Obstacles

This week in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class, we learned about the journey of the entrepreneur.  My favorite quote came from an article called, "Recognizing and Shaping Opportunities" by Lynda M. Applegate and Carole Carlson.  The quote is as follows:

Many people believe that entrepreneurs develop brilliant new products while tinkering in garages, emerging only when they have a terrific product that is ready to sell to eager customers.  But that myth is often shattered by reality.  Indeed, few blockbuster business ideas start out as a brilliant insight that reveals large, uncontested markets.  Instead, they are usually identified over a period of years by people who are tightly connected to varied sources of information-especially information gleaned from dense networks of relationships that span traditional industry boundaries.

I believe that this is true.  I believe that being an entrepreneur is more than just developing and launching a business.  Being an entrepreneur is a way of life.  It takes someone to see a need that isn't being fulfilled before the customer even knows that they are missing it.  It takes someone who constantly strives to better themselves and the lives of those around them.  It takes people who want to change the world.  Not everyone can be an entrepreneur which is why the rewards, if successful, are high.  

One of the things I love most about the entrepreneurs that I have been privileged to know is that they find a way around the "no".  They have a vision.  If someone tells them they can't succeed, the entrepreneur asks why, figures out a different solution and continues on their path.  I love people like this.  I continuously work to be one of these people.  My children will tell you that in our family I have a saying, "A problem presented without a solution is called whining."  I can't remember who originally said this quote or where I found it, but it completely sums up the lessons I am trying to teach my children. 

I believe that the difference between being an employer and and employee is how you approach problems.  An entrepreneur will see a problem and then come up with multiple solutions to the problem, finding one that ultimately works with the best result.  An employee comes across a problem and then tells someone that there is a problem.  There is no ownership or thinking outside of the box.  
I want my children to be leaders.  I want my children to be successful, in both life and in the endeavors that they pursue.  I believe that if I can teach them to be the problem solvers instead of the problem observers that I will be handing them some of the tools necessary for them to be able to accomplish anything that they put their minds to.

Going back to school at the ripe, old age of 36 has been an incredible experience for me.  Because I have more experience than I had at 18, I am able to better see how the lessons I am learning in my classes can be incorporated into my everyday life.  I love learning something in class and then being able to immediately reference it in a board meeting or in a business proposal.  I love that I was able to make a life-changing decision while I was participating in this class because it really helped me to study out the two different opportunities in my mind and was able to guide me to the path that I firmly believe that I was meant to be on.  This course has helped me to be able to overcome some obstacles that had been standing in my way, and I am so glad that I have been able to blog about it weekly, even if it is only my little sister that is reading my blog posts. (Thanks Jenna!)

Oh, and before I end this post, I wanted to share a little power point presentation that I had to do for my Business 211 class.  My group was involved in a business simulation where we had bought a piece of a company that had been divided by the government from being a monopoly.  We then had to make business decisions to grow that company and we had to make decisions to increase our Return on Sales, Return on Equity and Return on Assets.  Because we faced many obstacles in this simulation, and because I stayed up until 4 am last night finishing it, I thought I would share this little power point presentation with you.

Enjoy!

Click HERE to See Project