Entrepreneur Interview Takeaways

As I was able to interview a local entrepreneur I learned five great lessons that I look forward to using in my entrepreneurial endeavors.

These takeaways are in no specific order.

1.       The beginning years are the hardest.  Starting your own business is always a risk because you are competing against others who have years of experience, and sometimes you are even competing against machines!  Believing in your work and your capabilities will aid in trusting that you are capable of accomplishing just as much or even more.

2.       Be open to other possibilities.  The entrepreneur I interviewed has a MA in Architecture and is now the owner of a dental lab.  He knew he wanted to do something with art, but he never imagined that creating unique and detailed crowns for patients would satisfy the artist in him.  I know that Heavenly Father will lead me in the direction he wants me to go where I can serve my fellow man to the best of my abilities.

3.       Take risks! Not taking risks leaves you exactly where you already have been.  If you want to discover what you are truly capable of you will take those risks.  Taking risks and believing in your abilities help move you forward towards your goals.

4.       Involve your family.  The entrepreneur I interviewed has spent countless hours away from his family because he has wanted to provide for them and have a successful business.  Although he has been able to do both, he did it at the cost of missing out on spending valuable time with his family.  I know that success can be accomplished with the love and support of your family.  They too will learn to appreciate what you love and they will help you in accomplishing your goals (and your children will learn what hard work is).

5.       Don’t be afraid of hearing “No”.  People will turn you down and refuse your services, but that cannot stop you from the continual process of trying.  This is one of the biggest obstacles I will have to overcome.  I am an introvert and have a hard time talking to strangers and sometimes even those close to me.  I will have to find the courage to speak to others about the small things in life so I can find the courage to approach them when I want to offer them something I believe in.

Message to Garcia

This week as a read the article titled A Message to Garcia I was shocked to find out how much I lack energy to accomplish difficult tasks, and even more so, tasks I have never done before.

The story that is related in the article is as follows:  President McKinley needed to get a message to General Garcia, but General Garcia was in Cuba… deep inside the mountains. He sought the help of Colonel Rowan.  Rowan did not ask any questions, just took the letter and headed off to find Garcia.  It took him a little less than a month, but he used his own knowledge, abilities, resources, and connections to find Garcia and accomplish the mission he was sent out to do.

How many of us hesitate when we really have no idea what is being asked of us?  I know this reading was a part of a business class, and yes, we all need to learn to possess the qualities that will allow us to be the kind of person that “takes the bull by the horns” and runs with it.

I’d like to look at this with a slightly more spiritual set of eyes.  How many times have we feared the trials set before us because they are too hard or they are something that we have never experienced before?  I know that I do all too frequently. 

The message that is given to the reader in A Message to Garcia, can relate to our need for spiritual growth through faith.  Do not hesitate but seek to find a solution.  It will not come on its own.  We have to use our own, knowledge, abilities, resources, and connections to accomplish what our Father has expected of us.

Good Things to Come

It is amazing how our Heavenly Father does work in mysterious ways.  Answers to life’s troubles are answered in the most unexpected ways.  A battle has begun in my home, and the things that I hold most sacred are being tested.  What I once felt as a place of comfort and refuge has become a place of distress and pain.  I want to run away from it all and not even consider looking back.  How can something that felt so right feel like it is turning against you?

This week as I watched and listened to Elder Hollands talks titled, However Long and Hard the Road & Good Things to Come, reminded me of the battle that those before me have suffered through in faith, and that there are those living today that are fighting their own battles.  The emotional end to Elder Hollands short clip touched me in a way that was necessary.  “Don’t you quit, you keep trying.  There is help and happiness ahead.  Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until Heaven.  It will be alright in the end.  Trust God, and believe in good things to come”

Sometimes not having control of things that happen in my life, bring me great dismay.  Faithful children of God will see the blessings rise above the dust of earthly trials. 

May we always have the strength and faith to keep trusting in God and believing that good things will come.