MY LAST WORDS

The semester is nearly finished and it is time to move on to new classes and new adventures.  This semester has been very enlightening and I have learned a great deal.  I took this class because I wanted to know about starting a business.  Since I own our company on paper I thought it would be good to learn more about what makes a business run smoothly and how to find more opportunities.  My husband sometimes asks me what I want to do after I finish college and truthfully I would like to work at the business getting new clients and doing the books and finding new creative ways to advertise businesses.  

It would be hard to have a full time job that I could not leave when I need to or to be able to choose my own hours.  I have also considered opening a business with my daughter, Stephanie.  She would bring a youthful component to the business and keep us fired up.  

These are some of the people who I found gave me good advice this semester that I want to use to build my business and my life:

Seth Grodin:  Grodin said that we need to make something remarkable.  Boring stuff quickly becomes invisible and the world is full of boring stuff.  We need to show originality, passion, guts and daring.  This is the only way to be successful.  He also said that you can’t be remarkable by following someone else who is remarkable.  

Guy Kawasaki:  Need to find something that will add value to your customer.  You need to be likeable.  You can do this by improving your smile and make your smile go to your eyes.  Always dress for a tie.  Dress for your audience.  Have a great handshake.  First impressions are important.  Customers cannot tell you what they need.  They can only describe their desires in terms of what they are already using.  Create a product that you want to use.  Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence.  Biggest challenges beget the best work.  Jump to the next curve.  Go beyond better and sameness.  

Daniel Coleman:  We need to have a deep awareness of our emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs and drives.  Be honest with yourself and others.  Recognize how you feeling affect you and other people and their job performance.  We need to find ways to control our bad moods and emotions.  Learn to create an environment of trust and fairness.  Don’t panic, suspend judgment and seek information.  Be motivated, have empathy and learn good social skills.  

Hugh W. Nibley:  Leaders are movers and shakers, original, inventive, unpredictable, imaginative, full of surprises that discomfit the enemy in war and the main office in peace.  Leadership is an escape from mediocrity.  The leader must break the mold.  Those who have something to give to humanity revel in their work, and do not have to rationalize, advertise, or evangelize to make themselves feel good about what they are doing.  The drive for money is “the root of all evil”.

Sloan Brothers:  From the Sloan Brothers I learned the steps to opening a business.  How to make a business plan, market plan, find great people, find financing, selecting a business structure and other steps to preparing your business.   

  

Todd Ricks:  Owning a franchise is not a bad way to go.  You have instant recognition, can start faster and bring in money more quickly.  Franchises will help with training and the costs are sometimes much lower. 

Steve Jobs:  Do what you love.  Put a dent in the universe.  Create insanely different experiences.  Master the message, be a storyteller and learn to deliver your message.  Sell dreams not products.  People care about themselves not your products.  If you fail keep going. 

This semester has taught me many things and I have learned much from the lesson and from each of the people I met and those I have quoted.  I found that many of the lessons I learned can be used to build a successful business and a successful home and family.