Celebrate Your Life

    This BUS110.001 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship course has been a wonderful one. One that I didn't expect for an entrepreneurial class. I thought it would be more about the nitty-gritty of how to start a business and each part of it. I loved that it started out with working on ourselves as people. I think that we forget to do that. To really look at ourselves and how we want to be when we get into business. We have to know ourselves and have that plan already set before we ever start the other stuff. 

    Looking back at the class, I was able to glean so much from each week, and to share everything I learned would make this blog post extremely long. I am going to share what stood out to me the most. 

If I had one final thing to say to a group of students, it would be to: 

1. Involve the Lord in everything. The Lord is going to know you more than anyone else, and He knows what you need. He also knows where He wants you to be. If we are close to Him, then He can guide us more easily, and we will follow that inspiration we are given. 

2. Believe in yourself. It is good to be confident in ourselves. Not to the point of being prideful but to have that confidence to know our strengths and even our weaknesses. It is what we can bring to our business. If we are not confident, then it is harder.

3. Do not give up. This goes along with the confidence. If we believe in ourselves and what we can bring to the world, then we should not give up. Perseverance is a quality that will take you from failing to getting to the finish line. It may be bumpy and rocky along the way; however, if you are sure of what you can offer and know it will work, don't give up.

4. Treat things like a learning experience and not a failure. My motto in life is "This is an adventure," and I think with that mentality, it is easier to see the hard times as learning experiences. Edison failed many times but didn't think of each one as a failure. It was ways it didn't work. I love that. Take what you found out and apply it to the next try. What did you learn? What would you do differently?

5. Find a mentor (or more). I feel that we can get lost when we don't know how to do everything. Finding someone or more will help answer the holes in what we know. They have been where we are and can help us along the way to being a success. I know that I have been so grateful to those who have mentored me. One is a Relief Society president that I served under as her 2nd Counselor. I had never been in a presidency before and didn't know what to do. She showed me by example and leadership how to be a good leader. It wasn't long after that that I was called to be YW President and then, years later, a Primary President. Having a mentor boosted my confidence that I could do it. 

6. Be honest in all your dealings, which means with yourself as well. If we are following Christ and the moral code He gave us, then to be honest and ethical in our lives should be easy. When I was in high school, I was offered $20 (later $100) to say the "F" word. I didn't do it. I decided a couple of years earlier that I would never swear again. Meaning I had about a week where I tried it out. (Really only a few times.) I didn't like how I felt and decided that was not going to happen again. Years later, a friend couldn't believe that I wouldn't swear and tested me. I didn't and never have. I think that if we are resolute in our morals, the decisions we have to make in business will be easier, and we will ultimately be happier because we won't get into a pickle.  

7. Be grateful. We should always be grateful to God and in life. If we have a spirit of gratefulness, we are more humble and open to hearing from others. We also see the best in others, ourselves, and our business. We are realistic but open to seeing the good. 

8. Just get started. That would be my advice to someone beginning their entrepreneur journey. If we sit on our "laurels," we can't accomplish anything. Then, all of a sudden, years go by, and nothing has happened. We are frustrated. If we waited till we knew it all, it would never happen. Just get started and learn along the way. We will hit snags, but we will learn from them and have that knowledge. You can't move forward until you move forward. Make sure that you are always learning and growing.

    My last bit of advice would be to beware of pride. We can get good at what we do. If we are not careful, we stop listening to others. It doesn't matter how good we are at something; there is always something to learn. That is what I appreciated from my interview with a business owner and his partner. They always have meetings with their employees so they hear what is going on with them as far as business is concerned. They are the ones who are doing the work. They are the ones who will see what could be done better or more efficiently. They are the ones that see and hear things that the owners may not. Having that respect with each other will help the owners know what may need to change or be made better, and the employees to have confidence that their voice and advice matters. Working together makes a great environment of respect and learning. 
If we have pride and arrogance, nothing can change. It is stagnant, and anger, resentment, and frustration will prevail. No one wants that. We want our business to be successful and our employees to be happy. A place that everyone wants to work at.