Ian's Entrepreneurial Journal

Gratitude is more than a great word, it means giving thanks to God and to the people around us who have helped us out in any way in our lives. I feel tremendous gratitude for my parents for raising me right, keeping me active in the church, and in teaching me to follow my dreams. Thinking back on what I've learned this semester, the one thing: Dream Big rings strongly in my mind. I want to follow my dreams. Unfortunately my dream was to be a meteorologist, and I allowed myself to be scared away from that plan because math difficulty and several around me who suggested it wasn't a good career. I regret that I gave that up. However, I have other various interests. I have even come up with ideas that maybe I can be a Youtube weather reporter. Why not? There are so many people out there passionate about the weather who were also in my predicament.  Getting back to gratitude, I feel I owe gratitude for all people around me who have been supportive of me in any job or endeavor I have...

I feel this tremendous desire to look deep into my soul and discover what makes me tick. I could feel fear now with the current corona virus situation, but I've learned some insightful life and business details this week that continue to give me hope of an even better future. Out of the videos I've watched and the stories read, I've noticed a theme: We  can be wildly successful and become rich, but being rich doesn't bring satisfaction indefinitely unless you use your wealth to help others. This theme was also played out in the talk given by Elder Gay. Elder Gay passed through some difficult times financially in his early married life. He is a man of God though. He taught some passionate principles of extending the hand of love to others. He also spoke of integrity and never abandoning the gospel truths. After watching his talk, I feel humbled and to some extent emboldened. How could I feel emboldened? I feel that even in my lowly financial placing in life, I can rise...

Preparing for a career in entrepreneurship may not sound as daunting as working toward a medical degree, but the concepts are still the same; preparation, study, learning by trial and error (although not well accepted in the medical field), perseverance, and overcoming trials. But when it comes to costs in many ways being an entrepreneur in a field that doesn't require as much money up front, can be a lot less financially stressful than the cost of medical school. many entrepreneurs in the past have been up against a wall, in the realms of having a financial burden (or lack of money) to start up a business. Others have dealt with discrimination which held them back from their true earning potential. I was particular impressed by the story of Cory Bell from this week's videos. He worked his way up to entrepreneurship through various companies and gained great insights from those jobs. One thing he said that confused me at first (and was the subject of one of the quiz question...

This past week I have had the opportunity to interview a good friend who is a real estate agent. I learned from him that being proactive in learning new trade skills takes you a long way in saving money. In real estate, as in all businesses, saving money allows you to often make even more money. Of course there is the age-old expression of "it takes money to make money. That is also true. However, with the liability involved in renting real property to potential tenants, it is crucial to find ways to keep the tenant happy while saving money. As I consider my opportunity to be a businessman in the future, I must have the mindset of thinking big! Something I always cite as an example to fall back on is the retail store industry, and how it has been molded over the decades and changed. People back in 70's and 80's, 90's, and even 2000's relished in the idea of shopping at big box stores like Kmart, Walmart, Shopko, Fred Meyer etc, etc. When these companies first st...

This week I have learned how good business ideas come into fruition and how business men and women look past possible trials and push forward with their business. Carly Fiorina's time with Hewlett Packard was an opportunity to shine by boldly choosing good marketing strategies. I was impressed by the fact that she suggested Hewlett Packard would become the world leader in technology. I like how she explained how they can replicate their product and distribution network. More importantly though, she explained how customer satisfaction is the main indicator for how well a business is doing, not sales figures and the like. I also was a bit surprised by Frank Levinson of Finesar explained that to have ethical people in a company you should hire nice people. I was somewhat taken back by that because how many people are actually nice how have good jobs. A lot of businessmen and women can be a bit on the rude side. One thing that occurred to me just as I'm writing this is that when ...

As I move my way toward solid entrepreneurship, I can certainly give thanks to all of the mentors I have had along the way. When given consideration, My older adult friends, who have been professionals for a good 20 years or so, are really my best friends to help lead me to success. One of my friends, who also grew up in Florida like me, became a physicians assistant. He gave me account of how difficult a task it was to go to medical school when he essentially grew up poor. He told me of  the countless hours he spent studying, fighting to stay awake to prepare for exams in college. He told me of the difficulty of the courses he was required to take. All this sounded terrible to me 13 years ago, but now I am grateful for what he taught me. Life's business toward a solid career does not come easy, and if it did I would probably not entirely appreciate it. My friend has been a Physician Assistant for a good 20 years not. He had a job in Panama City, FL for about 8 years that paid hi...