Last Lecture Updated

This week in class we are asked to give our last lecture.  It is funny that I have already done this project in another class a little over seven months ago. Not much has changed since then, but I think I can add a little more insight into my entrepreneurial last lecture. 

I feel the last lecture is supposed to be something moving or profound.  I'm not sure I have that just yet at least not in an entrepreneurial sense.  This last lecture seems a bit overwhelming so I am going to try to just speak (or type) from my heart.  Through the things we have learned in class and the lessons I have learned in my life as a budding entrepreneur, there are a few things that I believe will help you be successful. 

The first and most important lesson for myself, and I hope for others, especially Christians, is to have faith and pray.  So often people go through life floundering along without any direction.  However, we have the knowledge that we can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive answers to our prayers. Heavenly Father can give us inspiration and guide us in the direction we should go.  Most people believe in chance or luck, but I do not think it is just chance or luck, I think most of the time it is our Heavenly Father giving us direction (even to those that do not believe or acknowledge him), possibly even pushing us into the situations or the path that we need to move forward on our journey.   My favorite scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  If we are able to recognize his hand in our lives, trust his inspiration, and not be stubborn; thinking we know everything, he will let us know the way we should go.  He will "direct thy paths" to help us go where we will learn what we need to learn, experience what we need to experience and meet the people we need to meet so we can be successful in our lives.

The next thing is to get going on that path as early as possible and find any way to make it work.  My husband and I wanted to begin in the rental property business many years ago.  We took a couple of courses and had a couple of different opportunities, but they fell through.  One in particular, was a duplex.  It was perfect, two incomes for one mortgage, in a decent area.  The seller was asking $95,000 for it.  Unfortunately, the place did not appraise for $95k and we were unable to get funding for it. Thinking back on the situation now, I do have regrets, I wish we would have pushed through and found a way to come up with the money or negotiate the price so we could get the duplex we really wanted.  At this point, it would have been paid off and bringing in income all this time.  I think the important thing here is to find your calling and take the steps to get you there as quickly as possible. People get sidetracked by J-O-Bs (Just Over Broke) and just punch the clock to make a paycheck, but don't actually start on their stepping stones to get them to their star.  It's scary to leave a secure paycheck, but it is worth it in the end.  Think of the difference you can make and think of how much you could love going to work instead of dreading it.  Take the chance, take the leap, just do it!  It will be hard, but it is better than regretting having never done it because you were scared.

The third thing I would suggest is to get an education.  This does not necessarily have to be in the classroom.  It could be life experiences.  It could be working with a mentor.  It could be reading books from the library in your chosen field.  Get as much experience and education as you can while you are young, but continue to learn throughout your life.  Don't stop learning.  Surround yourself with people smarter than you who are willing to impart their knowledge to you.  Be hungry for new knowledge and skills.

Forth, you must be willing to work hard.  More and more young people want to sit back and have everything handed to them.  What happened at my previous job is everyone stretches out their assignments for the whole day instead of getting it done and asking what else you can learn or help with.  Put in an honest full day's work.  Those that work hard tend to be the ones that truly succeed, not just at work, but at life in general.  Sometimes it is going to be physical labor, sometimes it is mentally draining, but in end you will feel proud of what you have accomplished.

Lastly, never give up.  Don't let someone tell you that you can't.  If you think you can, keep trying, keep going and find another way until you find what works.  No one knows your drive or passion.  I am sure many people told Henry Ford he could never made a "horseless carriage", but he did.  I am sure others told Thomas Edison that light could not be produced without fire, but he kept trying until he invented the light bulb.  Walt Disney was told he was not creative, yet he created hundreds of short and full length films and thousands of beloved characters.  We have not lost until we quit.  As the saying goes, "where there is a will, there is a way."  Just make sure it is your will and way you are following.  You can do it!

No one's path is the same, but we all have one.  We have a calling that we should be fulfilling.  If we can find that calling and go after it, we will have an enjoyable life. Usually as we enjoy our life, we find success in our careers.

A final note on my $100 challenge business.  It has been difficult to manage it with the other commitments.  Trying to run three separate business, two as start-up at the same time, is not easy.  But I stuck with it and am glad I was able to make a profit that I can now donate to Nijora and hopefully be able to follow her progress and success for her own dress making business.

Failing Forward

This week has been about learning from your failures.  It is amazing the number of successful individuals who once failed in one regard or another.  Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.  Steve Jobs was fired from his own company. Thomas Edison had 10,000 prototypes for the light bulb.  Abraham Lincoln was defeated 8 times before becoming President of the United States.  George Steinbrenner ran a basketball team into the ground before taking over the New York Yankees.  Bill Gates first computer company was a disaster before he founded Microsoft.  

The person I really researched this week was Walt Disney.  Did you know that Walt Disney was once told he lacked creativity?  They even fired him from a newspaper over it.  The biggest creative mind of our time had more struggles than just that.  In fact, it seemed he had one set back after another but each time something better came out of each struggle. 

Walt’s young life was very difficult and all of his brothers ran away at a young age.  Walt even lied about his age so he could begin driving an ambulance during World War I.  Because of the struggles of his childhood, he wanted a place where families could enjoy happy times together and that is how he came up with the idea for Disneyland.

He began a small movie company called Laugh-O-Gram films that created animated films.  Unfortunately, due to high labor costs and Walt’s poor business skills, the company went bankrupt and Walt lost everything. 

With only $40 and a few clothes he moved to Hollywood to become an actor.  Obviously, he never made it, but he and his brother Roy realized that there were no animation businesses in Hollywood.  So they gave it a go.  There he created Oswald the Rabbit for Universal Studios in New York City.  It was very successful, but after a trip to NYC, he found out that Universal Studios had somehow obtained ownership of Oswald the Rabbit.  Not to mention, they had also contracted all of his workers out from under him, except one, Ub Iwerks.  It was on his train ride home that he got the idea for Mickey Mouse.  Ub Iwerks ended up drawing Mickey Mouse and Walt was the voice of the character. 

Off and on throughout his career, Walt experienced stress and depression.  He spent many sleepless nights.  He would get angry with his workers.  Other times he would burst out in tears at the drop of a hat.  People encouraged him to take his wife on a vacation.  He expected to go on a voyage down the Mississippi River, but due to the Great Depression the trip on the boat was cancelled.  Years later, days before Disneyland opened, he took his wife on a ride on the Mark Twain Steamboat.  Most likely the ride was based on his desire and inability to ride a steamboat many years before.

With the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt and Roy built a house in California for their parents.  But it was built with poor construction.  Walt attempted to have his studio workmen repair it, but one morning they found their mother had died that night from carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Walt often said, "Get a good idea, and stay with it. Dog it, and work at it until it's done, and done right."  It would have been easy for Walt to give up many, many times.  However, every time life gave him lemons he seemed to learn how to make lemonade.  Walt Disney even said, “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”  His kicks in the teeth certainly provided some pretty great things.  These qualities are an inspiration for me and help remind me that sometimes you fail, but it is important to keep on trying.  Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.

My $100 challenge business is over.  I was able to find a new person to donate to.  Her name is Nigora from Tajikstan and I was able to finish funding her request for $125 to buy a embroidery machine for her home dress making business.  I hope that it helps her grow her business with this loan and find success in her country.  I put the remaining amount plus a little more towards a Kiva.org donation.  

Family Businesses

While in essence our rental property business is a family business with my husband and me.  But since I do the majority of the work with the tenants and the repairs, it seems like it is more my business.  Maybe I should consider my husband as the silent partner.  He does help with some of the repairs, but really we don't have anything set as to who does what.

We learned that it is important to clearly define roles and to have plans written down.  In addition, when we are planning on turning over our business to one of our children what the succession plan should be and how it should be handled to hopefully avoid hurt feelings.

This week's lessons were helpful and I believe that my husband and I should at least talk about the different things I learned this week, but I am not sure that we need to set things in stone nor do we need to implement them fully.  For one, we will always run the business together.  He knows that I do the majority of the management but he helps with the repairs.  In addition, we don't have to worry about a succession plan, because we only have one child.  At this time, we have it written in our will that the properties (including our own house) will be sold and the proceeds of one house will be given to my parents, another house to my husband's sister and the last house will be put in a trust for our son.  However, if our son reaches adult age before we pass, we will give him the option of taking the business or we will sell the properties when we are too old to handle the business any longer.

For my $100 challenge bread business I have nothing new to report.  All sales have been completed and my business is closed.  I need to research what and how we are supposed to donate the funds to Kiva.org.