Conclusion/ Advice

The first piece of advice I would give to those starting their entrepreneurial journey is to find your passion. Starting a business with the sole purpose of making money will not lead to true happiness. Doing something you love will make it easier to get up in the morning and give you the feeling of self-accomplishment. The caution I will give is that this is not a cake walk. Starting your own business is tough and requires long hours. Going back to the first point, if you aren’t doing something you love, it will be harder to put in the long hours if there is no enjoyment in the process. Be willing to roll your sleeves up and get two work. Know your customer. This is probably one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give to someone starting their own business. The customer is what drives the business. If you don’t know your customer, you won’t be able to make necessary changes or build customer loyalty. The last piece of advice I give is to not being afraid of taking risks. Giving up salary or a well-paying job to start a business is a risk. Your family and others could be affected by your decision. Despite all this, the payoff is more than worth it. You can be your own boss and control your own future. Commit and don’t look back. If there are speed bumps, get through them. The road of an entrepreneur takes patience and continual effort.

Week #12

This week we were able to do a trial and error assignment and submit a report with our work. We were to research an entrepreneur who overcame obstacles to get where he or she is today. At first I thought, “well this is going to be a little difficult, I don’t know any off the top of my head.” As I began searching the web, I found several examples of successful entrepreneurs who had really tough trials get in their way of success. I liked the quote by Henry Ford that said success is 99% failure. These entrepreneurs have to go through a lot of failure to get where they are or were.

This week was a tough week for our business Custom Pillow Covers. We had finalized our last sales for the activity and were preparing to close the business. As we sent out the text messages, our customers were very sad to see us go. They became like family to us over the past weeks. Starting a small business has been challenging, but extremely rewarding. I would like to come up with something new and continue to do that on the side. My husband helped me a lot with Custom Pillow Covers and it has brought us closer together. 

Week #11

This week we were able to explore some case studies and have discussions regarding starting a family business. This allowed me to see some of the challenges associated with starting a family owned business. What I learned is that you really have to take into consideration how you are going to organize the business moving forward. You have to be clear about responsibilities, equity, salary, etc. Sometimes this is difficult to discuss because they are family and you are so close to them that talking business is difficult. Despite this challenge, it is necessary because it can definitely become muddied if things aren’t detailed and things go south.
This week was another great week for Custom Pillow Covers. We have had a lot of returning customers and we have been making seasonal pillow covers that are a hit. We had a lot of orders before thanksgiving, because people wanted there house to be festive and we already have more orders and requests for Christmas. It’s sad to see the business come to a close because we really have become connected with some of our customers. Having my husband alongside has really made a huge difference while doing this challenge. It has brought us together and actually made our marriage a lot of fun. Instead of watching t.v., we are out making money, creating posters and strategizing our next move. It has definitely been a valuable experience that we will never forget