Chaya's Entrepreneur Journal: Week 14 Final Blog Post- The Last Lecture!

Things I learned this Semester:

It is not about the money you make, but it’s about the people you meet and the relationships you form. Work shouldn’t take over your life, make time for your family! Make your business fun! This is a very good thing to learn because a lot of business owners get caught up in their work and how much money they can make so they can buy nifty gadgets. But if you form relationships and focus on spending time with your family, you will not be as over-worked and you will have a successful business.

As an entrepreneur don’t use the word “Can’t”!
When you meet people you should try to take something away from the interaction that inspires you. When you really listen you will be surprised at what you can learn and take away from the conversation
7 Baby Steps (these more apply to life and less business)

1. Make a $1000 emergency fund fast
2. Debt Snowball- make a list of your debts smallest to largest and pay them off in that order
3. Fully fund your emergency fund. Equaling 3-6 months of expenses
4. Put 15% of your income into a retirement fund
5. Start putting money into a college fund for your children
6. Pay off your house
7. Build wealth & give!

Don't overspend, even when you think you have the money to overspend! This applies in your life and in running a business!

Don’t be prideful! Use your wealth to help others and to build the Kingdom of God
Encourage a playful attitude in the company because this helps with the creative thinking process
Put customers first and money second!

Be Optimistic! If you are not optimistic as an entrepreneur you will not get very far in your business. Challenges will arise and you will find the negative side and give up instead of being optimistic and pushing through!

Be unique! Be an individual! Don’t be like everyone else! Be servicable! Don’t be lazy!
When thinking about your product, think about the need not the profit!

Make sure that the customer is always right!
Put aside money for tithing each time you get paid so we don’t have it build up and it gets harder and harder to pay it
Offer to pay your employees to quit to see who are the loyal ones, and who will just leave as soon as a better offer comes their way

Allow children to be creative! This will help them to one day use that creativity to do something great. Potentially to be an inventor/entrepreneur
These things make up a perfect leader:

We need to focus on the mission of our business, not making the money. If we focus only on the money, our business will probably not succeed
We need to be a Hedgehog Company not a Fox Company. A Hedgehog Company thinks of a big thing while a Fox Company thinks of multiple little things
When hiring someone, don’t worry about finding someone who has the most experience and education. Find someone who is new and passionate. This way you will have a better chance at training them to do it how you want it done. They will be much more willing to learn instead of being stuck in the ways they are used to.

Don’t give up! Turn a no into a yes!
Get input from your staff, don’t be the only one making all the decisions without any feedback. By getting input it will make the staff feel more part of a team and they will feel more useful.

Face our fears! This is something I notice a lot of children don’t learn how to do. This was something I always had to do growing up! If we don’t learn early it will make it harder to face our fears as an adult

You need to take risks and sacrifices to have a successful business!
Do all your research before starting your business, so you know what you are getting into. If you go into business with family, make sure you evenly split up the tasks and responsibilities so you are not clashing when it comes to making decisions. Make sure you are all on the same page

Chaya's Entrepreneur Journal