Last Week - Last Lecture

I think a big thing about entrepreneurship is not coming up with a new idea. Anybody can come up with a business idea or a product, but just because you can think it up doesn't mean that somebody wants to buy it. Even if people like the idea, that doesn't mean they want to use it. The key is finding a pain point. The key to finding the pain point is talking to customers. Customers can tell you what is wrong with a current solution and help give you inspiration that will help you solve the problem and that the customer will want to use. Sometimes you have to be careful though as Henry Ford said that if he asked his customers what they wanted they would've said a faster horse. Those ideas are rare and we must always be careful of making our idea sound good and make it actually good. Then comes sticking with what we're good at. Knowing what you are good at might take time, but by figuring that out, that will determine how you will complete your products or services that your customers want. Also, having a great team. In another class I have, there was a presenter who told us about how there was a study that concluded that the more founders there are for a business, the more successful it will be, but also you shouldn't have a founder that doesn't bring something necessary to the foundation of the business, and also that they don't have overlapping skills. When you do have the business up and running, you need to keep in mind your priorities. There are two extremes to entrepreneurship. Putting in too much time into the business, or not putting enough and letting employees run everything about the business. You need to be somewhere in the middle, but also don't let personal matters fall to the wayside like family and friends. It is easy to let the business take over.

Week XIII

This week was interesting. Preparing for the presentation while also having to prepare for the exact same sort of presentation in another class was helpful. Things that I learned to prepare in my other class I was able to apply to this one. I have been watching a lot of Shark Tank, and while researching an entrepreneur who tried and failed, I saw Mark Cuban and was very intrigued to read about his past aside from what they already give on the show. I learned a lot from his story and seeing him in action on how he invests his money on the show was enlightening. In the article I read, it mentioned that he doesn't invest in companies that he doesn't feel fit well with his areas of expertise, even if he thinks it is a good idea. While watching the show I started to notice that no matter how much he enjoyed the product or idea, if it wasn't something he was extremely familiar with, he backed out. On the show he wouldn't say it was because he was uncomfortable or not confident, he would give other very thought out reasons and responses. Comments that were more constructive than just I don't want to be in that industry. I also liked reading about working on your business and not just in it. There is more than just working yourself to death or leaving everything to your employees. The best place to be is somewhere in between the two extremes.

Week 12

A few things this week mentioned family businesses. There is a great difficulty in family businesses. That familiarity brings trust and helps you count on them more quickly, but oftentimes that closeness can get in the way. It is never easy to tell someone you love that something is being done wrong, or that they need to change something. I also think that when starting a business it is imperative to bring people on that fulfill a business requirement. This keeps you organized and everybody will have a role in the development of the business. This keeps everyone motivated and everyone knows what is expected of them. Business relationships and family relationships may be difficult to separate, and it a business relationship goes sour, the family one might also likely fall apart.

My $100 business is going well. We have gotten good reviews from those we were able to babysit for, and they have told others that they recommend us. I feel bad making them pay us when others in the ward are doing it for free. Their only benefits in choosing me are supporting the nonprofits in Ghana and helping me with my class assignment. They still pay and it is nice to help others in such a cheap way.