Lesson 14: Capstone Journal Entry Katherine Nelson

What would I say to someone wanting to start an entrepreneurial journey? Considering I do not consider myself an entrepreneur, I would have to share some of what I learned in this class. I believe that a person’s personal life and business life really aren’t that different. Usually if someone’s personal life is going well, their professional/business pursuits go well. So my advice is really more about how to live a life that will yield positive results in all areas. The four main things that seem the most important to me in business, and in life, are honesty, care about others more than yourself, love what you do, and be realistic/do your homework.

Being honest with yourself and with others will be the single greatest thing you can do in life. A business’s reputation will be destroyed if it functions dishonestly. When a person, or a business earns people’s trust they can develop a relationship that will last a long time. Business, and life, is about building relationships. If you have good relationships with customers and clients, you will have a good business. Being honest shows people that you value their relationship and would not do anything to threaten that.

Which leads to caring more about others than yourself. In business, and life, the clients, spouses, children, friends, family members are the most important. When people feel that from you, they want to be around you. They want to do business with you. They love you. When you care you listen. Listen to what customers want. Listen to family and friends and take an interest in their lives. Listening shows the other person that you care and that what they have to say is important. If we listen, we figure out a way to do what we heard being said.

Do something you love. You are going to spend a lot of time on a business and you had better love it or it becomes a drudgery. The same thing is true in life. Do things you love! I watched Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture tonight and when he talked about his childhood dreams I thought about mine. My childhood dream was to be a mother. That’s all I wanted to do when I was young. I got married and have three wonderful sons. Two weeks ago my oldest two sons got married 11 days apart in the temple and today I got the travel itinerary for my youngest son to come home from his mission. This mom’s childhood dream has been fulfilled even though I will always be a mom. I now have two beautiful daughters and I feel so blessed. I love being a mom.

And finally, be realistic and do your homework. In business, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And so it is with everything in life. The best things take a lot of work and effort so do your research and put in the time. Study and understand the market, or your marriage, or how to best help a struggling child. Realize that things don’t always work out as planned and be flexible and open to change.

Most important in my mind is to always try to model everything you do in life after our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the perfect example of how to live and treat others. If those precepts are used in business and in life, things will all work together for good.

Lesson 13: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

I really liked this week’s readings and videos. Failure and having things go wrong is such a part of life. It really is true that the attitude you take when things go wrong will determine much of the happiness and peace you can still feel in your life. If you look at things trying to learn from them along with being a grateful person, you can have the reassurance that everything is going to be okay. Especially if coupled with a deep trust in our Savior. He wants what is best for us, and sometimes that is through failure and trials. I really also liked the work on your business, not just in your business. I work for a small business owner who has 14 employees that work for him. But for a long time he did all of the small everyday things. He finally hired someone to help him, me, and he has been so glad he did. It has freed up his time not only with his family, but so that he can work on his business as well.

It is hard to believe the end of another semester is almost here. I really enjoyed this class. I did my power point presentation on my business yesterday and I really do think if I was looking to actually start my own small business it would be something similar to the cooking class I did. I like service oriented things where it is much easier knowing that you taught a skill or made a difference to someone. I don’t think I would really like to sell a product or have a franchise or retail store.

 

Lesson 12: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

I’m glad this week talked about some keys to having a successful family business. Unfortunately, I have am pretty hesitant about families doing business together. There would definitely need to be some major rules and guidelines put into place at the get go for me to jump into that arena. I have seen too many ugly situations and family members that no longer speak to each other over money matters, let alone if it were a business. My dad’s family ran a farm together and at this point my grandfather is still living so everything is technically still his. They have it all drawn up and decided upon on how it will be divided up, but I still feel like there may be problems. I can also see how it can also help a family become closer if done the right way. I guess it is not for every family and I admire the families that make it work and are successful at it.

One other thing I liked Tom Nall’s video and how he shared that all of his experiences in life have got him to the point where he is today. This is my last class and I’ll have my associate’s degree. I was always hesitant to go back to school after 25 years of raising kids. But as I’ve gone through my classes I have always found experiences from my life that have helped me in each of my classes. I really wish I would have finished my degree when I was younger, but it has definitely been rewarding to me at this point in my life to look back and see how I have learned over the years and how the experiences I’ve had have changed me.

 

Lesson 11: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

I am working ahead this week because my oldest son Taylor gets married next week. My middle son Tanner got married last Saturday. It has been a joyous, fun time for our family. But I just listened to and read all of the articles about Steve Jobs. So I wanted to write this while it is fresh in my mind. There are some gospel parallels that I noticed. The first one I thought about was how he talks about how you have to love what you are doing and be passionate about it or else people tend to quit. I’m thinking about that and how it relates to the gospel. I think that too many people leave the gospel, or don’t live it to the fullest because they haven’t developed a deep enough love for the Savior by learning of him, and recognizing His hand in their lives. I’m far from perfect but living the gospel is easier to me partly because I love the Savior and I know what He says is true when He tells me he will take on my burdens and  make them light. I trust Him that everything that happens in my life is for my learning and growth and He will help me through it all. I know this because He has done this so far for me. Too many people don’t take the time to recognize and realize how He is truly there to bless and help us.

Guy Kawasaki shared a couple of things that also made me think of it with a gospel spin. The first one was how the experts are clueless. Well, in the church we tend to think that others know more than us, or we feel judged by a decision we make by members of our ward. They are clueless. They don’t want in your shoes, they don’t know the circumstances surrounding the decisions you make, they don’t know your relationship with our Heavenly Father and the Savior and those are the only two people that it really matters what you choose to do. The second thing Guy talked about was how the biggest challenges beget the best work. In life, the biggest challenges bring us to our knees, help us to learn and grow the most, and teach us how to rely and trust in our Savior. We do our best work when facing our biggest challenges.

One of the other things Steve was known for was wanting to change the world. Now, not all of us can be the Steve Jobs of this world. But we can change our own little piece of the world by living the gospel cheerfully and serving others every day. Great peace comes into our lives when we are living and serving as the Savior would have us live.

Lesson 10: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

I have often thought about what it would be like to own a franchise. So this week was interesting to me as I learned about the different aspects of becoming a franchisee. I really like the idea of opening a business that has brand recognition already. More people would be willing to visit when they already know it is a good restaurant or a reputable business. I wouldn’t have to spend so much time on marketing and advertising. A few months back we had the first Chick-fil-A open down the road from our house. It was crazy! The traffic was backed up and they had to have parking attendants to direct traffic in the parking lot and for the drive thru. But there was quite the excitement about it opening up. I’m sure they were profitable right away. I also like that the processes have already been tried and tested and all of the kinks have been worked out. That saves a lot of trial and error when starting up the business.

I haven’t done anything with the $100 challenge this week because I finished up the classes a couple of weeks ago. I am just waiting for the upcoming assignments to wrap everything up. I have really enjoyed this class. I really like the Acton Hero videos that we watch. There are a lot of people out there who have taken something ordinary or needed and turned it into a business. I like to hear the success stories. I also wrote my Franchisee Interview Report as well. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a success story which I have thought about a lot lately. I feel bad for the Reid’s and hope that they can bounce back from the huge setback of losing their business, life savings, and home.

 

Lesson 09: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

This week we turned in our book report on the e-Myth Revisited book. I really thought that was a good read, and makes a lot of sense not only from starting a business, but also in life. The caring and love that goes into anything we do is what makes it worth it. I really liked the JetBlue case study. It is always great to see a member of the church succeed. But what I loved about it is how he has translated the values we are taught as members of the church into running a business that is successful. The respect, hard work, dedication, love, and integrity that he uses to run JetBlue has helped him gain loyal customers who value having a good experience with a company.

I also enjoyed learning about the hiring and firing process. Dealing with people is the most important thing we can learn how to do. It makes or breaks a company if the right people are not hired and/or fired. Finding the right fit is crucial to a company’s success.

I didn’t have my cooking class this week because I finished up last week. But I have been thinking about things I would do differently if I ever did this again. I would charge more for the class. I would probably limit it to six kids. I would plan some of the items that we make a little differently. But overall, it was a really good experience that I am glad I chose to do.

Lesson 08: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

This week was a great learning week for me. I love learning about different leadership styles and ways to better motivate people. I especially loved all of the readings we had from our apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ is our perfect leader. The best way to become a great leader is to learn of Him, follow Him, and use His example as a guide for life. I especially loved a paragraph from President Kimball’s talk “Jesus: the Perfect Leader”. He said, “Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner. This permitted him to condemn the sin without condemning the individual. We can show forth our love for others even when we are called upon to correct them. We need to be able to look deeply enough into the lives of others to see the basic causes for their failures and shortcomings.” This really hit me this week. When my boys were young and they would come home from school and tell me about somebody who had done something bad or was mean, I would always tell them that we didn’t know what kind of day they were having, or what kind of home they came from, and we needed to be nice to them anyway. I hope they have carried that into their young adulthood.

This was the last week of my Kid’s Cook class. We made pizza and Brazilian cheese bread. It was wild! I also had notebooks with all of the recipes for each of the girls. I have a huge supply of stickers so I let them decorate their books. We went overtime 45 minutes trying to get all of the pizzas cooked. I planned too much to do in the time allotted. I spent $21 on ingredients for this week’s class. It was fun and I’m glad I chose this for my $100 Challenge project.

Lesson 07: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

I really enjoyed learning about customer service this week. Partly because I am a people pleaser to a certain extent. I love to make sure people are happy and content. I believe strongly in making sure that customer’s needs are met. I know I am much more willing to be a repeat customer if I feel I have been heard, my needs are met, it is convenient and good service. I especially like the Zappos article. I am always intrigued by stories of how companies motivate their employees. The example of Zappos paying people to voluntarily leave after a week if they felt they wouldn’t like the job is so good in so many different ways. First, it gives an incentive for people to be honest with themselves about whether they will really like the job or not and if they will be able to put their heart into the job. Then, it lets the people who stay know how much the company values good employees, which empowers them to do a great job for the company.

This week was another fun week at Kid’s Cook. I spend $22 on ingredients this week for our Heath Cupcakes and our Dirt and Worms Pudding Cups. I had Heath bits and Oreo crumbs all over the kitchen! I have even toyed with the idea of having a cooking class every so often throughout the year just for fun after this class is over. It may not ever happen, but it would be fun!

 

Lesson 06: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

This week I really enjoyed the reading “In Praise of the Purple Cow”. I found it very interesting, but true, how new exciting products come out and then how over time they kind of fade into the background. The headquarters of Papa Murphy’s is here in Vancouver. And the day I read this article, my husband was talking about how Papa Murphy’s has kind of struggles as of late hitting their revenues and growth plans. Then I thought about this article. When Papa Murphy’s started out the purple cow was the idea that you could cook your own pizza fresh out of the oven anytime you wanted to at home. It was a new, great idea. But now that it has been around for a while, the idea has kind of faded to the background and it’s not new anymore. We were talking about how Papa Murphy’s needs to come up with a new purple cow.

This week for my cooking class things went well. We focused kind of on a couple of recipes you could use for lunches. We made panko chicken tenders, fruit salsa, and crispy cinnamon tortilla strips. This week I spent $15 on ingredients that I didn’t have here at the house, and then used things I did have here already as well. I am so glad I did a business like this. We have so much fun this week. Trying to sell things to people is not a good fit for me, but teaching kids is a lot of fun!

Lesson 05: Entrepreneur Journal Katherine Nelson

James E. Faust’s talk entitled “Opening the Windows of Heaven” was so inspired way back when it was given. I can testify that his words are true! Our family has had so many different blessings from paying tithing that I can’t even begin to name them all. I cannot afford to not pay tithing. When he talked about how we can have an added measure of protection from the bad things going on in the world I realized yet another blessing we have received. I know that we have been blessed so much more than we can even imagine. The windows of heaven have truly been opened for us and I am forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for his goodness.

For the $100 Challenge this week I held my first cooking class! I had seven little excited girls over and we made breakfast casserole muffins and French toast. They had a great time. I ended up only having one class for an hour and an half because I only had seven girls that were interested and they all wanted to the earlier time slot. So it is a little busy while they are here but everything went smoothly. I used the $20 start up allotment for safety knives ($16), 2 folders ($1) for recipes (I already had five unused ones here at the house), and for a couple of ingredients I didn’t have here already ($3). Every mom paid their $25 per child. So now I need to work on what I’m going to teach them to make for the other three classes that can stay within my budget so I end the class with $100 profit.