Last week

For someone else looking for advice from me about what I have learned in this class I would give them a lot of good information. The information that I would give would have to do with entrepreneurship and general life skills and knowledge.

The first thing you need to do before anything else is figure out who you are, what you want, and your potential for doing well in that particular field. In the book titled “the dip”, the author talks a lot about doing what you love. He also makes the point that if you aren’t going to be the best at what you do then why do it at all. As I have thought about what I have done in my life I have seen that life is not very fun at all when you aren’t doing what you enjoy.

In the book mastery the author talks about how life is full of a plateaus despite how much people believe that life should be full of climaxes. The author talks about the importance of enjoying those plateaus. This was something that I saw first-hand on my mission. On my mission I saw that there were a whole lot of plateaus and very few and spread out climaxes. What I discovered was that I needed to enjoy even the plateau.

Something that I learned that has to do directly with entrepreneurship was the importance of taking note of your skills and weaknesses. In the book so you want to be an entrepreneur the author asks you to take note of your resources and skills. By taking note of what skills you have, you can figure out which ones to gain and which ones to look for in your business partner or team.

Once you have your team, or your aspiration, you need to make a plan A, B and Z. In the startup of you it talks about how you need to have a backup plan and a worst case scenario fall back plan. The plan B is a plan that is very similar to a plan A that uses current resources to be successful.

Another thing that I learned was that you need to look for growth or move on. Especially in business you need to continually improve. In the start up of you the author uses the example of Detroit to show how the car industry got comfortable and failed to meet customer wants.

Out of all of the things that I have learned I would say that the most important thing that you could do is find something that you enjoy doing.

Week thirteen

Really everything this week was a review, but in general the things reviewed were really good. In the talk by Thomas S. Monson I was able to reflect on the importance of being positive. I think no matter what our circumstances are we need to be positive and be grateful for all of the many blessings we have been blessed with. With the video titled "avoiding the wrong job" the point that has been made over and over again throughout this course is made once again. The point is that you should do what you love. I have learned over and over again that doing what you love is much more important than making a lot of money. 

The video “paths to an entrepreneur career” pointed out something really insightful. Many people start working for companies than branch off and do their own work. For some reason I had thought that I had to take advantage of my youth and start a business now. Now that I think about it at least one of my business ideas might be more plausible after I get a little more capital and real experience in the GIS field. Although this would be great for my GIS venture it doesn’t seem like the best idea for my skimboard business.

Week twelve

This weeks assignments were very thought provoking. I am continuing to lean towards joining the regular workforce and avoiding entrepreneurship for the moment. Even though I am thinking about avoiding entrepreneurship I have learned a few things this week. The talk that president Monson gave was really good. It was a refresher about living within my means. The thing that stuck out most to me in the talk was the saying that yesterday's luxuries are today's necessities. I generally do well at remembering that I don't need certain things that others believe that they need. This is a principle that I really want to make sure is taught well to my children.
In the micro lending article I was a bit inspired to think about what things are most important, how society is and how we can better society. The article talks about how certain people are blessed to be born in good circumstances and how we need to strive to make it possible for everyone to reach their full potentials. The article made me really think about how society is and what I can do to help. I hope to keep this in mind as I am blessed so that I can bless others.

Week eleven

This course so far has given me some great insight on how to achieve my entrepreneurial dreams and retain a balance in my life. Although I can see some huge reasons why being an Entrepreneur would be great recently I have been thinking a lot about the reasons why I wouldn’t want to be an Entrepreneur. The things that make me think about this definitely come from my fears, but a few things, I think come from logically thinking. I can see some really great reasons why joining the regular work force would be great. The thing that is really enticing to me is my ability to take advantage of the demand for GIS and dip into several different fields of GIS. This is one option for me that I could see being really exciting.

On the other hand being an entrepreneur has some great perks that stand out to me. Being an entrepreneur would provide the lifestyle that I want in the sense that I can work when I want. This is one of my biggest motivators. The other big motivator for me is working in a field that is really fun. I get the idea that normal 9-5 work might not provide the excitement and free time as I would want. I need to figure out whether I want to take the risks of entrepreneurship or take the risk of landing myself in jobs that don’t provide as much enjoyment as I would like. 

Week Ten

So far in this course I have learned a lot. I want to be able to keep this knowledge and excitement with me as I start my business ventures. I am unsure of how I can do this. I have noted that there are perks in being an Entrepreneur and in joining the normal workforce. I know that either way I could be happy. Through the mentor sessions I have decided that I lean towards Entrepreneurship because of the sense of freedom that comes from it.

The book "the dip" was an awesome book. It was extremely helpful in helping me understand everything about quitting. Another thing that it really helped me understand, was that we really should do what we want to do. My plan in the coming years is to find my niche within the things that I have decided to be what I love. This means that I will dip into GIS work in several different fields.

The reading the Heart of Entrepreneurship was a very interesting read. It was good to read about how government and business interact. Similar to this subject just this week I was looking into getting a business license and registering a business name. I found this process to be a little tedious at least for someone like me who is inexperienced.

Week nine

This week I have learned a few things. The thing that has stuck out to me the most has been the relationship that the government plays in entrepreneurship. Another huge thing that happened this week is my realization of a plan for one of my business ventures. Doing the mentor session helped me get a better idea of the benefits of my GIS business and how it fits into my life plans. My plan is to start a GIS contracting business and find work for college students to do. This business would allow for me to make money very easily, benefit the company who needs the work done, and help college students earn money. The money earned from this project would allow me to start my skimboard business, which is my real dream. What I realized from the mentor session is that I need to start gathering up a list of qualified college students that can work for me. I also need to find out whether I should invest in an expensive GIS software or attempt to use an open source software.

From the entrepreneurship revolution reading I really found it interesting to learn more about how the government impacts entrepreneurship. It is also really intriguing to find out more about how the government can promote entrepreneurship. These were interesting concepts to think about because I am very interested in taking my GIS skills and working my way into a government position like city planner who might have a role to play in business opportunity.

Week eight

This week I learned a few things especially from finishing “the dip” and doing the mentor session. From the mentor session I realized that I didn't necessarily have to know everything. The one thing that I am really unskilled at is finances. I know general principles, but I don’t think that that is enough. So, while reading the chapter for the mentor session I read about how the exercise could help me determine who would be good people to add to the business team. A few months ago I approached my best friend about joining me in my business venture. The skills that he is learning from a business major are going to be of huge benefit.

From “the dip” I gained a renovated vigor to be active in my business goals. The book has helped me understand that almost all of the times that I have quit I have been doing it for the right reasons. I think that my parents, the gospel and experiences in my life have instilled the idea that quitting things for long term benefit is best while quitting for short term pleasure is the worst.

I am excited to keep learning. I have been able to draw lots of little ideas from the homework that will help me be happy in my life careers.

Week Seven

This week I have learned a few things and have come up with another great idea for a business. My new business idea is to use my newly acquired skill with GIS and start a contracting business. The idea is to higher students and pay them better than they could earn at school for a skill that I think that many businesses are looking for.

As far as learning new things I think that the biggest thing that I learned was how good the life of an Entrepreneur can be. As I read more in the book “so you want to be an entrepreneur” I saw the great benefits of being an Entrepreneur. I have mainly focused on the negative things of being an Entrepreneur but have since seen the positive things as well. One thing that sticks out to me is the idea that I am my own boss and get to set my own hours. While setting my own hours could be something daunting to many because of the thought that you might not be motivated enough. The business ideas that I have I really enjoy. Work might even become something that I look forward to doing every day.

This week has made me think about the adjustment from normal life to that of an Entrepreneur. I can only envision this adjustment as being very difficult. This adjustment worries me. I want to know how to make this adjustment smoothly and successfully.

Week six

This week I was able to learn a few things and review a few principles that I have previously learned. From reading in the book mastery I have come to understand really well that I need to find joy in the journey. The book talks about how as a society we expect to continually have climaxes in everything including learning. The book makes the point that that is a skewed point of view and that we need to learn to enjoy the journey because mastery has lots of plateaus before small successes. As I reflected on how I was doing with this in my life I was able to see that recently I had been doing pretty good. I have noticed that for some reason or another I have begun to focus more on what I am learning then on my grades at school. As I do this I definitely find much more joy in the journey.
The rich grads video was really helpful. It gave me a little bit more knowledge on finances. My parents have taught me really well in this area, and I felt that I knew almost everything to be successful. After watching this video I realize even more the importance of having assets. I think that having assets will allow for a few more risks and allow for a safety net.

Week five

This week I have gotten really excited about what I can potentially be doing in my business. I am really just excited about the future. I'm excited about getting the business to work. I am really excited to figure out how I can make the business a success and pay off all investments very quickly. This is actually my biggest concern, but at the same time, I am not too concerned about it.

Especially after doing the first mentor session I feel really good about my ability to run the business. In addition to doing the mentor session, the readings helped me understand that I don't need to be perfect and have every skill before starting a business. I feel like the main importance is to start a business in something that you really enjoy so that you have a clear vision.

As I did the assignments it became clear to me that by starting a business that has to do directly with what I am most passionate about, that I will be able to more easily find success.

In addition to these things I really enjoyed the e corner video titled "most entrepreneurs are not rock stars". This video helped me come to the realization that making it huge is more probable to not happen. Even though lots of factors are against me I still don't see why I can't be successful.

Week four

This week I have learned a lot. At first as I reflected upon what I had learned I felt as though I hadn't learned a lot, but to the contrary I have actually learned one very important lesson. So, to understand what I learned you need to understand that I have been dating a girl for a while. We have been talking about marriage. Since September I have been planning on starting a business. Everything up to this point has gone really well, and I have everything step up to start up this spring. 

Because I have been taking this class I have been able to think about what my goals and priorities are in life. The 50 things to do before I die list that I made really helped me discover a few things about what really is important. 

So, back to the point. I have decided that I need to put off starting the business until at least next year. To make sure this happens I am going to start working on my plan B now. Just this week I set up a bank account to store a little bit of the money I make each month into a account so that I can start the business at the right time.

The reason that I am not going to start the business this spring is so that the transition to married life can go much smoother. 

Week three

This week I have learned a lot. Many of the things which I have learned are directly applicable with my business. Of the things that I learned I want to apply the following to my business.

-First, I want to have excellent customer service. As part of the top 10 must haves, Frank Levinson talked a lot about the customer. When talking about it I thought about how I could have good customer service. One idea is to provide customers with certain discounts. Another thing was to build a relationship with them which would include writing thank you letters to customers and hand delivering product when feasible.

-Second, I learned about good ways to invest money. I learned that you need to get your own skin in the game. You need to invest your own money and get partners and key players to invest as well. In addition, the “Startup of you” book taught me a lot about how I need to have a “plan Z”. By having a backup plan in a worst case scenario I can be more aggressive with my business.

-Third, through the Yesil article I learned that managing your time will be very important. Along those same lines I came to the realization that managing my time is going to be something that I will really need to consider while starting a business and having a family.

Week two

This week (from the 12th to the 18th of January) while doing the assignments I have been able to contemplate a few principles that are important in Entrepreneurship. While Reading in "The start up of you" by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha I have learned more about how I can apply the principles of Entrepreneurship in all aspects of my life. While reading I have thought about how I can make myself more competitive just like as businesses have to be. This has made me think more about learning basic computer aided design (CAD) in addition to gaining professional skills in geographic information systems (GIS).

The assignments seemed to be based around the idea that dreams drive our actions. For one of the assignments we made a list of 50 things that we wanted to accomplish in our lives. This assignment in concurrence with the other readings and videos made me think about what I really wanted to do with my life. 

In addition to all that I learned and thought about, I really enjoyed the video from Stanford about treating life as an experiment. It helped me realize that failing is fine as long as we learn from our mistakes.

Week one