Last Lecture

This week in class we are asked to give our 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.

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 happens at my 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.

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.  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.  

Overwhelmed but Grateful

This week we did not have a specific topic we were supposed to write on, so I wanted to share what has happened and how I can apply the lessons from this week to it.

I feel like I have a ton of things on my plate and am feeling a little overwhelmed.  This week in addition to school and work, I have been at the church for three days straight working on decorating for the church Christmas party (6pm-11:30pm), then having the actual Christmas party (6pm-9:30pm), and today to make the ornaments that we will be giving out at the Relief Society (women's organization for my church) Christmas party (10am-1pm).  I still have Christmas decorations to be set up at home.  Luckily most of my gifts are bought, but they still need to be wrapped.  I try to get things done early because I get overwhelmed easily and then the holiday becomes one of stress instead of enjoyment.  However, this week has been very overwhelming and frustrating to an extent. The hours spent at the church have been daunting and I come home exhausted and in pain.  I know part of the pain is my own fault because of my weight and my other health issues.  But some of it has to do with we always feel like things need to be grandiose and people always think they can do more things than they can in the time they have.  Plus people don't always complete the things they should when they should (or show up on time).  So for instance, the leaders decided they were going to do this decoration that required crepe paper to be taped to a hula hoop. The understanding was that it was going to be done prior to the night so we just had to hang the hula hoop and then tape the ends to the walls.  Well, even though I told the person doing it, if they needed help to let me know, she told me she would have it done Wednesday night.  I told her again if she didn't to let me know and I could do it during the day on Thursday so it would be ready for Thursday night.  She didn't and it wasn't. So we spent at least 15+ minutes putting it together with three of us doing it.  Not to mention the person bringing it was already 45 minutes late to set up.  So now it was almost 7pm when we actually got started decorating.  Not to mention the boxes that were put together the night of instead of having them done at home while people were sitting around watching TV.  All things that would have shortened the duration of time spent the night of.

While the event turned out great and the decorations were beautiful, sometimes I think we try to do too much and then people get burned out.  So when it is no longer their assignment they don't want to help because they have already put all the time in previously.  And so then others get burned out.

When I returned home today I told my family we had to get our decorations done and they grumbled.  So this year we decided to just put out the things we really like (our trees, our stockings, our hearth decorations, the nativity set, the dining table center piece and some Christmas books, oh and a the two strands of lights on the house, pretty much everything else stayed put away).  The other things I love seeing, but it was too exhausting for me this year.  Maybe I am getting tired out too easily in my older years, but the time was not worth the reward for me.

In all the hubbaballoo of the season and despite the complaining I am currently doing, I really am grateful for this time of year.  I love the music, the decorations, the food and activities.  I love finding the perfect gift for each person.  But most of all I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who came to this earth as a little babe so many years ago, in such humble circumstances.  He gave his life for me and for all of us, that we may return to live with our Heavenly Father.  I am grateful that we have this holiday season to remember Him and his love for each of us.  Each year we try to do things to remind us of the reason for the season, going to the nativity display, going on a "Walk Through Bethlehem", attending church, spending time with family and friends. These things remind me that the craziness of the season is not what it is about, but the love we share with others and with our Savior.  I am grateful to experience it all.

What's a Business For?

This week we read and watched videos about using our businesses for good.  They spoke about how especially as entrepreneurs we have the opportunity to help others, whether it is through actual charitable contributions or by our business providing a service to those around us.  I believe that the Lord will help us with our businesses, especially if we are using it as a tool to make the lives of others better.

Charles Handy, the author of “What’s a Business For,” says that the “markets rely on rules and laws, but those rules and laws in turn depend on truth and trust.”  If a company cannot be trusted that they are following the rules, then no one will want to do business with that company.  If the market as a whole becomes untrustworthy, then people will no longer want to invest in companies, will not purchase goods from untruthful companies, will not put their money in banks, will not request loans and the whole market will collapse.  Just as the Enron and WorldCom scandals shed light on the scandalous accounting practice of inflating numbers and creating off balance sheet accounts, the world lost trust in the accounting world and their audits that are supposed to protect consumers and shareholders.  Handy says, “Trust, too, is fragile. Like a piece of china, once cracked it is never quite the same.” If no one can be trusted, then who will we do business with?  Who will want to do business with us if we follow unfair and untrustworthy practices?  No one.

According to Charles Handy, the “real justification” for the existence of a business is to “do something more or better”.  Meaning, that a business is not just here to make money for the owner or shareholders, but to do something meaningful with the business.  This could be creating and producing a new gadget that will make people’s lives better.  Or it could mean to provide a service for the people in a community.  What is the vision or drive a company has?  If it is just to make money, then that is not much justification for a business.  But if it is to make a difference, then that is the real justification.

One of the solutions mentioned by Mr. Handy that, I believe, is a large key to a successful society and economy is the “contribution ethic”.  It piggy backs off his “real justification” for business, to make something more or better.  Basically, that you are contributing to society through your business.  This contribution can be in any form, but it is providing that merely to make things better and not for profit, the profit just comes as a result of truly following a vision or passion.

Another solution Mr. Handy brings up is the sense of community within an organization.  I work at a large credit union that has always been within the top 15 largest credit unions in the country for over 20 years.  When I first started, I truly felt a sense of family and community.  I felt like we were all in this together to help the members and in fact, our internal slogan was “Be the Member.”  There were and still are many people that have been here for 30+ years.  Over the last 5 years or so, it seems that we have lost our vision a little bit.  It feels that in our desire to help more people we are no longer helping the one.  We don’t know our members personally and we seem to be quick to make blanket decisions and implementations to avoid risk but aren’t willing to look at how this might affect the one person.  As I said, I felt like we were a family 17 years ago when I started, but now, it seems everyone is out for themselves, we no longer work as a team or community.  Maybe it is just within my department or maybe it is the younger generations, but previously people would work to get their own assignments done so they could help out the others.  But lately, it seems that people want to drag their work out for all 8 hours when it could be completed in 5 or 6.  The sense of family is lost (or maybe that is how families now work).  But I don’t see the changes in society as a good thing, because I know it is not just in my own company, but in others. I see us going farther away from a community mentality to a “me mentality”.  It’s not just in business, but it is in our actual communities.  How often do people get together to have “a barn raising” or sit and talk on their porches?  When was the last time you even heard about a community dance or picnic?  We are losing our sense of togetherness to an individualistic lifestyle.  As these things happen, we lose what truly makes people great, their love and charity.  This cannot be just a business mind set, but a life mind set.  If we could learn to love and serve others more fully, the community mentality could return and make things better in all areas of our lives.  I know that maybe that is not possible in the world we now live, but maybe at some point people will wake up and realize we are all brothers and sisters and what truly matters in life is not how much money we can make for ourselves, but who we love and help along the way.

Attitude on Money

This week we were asked to read talks and watch stories about money and happiness.  Many of the presenters had differing opinions on how it was achieved, but the majority of them did agree that money does not buy happiness unless you are using it to help others.

One of the talks was called, "Attitude on Money” by Stephen W. Gibson.  I felt he had two main points, first, that we all have a distorted view of money, whether it is distorted by our own thoughts or those around us.  It could be as minimally distorted as people should pay tithing to as large as the only way to get to heaven is to give all of our money away.  Mr. Gibson gave an example of glasses and how they distort the way things are seen even though that distortion makes what you see as perfectly clear, to someone else it is completely blurry.  But either way it is a distortion of what is really there.  His other, more important, point, in my opinion, is that money can be used for good or evil, but money itself is not evil.  We can spend time earning a lot of money.  But what is important is what we do with that money, do we use it for ourselves to buy large mansions or do we use it for others to build schools or for others to buy bombs?  One is good for just me, while the other is good for others and the last one is technically bad for all.  

We were asked to answer the following questions:

• What is your attitude toward money?
• Honestly, mine is a love/hate relationship.  I have always said that.  I need it, so I want to get enough for my needs.  Plus I really do want to do things or use the money in a way to help others.  But I find myself obsessing over it sometimes.  Not necessarily on how to get more, well some of that, mostly because I really want to pay off the two credit cards that we currently have, so I am always trying to think of ways we can cut back on costs or increase income so we can use the money to pay off our debt.  I don't like it having control over me. I want to be able to control it a lot better.  I am glad we are following the Dave Ramsey way of budgeting and working on paying things off.  This will really help us now and in the long run to be in control of our money instead of letting it control us.
• How can your view of money affect the way you live?
• I believe that your view dictates how you use money and in turn how you live. If you believe that it is there to help you and others you come in contact with, then you are more willing to live your life giving. However, if you believe that money is there to help you buy the bigger house, the newest car, or the next great gadget, then you will be obsessed with earning more to spend more.
• What rules are recommended for prospering?
• Here is what Mr. Gibson suggests:
• Rule 1. Seek the Lord and have hope in him 
• Rule 2. Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings. 
• Rule 3. Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant. 
• Rule 4. Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters. Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity. 
• Rule 5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated. 
• Rule 6. Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive. 
• I really like these rules.  I think that as we focus on the Lord and what he wants us to do and how he wants us to handle money; we will do the right thing.  Ultimately, we are here to do our best and return to live with our Heavenly Father.  If we cannot say that we have loved others, given service in whatever way is required and followed the commandments of the Lord, then, I feel, we will have wasted our life.

Entrepreneur Interview

The past couple of weeks we have had an assignment to seek out and interview an entrepreneur.  As soon as I saw we were given this assignment I knew immediately who I wanted to interview.  There is an entrepreneur in my old ward who is a rental property business owner.  I wanted to interview her in the past when I was given this assignment, but it never worked out.  I knew this was the perfect opportunity.

I set up an appointment and went over to her house on Friday, November 11.  I did not feel like I had to ask her the questions in order that I had on my sheet as I felt the conversation flowed naturally and she would address the question sometimes before I even got to it.  

Here are the takeaways I got from our interview:

1. Start as early as possible, but only go as fast or as slow as you can handle
• The younger you can start in your business the better. Don’t wait too long because sometimes it takes several years to truly see the fruits of your labors.
• Go as fast or as slow as you can handle financially and stress wise. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and if you take on too much too fast you fail to do any of the things that need to be done.  Your business (and even your personal life) will suffer.
2. Pray for the direction you should go
• Always seek direction from the Lord in every decision and in how to manage your time and money wisely. 
• Be willing to follow that direction.
3. In the rental property business, it is nice to have a good cop/bad cop.
• Have one person who is the softy and can be kind and nice all the time.
• Have the other person be the one who is a stickler for the rules and can enforce them.
4. How to best manage finances
• When repairs are required, try to do as much of the work as you can as possible to save yourself money. Search google and YouTube videos or take classes at Home Depot or Lowes.
• Don’t get swayed by the large sum of cash that comes in at the first of the month and then spend it all before the month is over. Create a budget and stick to it.
5. Constantly be doing your homework.
• Make sure you get an appraisal and a home inspection to make sure you are getting a good deal.
• Look into creative financing or do things differently to get the down payment for the next purchase. 
• Always be reading or studying the market and the internet to find other deals or other ways to improve.

While a good majority of the things we spoke about I already knew, she tweaked some of my thinking or gave me other ideas to pursue.  I was able to tell her things we had done and she would say, "maybe you could try this."  I felt it was more of a refining process than a complete learning process.  It was really nice to be able to bounce ideas off of someone who had somewhat done what we are trying to do.  In her case, I found out they just have the one mobile home park and some one room cabins that they rent out and they have not tried to gain any other rental properties nor do they intend to.  So there were a few things she was unable to help me with, but overall it was an amazing experience and I felt like we are moving in the right direction.  I just wish we could have moved there a little sooner in our lives.

Good to Great

This week in class we have read many talks and watched many videos about going from good to great. In the book "Good to Great", by Jim Collins, he states, "Good is the enemy of great...Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life."  Do I have a good life, but not a great life?  At this point in time, I think so, but it is something I want to change.  I don't believe that Heavenly Father put us on the earth just to stumble through and be mediocre, but to be our own best self.

As I have thought about the concept of good to great, I have realized to in business, it doesn't necessarily mean being better than anyone else at their expense.  While you can be better than your "competition", it comes internally in wanting what is best for you and your customers and your competitor is kind of in the side or rear view mirror. They are there, but don't necessarily play a role in it.  It means keeping it internally and making you better than the you of yesterday.  I believe that it also means looking for opportunities to improve in just about every facet of life.

It seems the last couple of weeks these lessons are starting to meld together as a complete story.  I feel they are pieces of the puzzle that as I work on each of them and put them together to make one complete picture I will ultimately reach my own greatness and our business will emerge as a great one.  I know it will take time, I know these things won't happen overnight.  However, I think they can happen quicker than we have done in the past, that we can be as the flywheel that Jim Collins speaks of where one good decision and action on that decision, leads to another and another until the wheel builds its own momentum and turns almost on its own.  I believe that as my husband and I work on each of the different parts together we can eventually become the great company (and people) we want to be.  I think that is exactly what our Heavenly Father wants from us.  To be the greatest disciple and person we can be.  It doesn't matter what someone else is doing, we are not going to be compared to them.  What matters is what we personally do and how we treat those around us.  That is what will give us the ultimate goal of eternal life with our Father in Heaven and our families.

Keep going

This week the theme that I got the most from was to never give up.  It reminds me of the picture of a frog in the mouth of a bird.  The frog is holding the bird's neck so the bird cannot swallow it.  If we don't give up then we can still be successful.

As entrepreneurs it is hard work and sometimes you get knocked down.  Just as in life, sometimes we just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.  Not everything is going to be easy, not every time are we going to succeed.  But if we can get back up and keep going and try again we will ultimately succeed.  Lately, I have felt very overwhelmed, frustrated and sad.  I keep feeling like things just keep going wrong. Maybe the Lord is testing me to see how I will handle it.  I think I fail miserably at it (as I am crying in my bedroom), but then I remember that I have to keep going. I may slow momentarily, but I don't completely give up.  I try again and again and eventually the next day comes and things do get better.  I learn from it and I keep trying.

I worry about money and about losing everything, as I spoke about in my fears posting.  So we have taken very few risks in our rental property business.  We have been trying to start our business since probably 2002.  However, it took us until 2013, when we bought our new house to keep the old house and make it a rental property. In March of this year, we bought our second rental property.  We keep going forward, we are more like the tortoise than the hare.  Hopefully it will pay off, but at this point it is making it hard to achieve our ultimate goals because we are going so slow.  However, I know that as we keep going we will be blessed.  We will not have the risk of losing our properties because we have grown our business too fast and our finances could not support it.

My favorite quote of this week's assignments came from the Mormon Message video called, "Good Things To Come."  The video can be found here.  Elder Holland says, "Don’t give up...Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it...You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come...Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

I know that with the help of the Lord, I can be successful in my life and in business.  I know that as I put the Lord first in all that I do, he will direct my paths.  I need to be willing to keep going, keep walking, keep trying, and not give up.  As I follow Him, I will be successful.