees. They offer their employees money to quit. They pursue a higher quality of environment for their workplace and committed employees is how they accomplish that. those that take the money are those who were working for a paycheck. And then those that don't take the money are then more committed to the company because they had to make a decision to stay.

Progress continues with babysitting. Offers are not as plentiful as I had first expected. We continue pushing in our ward facebook group and seeking opportunities. I am still wondering how I can find more opportunities outside my ward.

Lesson Six

Progress continues on the $100 challenge. We had to make an elevator pitch this week. It was interesting. I felt as though my idea may be too simple. Everything has been very straightforward and obvious to answer. I have been having a lot of fun with this assignment all the same.

Every week we have to watch a video about an entrepreneur. This week was about Phil Romano. He is an interesting man. I really enjoyed something he had to say. He said that doing what people told him not to do is what got him where he is today. A lot of people tell others things that they shouldn't do because it's too risky or it won't work. These people care about you and know how bad it could possibly go, but that is how it all happens. Failure is something to be expected. We read something about marketing this week too and in one of the clips it said that 80% of products that come out brand new are off the market within the first year. Either they failed or are obsolete, but that is what happens. You need to pursue your dreams and goals and do what you love. When you can do that, then it doesn't matter how it all turns out, you'll be happy with the journey.

Week 5

We were able to get a babysitting appointment this week. We babysat for 4 hours. My wife was the one that found the opportunity and they were our upstairs neighbors. This made it easy as they dropped the baby off and we took care of him with the diapers and food that they gave us. I feel that this business is going to work extremely well for us. I think maybe we should charge more for our time. I feel that people are inclined to pay less than a reasonable wage because of the ease of finding willing babysitters, however, we are taking care of their child which is a very important thing. Also, we are offering to donate the final profits to a nonprofit.

I really enjoyed what Elder Hales spoke about. How can we provide for others outside our family if we cannot control how we live with our family. We must control the home before we can be expected to take care of things outside of our control. We are responsible for relatively so little. A big thing to think about is are the things we do to show love for our family or to show to others that we are a good provider. I love my wife very much and want to show her I love her but oftentimes I feel as if I am just trying to show off to her that I am the provider for our family.

Lesson 4

I remember from the video it mentioned the pivot. In another class that I am taking, we learned about this pivot as well. All successful startups have a zig zag course of how they got to where they are. The pivot is starting with one idea, seeing what works with that idea, and then changing to what fits with what works with that idea. Then from there you see what works with that idea and the things you've already learned, and then doing the same thing. Just because an idea sounds like a good idea, does not necessarily mean that it is a good idea. I remember reading an example about a website that connects you with other pet lovers. It sounds like a good idea, you could imagine that there are people that would be willing to use that site, but if everybody thinks that there is somebody that might use it but not them, then you end up with a big list of nobody and a another huge list of people that think it's probably a good idea for someone. The key is finding what works out of what you have and taking what you learned and changing course. We learned about the GEM model also. These relate extremely well. Gather, Enhance, Marketing. You gather your information, you enhance(pivot) and then market your new product. Lather rinse repeat. The more you do it the more perfectly into your market you will fit.

Activity 10

From the Harvard material, I was reminded of something I read in Good to Great. First who, then what. You pick your team of who is on the bus, then you give them the problem they need to solve. You need to find your team of creative thinkers that complement and work well together. The ride will not always be smooth, but it will end in a good result. The team seemed to me as the most important thing in  what we read about the creative process. Obviously it helps to give them a good environment that encourages their creativity and ability to ideate and come up with solutions.
For the $100 challenge I have brought my list of 20 down to 5 and think that I know what I will eventually pick. It is hard to choose based on a list of ideas that I think will work. Potentially one of the 20 I didn't pick could be a better choice, but I will not know because I chose a different route. I feel the list I came up with supports how I would best be able to accomplish the task of generating $100 of profit.