Entrepreneur Journal: Week 5

I suppose that the thing that stood out most to me in this week's readings would probably be from the E-Myth. I have really grown to appreciate this book, and I'm sure that this will not be the last time that I'll read it. The idea that I feel that I need to remember most would be the difference between innovation and creativity. As I understood it, creativity is thinking about things and innovation is getting those things done.  I think that many of us get stuck on creativity and never get around to innovating! It is easy to think about things, but it is something else entirely to go around and create those things that you have been thinking about. In a business, I may have many ideas that may or may not be great for my company. However, if I never get around to bringing those ideas into reality then I will never see any benefit. The book also discussed the importance of quantification and orchestration. Quantification means that I need to understand what impact the idea will have on my business. After I have found the idea, prepared the idea and understood what impact the idea will have I will need to orchestrate the idea, or put it into action. Entrepreneurship is about creating and building a business, and this process is continual.

This week's Entrepreneur "Action Hero" was Phil Romano. I think that the one example that impacted me most was his experience delivering papers. What a small idea that defined the rest of his life! Romano said to not be like everyone else, to be different. I think that was one of the main ideas that I took away from Phil Romano. Even if I am selling the same thing as my competitor, I need to do it differently. Phil Romano delivered papers...so have hundreds of young boys and girls across the country. How many of those young boys and girls have thought to approach their customers and propose a simple service like taking the time to place the paper between the storm door and the regular door? Phil Romano opened restaurants. I would imagine that more people have opened restaurants than have delivered papers! However, his restaurants provide a different standard of excellence. As Romano remarked, if he didn't like it, his customers wouldn't like it either. So he did things the way he would want them to be, and this has brought success. He chose not to do restaurants the same way that everyone does restaurants, and it shows. I love both Fuddruckers and Macaroni Grill. These are two great chains that have consistently provided quality food and quality service, in a different and fun atmosphere. I think that this is something that is easily transferrable to other businesses. If I run my business the way that I would want it to be run if I were a client or a customer, then my customers will probably like it too and this will give my company that little difference that is needed.

$100 Challenge
 This week, we planned our interviews of entrepreneurs and also prepared an elevator pitch to help ourselves to present our company to investors and receive funding. This is my elevator pitch:

"My name is Jeremy Margolies, and my company “Used To Be My Stuff” is a company selling used goods through eBay and other forms of contact. Our target market are men in their early 20’s. Many of these men want to buy certain things but because of their budgets they do not have the ability to do so. This sparked the creation of services like eBay and the many companies that also sell used goods. However, through personal experiences with many of these sellers I realized that the prices were often not as good as they seemed and the service and turnover were horrible. Used To Be My Stuff will provide these men with the products they want, at a competitive price, with more personal service and a quicker turnaround time. If you would be interested in investing, I would be happy to give you a call to discuss this further."

Another thing that I was able to do this week was to narrow down my target market and also establish some reason behind why this group would be my target market.  I feel like the most probable market for the $100 Challenge business would be younger men. The reasoning is pretty obvious...if I am a younger man and I am selling my used things (at least to get the business started) it is probable that the market that would have the most interest in the used things of a younger man would be younger men. So, I guess that I will have to see at the end of this project if my guess turns out to be right.

Entrepreneur Journal, Week 4

This week we had two entrepreneur "action heroes" to follow.

One of the things that impressed me most about Dr. Deshpande is his mixed background. He came to the U.S. with a plan to start companies and he worked through his education to arrive at a PhD in information technology while he worked in sales and marketing positions that also built up his entrepreneurship abilities. It is impressive that he was able to build up such a broad background. Basically, he became the Technician, the Manager, and the Entrepreneur; he developed each aspect of himself to reach his goals.

As I’m watching the video on Ken Zolot, I think that what I observed from Dr. Deshpande is the main lesson that I needed to learn from these two entrepreneurs. Both of these men took their technical skills and blended these skills with entrepreneurship skills to become more effective in both fields. Mr. Zolot took the time to gain an understanding of human relationships in order to (staying with the E-Myth) develop his Manager personality. On another note, I really liked what he mentioned about the importance of being willing to not listen to your customers sometimes. Mr. Zolot mentioned Henry Ford and his statement that if he had listened to his customers they would have wanted faster horses. Sometimes, it is important to be willing to go outside the norm and be a more innovative leader to show your customers what they should want. 

$100 Challenge

Regarding the $100 Challenge, this week I spoke to the person with whom I will intern this Fall. Dr. John Egbert is a local chiropractor who recently graduated from chiropractic medical school and is in the process of purchasing a practice. This would be my ideal situation whether I end up choosing to become a chiropractor or a D.O. We have an appointment set for an interview this next week and I plan to ask him about this process and how he is marketing to the local community in order to maintain business during the recession. 

Reading Questions

The idea of being a steward over money has been an issue that I have considered for a long time. I think that one important thing to remember is the importance of making your money work for you. Sometimes, money can be our taskmaster, and we allow debt to become the shackles that keep us bound to our money. People often remark that money is evil and that debt is evil. I do not feel that this is necessarily correct. It is important to remember that we are to be our own masters and by learning how to properly use money and debt we can actually create greater freedom for ourselves.

Entrepreneur Journal, Week 3

This week has been an interesting week as I’ve thought about entrepreneurship and what my goals and desires might be for the future.

I think that the $100 Challenge will be the hardest part of the semester for me. It is hard to get motivated to create a business just to create a business. I have never been much of an entrepreneur; I am absolutely more of a Technician that is trying to figure out this stuff as a necessary evil rather than my passion for life!

More than anything, I have really enjoyed reading the E-Myth. I love the classifications for different types of people and the understanding that one isn’t necessarily better than the other…just different. One of the things that I appreciate most is how the book addresses and focuses on the idea of how to help a Technician learn how to develop the other facets of the Entrepreneur and the Manager in order to become successful in their business. It is comforting to know that there are others who are like me and who are still able to find success in business by learning how to build a team of people who have the characteristics that they might not and how to put their focus in the right places to help their business grow and still do what they enjoy. As I finished the reading for the week, one of the things that stood out to me most is the importance of realizing that when I do start a business, it should be a business and not a job. As I suspected when I decided that it would be necessary to take this cluster, I cannot afford to ignore business just because I don’t like it; if I want to be successful I need to learn about entrepreneurship and apply these principles in helping my business to grow. Entrepreneurship by Abdication – or hiring someone to do the things that I don’t like and then never thinking about those things again – does not lead to success in business and will only result in a loss of everything that I will have worked so hard to build.

I’m finding that all of our readings and assignments are of the most benefit when I try to tie them together and to learn from them collectively and not just completing the work. One of the revelations of entrepreneurship that I have enjoyed most is the importance of preparing a good plan and understanding who I am and with whom I need to associate in order to be successful in building a business – especially when business is not my forte.

Entrepreneur Journal, Week 2

The Action Hero assignment for this week came from Thomas S. Monaghan, the founder of Dominos. 

Thomas S. Monaghan impressed me greatly in his recognition of his errors in the celebration of his wealth. After reading the book by C.S. Lewis called “Mere Christianity,” he realized that he had focused too much on having more than other people and trying to look good to those around him. This section on pride, as he described it, “hit him square between the eyes” and caused him to re-evaluate himself as a person and as an entrepreneur. Mr. Monaghan grew up in poor conditions and this was a hard realization for him. He devoted himself to non-profit endeavors, gave up his toys, and began doing everything possible to recover from his pride.  He decided that he wanted his money to do the most possible good and to save the most souls. After much thought, he decided that the best use of this money was to create opportunities for higher education; he founded the Ave Maria Foundation to promote Catholic higher education. I think that one of the things that really surprised me was that he even moved into a dorm room.

I was talking to my brother-in-law about the video and he said that one of his professors taught him that if he was planning on becoming rich, that one of the things that he needed to decide on from this point is how he will get rid of all of that money. That statement threw me for a loop, but he said that it is important to make that decision now and decide between what you need and what you want and then promise yourself to give the rest of it back because it will only lead to sadness. As we talked about it, I feel like this is exactly what Mr. Monaghan learned and it has brought him joy. I cannot even imagine reaching the point of financial stability right now and to think about being in the position of trying to get rid of wealth is, frankly, beyond my understanding. I hope that I will be able to stand by that decision and do everything I can to give back to those in need. 

$100 Challenge Report

I'm still really suffering from motivation for this project. I have so many things that are pulling me down financially that I really don't feel like I have time to make money only to donate it to someone else. I realize that it could be argued that I am being selfish, but considering that I am living on borrowed money from the government and from the Church I just don't know about the morality in dedicating myself to a project like this. 

Anyway, I will probably end up selling some of my things on eBay for my business idea. It has the lowest time commitment and risk and is something that I can justify in my mind - giving away things that I don't need or use anymore to donate the proceeds to charity is basically like taking my things to D.I., I think. 

I can understand the lesson that this project will teach, and I have written partially on this subject regarding this week's Action Hero. I hope that I can reach the point someday where I can give back in a big way to those around me. There are many forms of charity that I have already planned out. However, waiting to be charitable until some future date really provides no benefit to me or those to whom I would be helping. It is far too easy to continually say that I will always do it tomorrow. 

Insights from the Reading

I think that one of the things that really stood out to me this week was from the assigned reading from the E-Myth. I have often wondered why I felt so conflicted in the different things that I have done in life and it is helpful to realize that no one is simply one person, but multiple types of people combined in one. It is important to address each type of person while simultaneously finding a balance within yourself.

Reactivating my blog as part of a course assignment...

I'm currently taking an Introduction to Entrepreneurship course at BYU-I that requires that we keep an "entrepreneurship journal" for the course. I've been thinking about reactivating my blog just to have a place to write down my "rantings," just like I had originally done. This assignment provides the perfect opportunity. I suppose that my blog will shift significantly over the next semester to things I learn about entrepreneurship and we'll see how long that trend lasts.

For this first entry, we had received an assignment to watch a video about a hero in entrepreneurship. From what I understand, this will be a recurring assignment that has the goal of teaching us characteristics in successful entrepreneurs that we should emulate. This week's hero was named Bruce Thompson. Bruce was a very successful business man who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and eventually lost his life to that battle. However, one of the things that I admired most about Bruce was the optimistic attitude he maintained and the priorities that he developed through everything.

This is what I wrote for the assignment:

One of the things that impressed me most in the video about Robert Bruce Thompson is his optimism and good attitude. For someone who had faced so much, he understood better than most people that I know the importance of keeping your spirits high. In the video, he remarked on how “even when things are hard, even when the skies look the dimmest, the key is not how smart you are, it’s not your education, they key is to sit down and persevere.” (Bruce Thompson) Bruce Thompson was able to build a successful company while remaining devoted to his family and his God. I feel that his priorities in life contributed greatly to his attitude and helped him to understand that while it was important to give everything he could to build his company, it was also important to remember that the work would still be there tomorrow and his family and his faith deserved his attention as well. This entrepreneur was not only a successful businessman to admire, but also a complete and well-balanced man to admire; that accomplishment holds so much more worth.

Aside from that, we are also participating in a $100.00 challenge in which we start with $20.00 and try to start up some type of a business where we will make $100.00 in profit by the end of the semester. Honestly, I'm not too excited about this assignment. I'm not much of an entrepreneur, and the main reason that I am taking this class is because I don't want to flop when I open my own practice after medical school. Hopefully, I will learn a little bit more about entrepreneurship through this project and at least be able to do well in the course. There isn't any real progress to report on this project so far.

Finally, we are required to choose and follow a blog throughout the semester. I think that I will be choosing one called Duct Tape Marketing (http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/). I liked the name, but I really liked the most recent post about Sycamore trees. The blog author talks about these trees and their multiple uses and my first thought while reading this post is that there are many things at the disposal of an entrepreneur that may be right in his backyard; it is up to the entrepreneur to recognize these opportunities and make the most out of everything at his disposal.

Well, that is it for now, I'll write a new post soon!

Serving a mission...

I leave to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2 days, I'll be serving in the Ogden, Utah-Spanish speaking mission for a period of 2 years. I just wanted to put up my mailing address before I go (no internet access). I'll be in the Missionary Training Center up until early November, and then letters can be sent to the mission office. Here are the addresses: 

Elder Jeremy Kent Margolies

Utah Ogden Mission

Provo Missionary Training Center

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604

Elder Jeremy Kent Margolies

Utah Ogden Mission

2133 Washington Blvd

Ogden, UT 84401-1434

Hope to hear from everyone!

3 More Days!!!

Only 3 more days until I'm finished with this school year...

CELEBRATION!!!!