Last Lecturer for the Entrepreneur Journey April 2015
Here it is my last few days of the semester. This has been the best class. I think all students should be required to take both of the entrepreneur classes as it helps you to be the best you can be.
My advice to those that want to begin a business or just want to do the best they can do in whatever work they chose for the future.
BE YOURSELF - know what your values our and stand by those values. You will find much more peace and happiness and contentment in your life if you do.
BE HONORABLE - always have honor, be trustworthy in all you do and say.
WORK HARD - Work hard and earn your pay. The company or your company did not hire you to be slothful or lazy. If you don't think you are paid enough then find a place that will pay you what you think you are worth. For now, do your best and earn a honest days work.
FORGET THE GET RICH SCHEMES - They rarely work and in the end you are only there for the money and nothing else.
PASSION - Have passion for what you do. Love your work. Do something that gives to the world. If you don't enjoy what you are doing make goals to find work that will fulfill your passion.
GIVE BACK - We have been blessed to be in a country that is free and has many opportunities so give something back. Service, money, your time, does not matter, it just matter that you give.
KEEP DREAMING - Always have a dream. If you don't dream you die.
MAKE GOALS - Making long term and short term goals is an important aspect of being successful. If you do not make goals you will have no direction and will not make it to the finish line.
************** did the assignment wrong so ignore from this point on --- but I did not want to lose it after all so I kept it here***************
$100 Challenge
The $100 challenge was a great learning project, even though I hated the time it took away from my studies. It has made me think twice about what to start, do I really want to start it? Is there potential? Is this for pocket change? Do I want it to grow big? All of those question really determine what type of a business you would open up.
I am now done with my project. Checks are written out to those that I sold their goods for them. Items that need to be picked up are and the rest I need to pack it up and send it to Salvation Army.
All in all it was a success, considering the time I put into it. I can see that a person could make fair money on this if they really wanted. It would be great for a poor person who did not have any capital to start a business. What is really important is the room to spread everything out so it is there and waiting for the customer to come and look at it, and keeping it on Craigslist or what other service you have. It all takes time.
MY LAST LECTURE
To my Children and Grandchildren,
The first and most important thing I want you to remember about me is that I love the Lord, I love the gospel and I know that my Redeemer liveth. Having the gospel in your life and striving to have a relationship with your Heavenly Father will be key to how you handle this life. Everything you decide on, everything you do in this life, really all comes back to faith and making those decisions according to how the Lord wants those decisions to be made. Having a strong faith in Heavenly Father will help you endure and get through your trials.
When you are deciding how many children to have, take it to the Lord. As you decide where to work, or where to raise your family, take it to the Lord. How to discipline your children, take it to the Lord. Who and when to marry, take it to the Lord. How much school and where, take it to the Lord. If your decisions can be made with the help of the Lord then you will not make bad decisions.
Pay your tithing and obey the Sabbath. Those are two of the most critical aspects of the gospel. Do not treat your tithing like your taxes. Just pay a generous tithe, the rest will work itself out. And obeying the Sabbath. The better you obey the sabbath the more it tells the Lord how much you love him. Keep your dealings on Sunday all about the Savior and Heavenly Father. Obeying those two commandments will help you obey the rest of the commandments more easily.
Remember to keep learning. I have always said an educated mom raises an educated child. That does not mean to sacrifice your children so you can go to school. It just means to keep learning. There is a time and a place to go to formal school. There is always a time and a place to keep a book on your bed stand that keeps you learning. Three books should always be on your bed stand, the scriptures, a fun book to escape, and a book about something you want to learn. Mom's if you will do that you will not be bored being a stay at home mom and you will learn how to be a better mom or dad.
Take it seriously when raising your kids. Focus on your kids. You chose to have them, now buck it up and do what is right. Once children enter into your home your focus should be on shaping and molding them to be the best person they can be. Take an interest in how to raise them. Teach them how to work. Read and learn how to feed them, discipline them, teach them the gospel, teach them about the world. Put down the electronics and spend that time with the children. Give up too much TV and computer and spend that time with the children. The future is going to be hard and if they do not have a strong foundation they will get lost. Do not raise the kids to get them out on missions, instead raise them to be the best missionary they can be once they are out there.
Remember to serve missions yourself. You have been given much on this earth and you have come from a long line (from your dad's side) of missionaries. Do not let them down. Serve that mission and give back to the world and to the Lord.
Remember the cheapest casket. It is money wasted. Go cheap on the funeral and spend the rest educating a child in another country. Potted plants and bulbs instead of flowers so they can go home and be planted in your yard as a reminder that we all live forever.
In all you do be honorable and honest. At your work, give a full days work and be honorable in your time spent at the job. If you start your own business be honorable in your dealings with other people. I would rather have you poor and honest then rich and dishonest.
Remember to love the Lord, love your family, and be kind to your friends and neighbors.
With Love Mom
Monday, April 6, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
3-30-2015
$100 challenge
How I wish I had only 3 classes so I could have the time to have developed and worked this business more. I am actually thinking of dabbling in it for fun for a couple of months and see what more I can do with it. At this point I am glad it is done. The PowerPoint presentation took some time but honestly I thought it would take tons more than it did. Learned how to add voice to a power point, that is amazing, I will be using that in the future.
Things I have learned from the business
BIGGEST - have the time to start it. If you don't have the time to start a new business than don't
Become organized from day one
Not sure in real life I want to deal with others junk
What I thought would go well did not go at all and what I thought would not sell sold. I do not know the customer.
Learning this week
Loved the week. Interesting enough I was home teaching last night with my husband. The woman begin talking about this show called Sand box or something like that. I have not seen it yet. But it is where people come out and pitch their ideas and the billionaires of the show decide what amount they will invest in the product. My husband just saw a piece of the show last week at the gym. She went on and on about different stories from the show. I now need to watch it. Then we all agreed that what we would like to see is not just the successes but did they invest in someone and it was a failure and what is there story?
Opened up my class this morning and it is all about 'FAILURE'. I needed this class because I realize after taking my web class that I have a fear of failure. I cannot stand to fail. Do not know where he came from but it is real. It is what drives me to do the best that I do. So if I fail my web class I am going to call it an experiment. I already know it is an experiment of what I am not going to go into for the future. Had thoughts of making web pages part time at home. Nope can't handle the stress of the classes. I want work that is fun and enjoyable in my old age.
I love this list I found on the internet about rich people who have failed at some point in their life.
1. They accept failure and can recognize their own mistakes
2. They compartmentalize their emotions and they don't internalize bad feelings
3. They have a bias toward action responding aggressively to a challenge
4. They change their minds sometimes -- discard old thinking and reprogram a dream
5. They prepare for things to go wrong and rebounders are not necessarily optimists
6. They're comfortable with discomfort - they are willing to accept inconveniences as long as it leads them closer to an important goal
7. They're willing to wait -- overnight success is deceptively untrue
8. They have heroes - rebounders set and meet nigher standards when inspired by others
9. They have more than passion -- success requires drive too.
I need to post that list for the next two weeks and read it hourly.
How I wish I had only 3 classes so I could have the time to have developed and worked this business more. I am actually thinking of dabbling in it for fun for a couple of months and see what more I can do with it. At this point I am glad it is done. The PowerPoint presentation took some time but honestly I thought it would take tons more than it did. Learned how to add voice to a power point, that is amazing, I will be using that in the future.
Things I have learned from the business
BIGGEST - have the time to start it. If you don't have the time to start a new business than don't
Become organized from day one
Not sure in real life I want to deal with others junk
What I thought would go well did not go at all and what I thought would not sell sold. I do not know the customer.
Learning this week
Loved the week. Interesting enough I was home teaching last night with my husband. The woman begin talking about this show called Sand box or something like that. I have not seen it yet. But it is where people come out and pitch their ideas and the billionaires of the show decide what amount they will invest in the product. My husband just saw a piece of the show last week at the gym. She went on and on about different stories from the show. I now need to watch it. Then we all agreed that what we would like to see is not just the successes but did they invest in someone and it was a failure and what is there story?
Opened up my class this morning and it is all about 'FAILURE'. I needed this class because I realize after taking my web class that I have a fear of failure. I cannot stand to fail. Do not know where he came from but it is real. It is what drives me to do the best that I do. So if I fail my web class I am going to call it an experiment. I already know it is an experiment of what I am not going to go into for the future. Had thoughts of making web pages part time at home. Nope can't handle the stress of the classes. I want work that is fun and enjoyable in my old age.
I love this list I found on the internet about rich people who have failed at some point in their life.
1. They accept failure and can recognize their own mistakes
2. They compartmentalize their emotions and they don't internalize bad feelings
3. They have a bias toward action responding aggressively to a challenge
4. They change their minds sometimes -- discard old thinking and reprogram a dream
5. They prepare for things to go wrong and rebounders are not necessarily optimists
6. They're comfortable with discomfort - they are willing to accept inconveniences as long as it leads them closer to an important goal
7. They're willing to wait -- overnight success is deceptively untrue
8. They have heroes - rebounders set and meet nigher standards when inspired by others
9. They have more than passion -- success requires drive too.
I need to post that list for the next two weeks and read it hourly.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
3/28/2015
$100
Well I am glad this project is over. There are some learning to be done BUT it was really a stress I did not need right now. My living room is still full of everyone's 'junk'.
Now I need to get everyone to pick it up.
Donate the items some of the clients told me to donate.
Pay everyone - luckily everyone said, just pay me at the end of the project. It made it a lot easier for me. In a real business that would not happen. It would be done on either a weekly or monthly basis.
I am just glad I got over the $100. It will be interesting to see how much everyone made. I hope there will be a discussion post so we can see everyones goods and bads and what they would do differently.
learned
Something that just comes back over and over and over again. Kids trying to start a business while they are still in college. People trying to start way too big. Not getting the experience they need before they start.
Line upon line, precept upon precept. Start small and grow big.
If you are old and seasoned maybe you buy something with multiple stores. But if you are not start with one store at a time.
Family business --- Not sure I ever want to step into that one. It just seems like there could be some real hurt feelings when it comes time for you to step down and someone else steps up.
My husband worked for Pope and Talbot before they went under. Interesting enough, the father told the daughter, you want to run the business go make a success some where else then come back. She did that. But in the end it was not good enough. My personal feeling - want too much too fast and spend more than they had. I know the wood industry took a hit in America and the spotted owl etc did not help, then Pope and Talbot had a lot of wood in Canada and the exchange went bonkers and that did not help BUT in the end had they adjusted what they spent (such as a private plane) than just maybe that company would still be around today. It was a business that began approx 1850 and had stayed with the same family all those years. So sad to see them go.
Well I am glad this project is over. There are some learning to be done BUT it was really a stress I did not need right now. My living room is still full of everyone's 'junk'.
Now I need to get everyone to pick it up.
Donate the items some of the clients told me to donate.
Pay everyone - luckily everyone said, just pay me at the end of the project. It made it a lot easier for me. In a real business that would not happen. It would be done on either a weekly or monthly basis.
I am just glad I got over the $100. It will be interesting to see how much everyone made. I hope there will be a discussion post so we can see everyones goods and bads and what they would do differently.
learned
Something that just comes back over and over and over again. Kids trying to start a business while they are still in college. People trying to start way too big. Not getting the experience they need before they start.
Line upon line, precept upon precept. Start small and grow big.
If you are old and seasoned maybe you buy something with multiple stores. But if you are not start with one store at a time.
Family business --- Not sure I ever want to step into that one. It just seems like there could be some real hurt feelings when it comes time for you to step down and someone else steps up.
My husband worked for Pope and Talbot before they went under. Interesting enough, the father told the daughter, you want to run the business go make a success some where else then come back. She did that. But in the end it was not good enough. My personal feeling - want too much too fast and spend more than they had. I know the wood industry took a hit in America and the spotted owl etc did not help, then Pope and Talbot had a lot of wood in Canada and the exchange went bonkers and that did not help BUT in the end had they adjusted what they spent (such as a private plane) than just maybe that company would still be around today. It was a business that began approx 1850 and had stayed with the same family all those years. So sad to see them go.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
3/19/2105
$100 Challenge
3/14 WEll I am at $98, so I need a couple more dollars to at least get to the $100. I have a big party at the house tonight for my son in law that is turning 50 and I am leaving all of this junk up in hopes someone buys something.
3/15 no takers. no one bought a thing. But I did find out that all the computer stuff someone gave me to sell is old school so it will be difficult to sale.
3/19 - Finally got over the $100 mark. Now we will see what the weekend brings. Get those ads up for one last time.
What I have learned
To work on your business and not just in your business
Interesting enough I have two friends who have started business, one a while a go and one recently. I have tried to get both of them to read E Myth book but one doesn't need the book and the other is too busy.
#1 - He has started several business and before they really push to the third level he sells them off. He gets bored. When the $ so going down he figures it is time to shed it off and start something new. Part of his problem his he can never stay on task, he constantly wants something new. He loves the beginning stages of starting a business but is not good at maintaining the business.
Several years ago he started an insulation business. He went hard after it and very quickly grew to 10 trucks and multiple employees. He is not a technician or a manager so he hires his good friend to do the books and be the manager. Things have worked great for several years now. Business is booming. I am impressed that he has stayed with this business for so long. They had a third partner - actually the person they bought the first few trucks off of, that partner wanted out so the managers dad stepped in and became the investor. He was a silent investor. He is an accountant that has spent his life moving all over the world. The business he worked for would come in to a business that was failing and the team would get them back up on their feet again, he was part of that team.
So he was silent for a while, but the numbers started not looking good. The boys said that the tax advantages for insulation were going away so they were needing to diversify. Owner had some great ideas and was proceeding forward with those ideas. BUT he seemed like the owner had too much time on his hands. For needing to keep the business growing and going a new direction he was home or off vacationing alot.
Soon the silent owner was back in town (lives elsewhere) soon the silent owner moved a trailer down so he had a place to live for a few months, then his wife came. I knew it was serious. Basically what happened was the owner was getting more involved in wanting to try new things but not willing to maintain what he already had. Maintaining what he had would have given him the capital to try new things.
The manager/accountant - his wife had a baby and had post partum blues bad. She would not get up and deal with the kids in the mornings so he was coming in late to work to help out his wife and get the kids off to school.
The owner wasn't coming into the office because he was off vacationing in Hawaii.
The office was going down hill, no one was coming into the office to run it.
Soon the could not meet payroll and the silent partner, out of his own pocket, paid the salaries. WEll during this time the owner is in Hawaii. He had to have known things were not going good so he took a last ditch vacation before going under and at the expense of his employees salaries.
Silent owner has now taken over the company in hopes to salvage his own money out of it. I do not know what the future lies but neither boys are allowed in the office at this point. The owner tells his mom he got kicked out and there are such hard feelings that even if the business got up and running again he can not work there. I think there is more to the story. This is a million dollar business with a lot of equipment. Surely you can salvage what have, start again, maybe smaller, regroup.
The second business is being started by an older woman that has a lot of get up and go and smarts about her. She is not into it for the money. It is a tutoring business that has been in our area for many many years and the owners just weren't interested and thinking of just folding up shop. She bought it to save it. She already has a good staff and accountant and trusted employees. Now she just needs to spiff the business up a little, and learn how to do the paper work etc.
Interesting enough she said to me the other day how exciting some of the work was but how much work it was AND how much she hated the paper work. I had to laugh because I thought of the pie lady and how much she just wanted to make pies and not do the manager type work.
It will be interesting to see how her business goes in the future.
3/14 WEll I am at $98, so I need a couple more dollars to at least get to the $100. I have a big party at the house tonight for my son in law that is turning 50 and I am leaving all of this junk up in hopes someone buys something.
3/15 no takers. no one bought a thing. But I did find out that all the computer stuff someone gave me to sell is old school so it will be difficult to sale.
3/19 - Finally got over the $100 mark. Now we will see what the weekend brings. Get those ads up for one last time.
What I have learned
To work on your business and not just in your business
Interesting enough I have two friends who have started business, one a while a go and one recently. I have tried to get both of them to read E Myth book but one doesn't need the book and the other is too busy.
#1 - He has started several business and before they really push to the third level he sells them off. He gets bored. When the $ so going down he figures it is time to shed it off and start something new. Part of his problem his he can never stay on task, he constantly wants something new. He loves the beginning stages of starting a business but is not good at maintaining the business.
Several years ago he started an insulation business. He went hard after it and very quickly grew to 10 trucks and multiple employees. He is not a technician or a manager so he hires his good friend to do the books and be the manager. Things have worked great for several years now. Business is booming. I am impressed that he has stayed with this business for so long. They had a third partner - actually the person they bought the first few trucks off of, that partner wanted out so the managers dad stepped in and became the investor. He was a silent investor. He is an accountant that has spent his life moving all over the world. The business he worked for would come in to a business that was failing and the team would get them back up on their feet again, he was part of that team.
So he was silent for a while, but the numbers started not looking good. The boys said that the tax advantages for insulation were going away so they were needing to diversify. Owner had some great ideas and was proceeding forward with those ideas. BUT he seemed like the owner had too much time on his hands. For needing to keep the business growing and going a new direction he was home or off vacationing alot.
Soon the silent owner was back in town (lives elsewhere) soon the silent owner moved a trailer down so he had a place to live for a few months, then his wife came. I knew it was serious. Basically what happened was the owner was getting more involved in wanting to try new things but not willing to maintain what he already had. Maintaining what he had would have given him the capital to try new things.
The manager/accountant - his wife had a baby and had post partum blues bad. She would not get up and deal with the kids in the mornings so he was coming in late to work to help out his wife and get the kids off to school.
The owner wasn't coming into the office because he was off vacationing in Hawaii.
The office was going down hill, no one was coming into the office to run it.
Soon the could not meet payroll and the silent partner, out of his own pocket, paid the salaries. WEll during this time the owner is in Hawaii. He had to have known things were not going good so he took a last ditch vacation before going under and at the expense of his employees salaries.
Silent owner has now taken over the company in hopes to salvage his own money out of it. I do not know what the future lies but neither boys are allowed in the office at this point. The owner tells his mom he got kicked out and there are such hard feelings that even if the business got up and running again he can not work there. I think there is more to the story. This is a million dollar business with a lot of equipment. Surely you can salvage what have, start again, maybe smaller, regroup.
The second business is being started by an older woman that has a lot of get up and go and smarts about her. She is not into it for the money. It is a tutoring business that has been in our area for many many years and the owners just weren't interested and thinking of just folding up shop. She bought it to save it. She already has a good staff and accountant and trusted employees. Now she just needs to spiff the business up a little, and learn how to do the paper work etc.
Interesting enough she said to me the other day how exciting some of the work was but how much work it was AND how much she hated the paper work. I had to laugh because I thought of the pie lady and how much she just wanted to make pies and not do the manager type work.
It will be interesting to see how her business goes in the future.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
3/12/2015
$100 Business
I am at $86 so I need to push real hard this weekend to get to the $100 mark. I had hopes to get the extra points but oh well, not going to make it. It really is my own fault. I did not have the time to invest in the business to make tons of money so it is what it is. But some things I have learned.
1 - have the time
2- be willing to change and adapt
3- be consistent
4. get your system done early on so it does not become a mess
Learning in class
I learned about an area I did not even know existed formally. Interesting enough I could take what I was learning and reflect back on some times when my husband has stepped into a situation and made changes to make the process go smoother. For example
He starts at a company - during the recession - and not really in his accounting field. He is over AR and AP. It is a packing company, mostly tomatoes and pears, but lots of other things. In fact they do the sauce for Papa Murphys. So there is no vacation from July 4th until Thanksgiving. That is pack season. And during those months he worked 12 hour days and every Saturday. He could see, after one cycle, that there could be lots of improvements so right after 'pack' of the first year he begin making those changes and these are some of the things I remember him doing.
He interviewed the gals and asked them what they thought could be done differently
He went to IT and talked to them about some changes
There was a team of them, not sure who was on the team, and they created a new way of accounting for the tomatoes and such. This cut the process down by tons
He saw who was talking too much in the office and who was not accomplishing their work.
He pulled up reports that did key strokes monitoring(hmmmm never knew they had such a thing) and looked over how many accounts each person was handling and not handling. He gave allowances to the accounts that were very time consuming.
He moved the office desks around and installed little walls so gals could not talk to each other. This eliminated some of the chit chat that was making is so they did not work as fast as they should.
Next pack came, they hired their normal temp BUT no one worked overtime. The gals were not happy because they liked the extra money that came in. The owners were happy because overtime was expensive. The new system worked so much faster and better.
Next year he redid some more stuff including squeezing out a gal that did very very little work. She probably did not know there was such a thing as monitoring key strokes and such. Her presence actually impeded others from doing their work. Her life was always in drama and it was brought to the office to be solved. With her gone everyone's key strokes rose. Just that one thing.
Next pack, no overtime and no temp was hired. Amazing what you can do with some research and some planning.
I am at $86 so I need to push real hard this weekend to get to the $100 mark. I had hopes to get the extra points but oh well, not going to make it. It really is my own fault. I did not have the time to invest in the business to make tons of money so it is what it is. But some things I have learned.
1 - have the time
2- be willing to change and adapt
3- be consistent
4. get your system done early on so it does not become a mess
Learning in class
I learned about an area I did not even know existed formally. Interesting enough I could take what I was learning and reflect back on some times when my husband has stepped into a situation and made changes to make the process go smoother. For example
He starts at a company - during the recession - and not really in his accounting field. He is over AR and AP. It is a packing company, mostly tomatoes and pears, but lots of other things. In fact they do the sauce for Papa Murphys. So there is no vacation from July 4th until Thanksgiving. That is pack season. And during those months he worked 12 hour days and every Saturday. He could see, after one cycle, that there could be lots of improvements so right after 'pack' of the first year he begin making those changes and these are some of the things I remember him doing.
He interviewed the gals and asked them what they thought could be done differently
He went to IT and talked to them about some changes
There was a team of them, not sure who was on the team, and they created a new way of accounting for the tomatoes and such. This cut the process down by tons
He saw who was talking too much in the office and who was not accomplishing their work.
He pulled up reports that did key strokes monitoring(hmmmm never knew they had such a thing) and looked over how many accounts each person was handling and not handling. He gave allowances to the accounts that were very time consuming.
He moved the office desks around and installed little walls so gals could not talk to each other. This eliminated some of the chit chat that was making is so they did not work as fast as they should.
Next pack came, they hired their normal temp BUT no one worked overtime. The gals were not happy because they liked the extra money that came in. The owners were happy because overtime was expensive. The new system worked so much faster and better.
Next year he redid some more stuff including squeezing out a gal that did very very little work. She probably did not know there was such a thing as monitoring key strokes and such. Her presence actually impeded others from doing their work. Her life was always in drama and it was brought to the office to be solved. With her gone everyone's key strokes rose. Just that one thing.
Next pack, no overtime and no temp was hired. Amazing what you can do with some research and some planning.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
3/5/2015
$100 Challenge
Well this has been a much better week on the $100 challenge. I little change in the company: Sell any item new or used for the customer. This includes bazaar type items. Does not matter what it is as long as I can sell it out of the home. This brought me in more goods to sell. Not that they have sold yet but just the motivation of doing something different has spurred me on to keeping up with the business on a daily task.
I have made a list of what needs to be done daily, which is mostly taking items that are online for sale and making sure they have not expired, if they have posting them again online. I have also figured out the perfect timing for putting them on so they are at the top of the list for Saturday morning. Saturday morning seems to be the best time to sale.
When I sale an item I talk to the customers about my project and where the money is going. In turn I don't have any haggling over the price and some of the customers have brought to me goods to sale for them. I have items from complete strangers that have trusted that I will mail them the money if their items sale.
Setting up a simple accounting system in the beginning has made it a lot easier. The minute I get the money, even if I am in a hurry, I put it right off in the right envelope with the right sheet and it is all together. No money just laying around thinking I will remember or I will get to it later.
Things I have learned
Hire slow and fire fast - probably the best 4 words in a business. I have watched my husband sweat through having to let someone go. He usually spends a sleepless night before going into the office to talk to the person. It would be so much better to just hire the right person from day one.
I like the list we learned in HMM to get ready for an interview
1. define the job requirements
2. recruit promising candidates
3. interview
4. evaluate the candidates
5. make a decision and offer
Guys advice that it is better to hire someone who loves the job more than someone who does not but has the qualifications. Enthusiasm makes a big difference. A motivated person will do what it takes to get qualified to do the job. Of course the best is the right education and motivation combined.
E-myth revisited - not sure I agree 100% with everything but basically it is this:
Takes three to run a business
1. Entrepreneur who has vision
2. Manager who manages
3. Technician who does the work
The business goes through 3 phases
1. Infancy - when the technician is the business
2. Expansion - when better management skills are required
3. Maturity - where an entrepreneurial perspective is needed
Turn-key or Franchise perspective - the best model for building a successful business.
Business development process
1. Foundation activity #1 - Innovation - the new idea is put into practice
2. Foundation activity #2 - Quantification - numbers that show how much impact the innovation has made
3. Foundation activity #3 - Orchestration - process of embedding the best practices into your business.
Step 1: Primary Aim - what is your life purpose and your business purpose
Step 2: Strategic Objective - how you will measure your success
Step 3: Organization Strategy - need an organizational flow chart
Step 4: Management Strategy - simple systems put into place which will allow ordinary people to produce extraordinary good marketing results. Make it simple
Step 5: People Strategy - Create an environment in which fulfilling their responsibilities is more important than avoid them.
Step 6: Marketing Strategy - Forget about your vision and focus on the customer exclusively.
Step 7: Systems Strategy - Three types of systems
a: Hard systems - inanimate objects
b: Soft Systems - animate objects such as people, ideas, procedures
c: Information systems - provides data about the interaction between soft and hard systems.
Quotes I love:
The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as either a blessing or a curse." Carlos Castaneda
You should know now that a man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting. A man of knowledge chooses a path with heart and follows it." Carlos Castaneda
Well this has been a much better week on the $100 challenge. I little change in the company: Sell any item new or used for the customer. This includes bazaar type items. Does not matter what it is as long as I can sell it out of the home. This brought me in more goods to sell. Not that they have sold yet but just the motivation of doing something different has spurred me on to keeping up with the business on a daily task.
I have made a list of what needs to be done daily, which is mostly taking items that are online for sale and making sure they have not expired, if they have posting them again online. I have also figured out the perfect timing for putting them on so they are at the top of the list for Saturday morning. Saturday morning seems to be the best time to sale.
When I sale an item I talk to the customers about my project and where the money is going. In turn I don't have any haggling over the price and some of the customers have brought to me goods to sale for them. I have items from complete strangers that have trusted that I will mail them the money if their items sale.
Setting up a simple accounting system in the beginning has made it a lot easier. The minute I get the money, even if I am in a hurry, I put it right off in the right envelope with the right sheet and it is all together. No money just laying around thinking I will remember or I will get to it later.
Things I have learned
Hire slow and fire fast - probably the best 4 words in a business. I have watched my husband sweat through having to let someone go. He usually spends a sleepless night before going into the office to talk to the person. It would be so much better to just hire the right person from day one.
I like the list we learned in HMM to get ready for an interview
1. define the job requirements
2. recruit promising candidates
3. interview
4. evaluate the candidates
5. make a decision and offer
Guys advice that it is better to hire someone who loves the job more than someone who does not but has the qualifications. Enthusiasm makes a big difference. A motivated person will do what it takes to get qualified to do the job. Of course the best is the right education and motivation combined.
E-myth revisited - not sure I agree 100% with everything but basically it is this:
Takes three to run a business
1. Entrepreneur who has vision
2. Manager who manages
3. Technician who does the work
The business goes through 3 phases
1. Infancy - when the technician is the business
2. Expansion - when better management skills are required
3. Maturity - where an entrepreneurial perspective is needed
Turn-key or Franchise perspective - the best model for building a successful business.
Business development process
1. Foundation activity #1 - Innovation - the new idea is put into practice
2. Foundation activity #2 - Quantification - numbers that show how much impact the innovation has made
3. Foundation activity #3 - Orchestration - process of embedding the best practices into your business.
Step 1: Primary Aim - what is your life purpose and your business purpose
Step 2: Strategic Objective - how you will measure your success
Step 3: Organization Strategy - need an organizational flow chart
Step 4: Management Strategy - simple systems put into place which will allow ordinary people to produce extraordinary good marketing results. Make it simple
Step 5: People Strategy - Create an environment in which fulfilling their responsibilities is more important than avoid them.
Step 6: Marketing Strategy - Forget about your vision and focus on the customer exclusively.
Step 7: Systems Strategy - Three types of systems
a: Hard systems - inanimate objects
b: Soft Systems - animate objects such as people, ideas, procedures
c: Information systems - provides data about the interaction between soft and hard systems.
Quotes I love:
The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as either a blessing or a curse." Carlos Castaneda
You should know now that a man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting. A man of knowledge chooses a path with heart and follows it." Carlos Castaneda
Friday, February 27, 2015
2/27/2015
$100 challenge
I am not going to be getting the extra points on this challenge. Oh I sell stuff, but so slowly and the time is not worth it. This is not a business I would to have forever.
I have changed some tactics to get more people to buy and that helped selling a little more. I have agreed to mail something, if they paid for postage which is something I did not think I would do.
One thing I have learned with this. NEVER NEVER NEVER start a new business unless you have the time to do it. If I had the time I could do so much more but when I am constantly constrained with time I just do not do what I should be doing or putting the time into it.
Thank goodness I did set up early on forms we fill out and envelopes attached to it so when something sells I just put it all in the envelope and it is organized and ready to go and easy to handle.
This next week is going to be my push week.
Things to do - repost on craigslist
repost on some other sites I have
keep it at top on face book
call a couple of my friends who say they have stuff and get it over here and on line so I can get it sold
What I learned this week
Pretty interesting week. The leadership style survey says I am participative style - thank goodness because I thought my personality would be authoritarian. I already know I don't delegate real well.
I loved the article by Pres Kimbal and Jesus: The perfect leader. I have never read that before.
His attritbutes Fixed principles, understanding others, selfless leadership, responsibility, accountability, wise use of time, secular leadership.
I have read before the DPC article by Bednar.
Factor #1 BYUI is a temple of learning
Factor #2 BYUI will be located next to a House of the Lord
Factor #3 BYUI is surrounded by strong stakes of Zion
Kim B Clark's "Leadership with a small "L" is the best.
Principle #1 Lead by example
#2 Lead with Vision
#3 Lead with Love
Lots of learning. So I think if you lead in a business like you would lead at church then you just can't go wrong.
I am not going to be getting the extra points on this challenge. Oh I sell stuff, but so slowly and the time is not worth it. This is not a business I would to have forever.
I have changed some tactics to get more people to buy and that helped selling a little more. I have agreed to mail something, if they paid for postage which is something I did not think I would do.
One thing I have learned with this. NEVER NEVER NEVER start a new business unless you have the time to do it. If I had the time I could do so much more but when I am constantly constrained with time I just do not do what I should be doing or putting the time into it.
Thank goodness I did set up early on forms we fill out and envelopes attached to it so when something sells I just put it all in the envelope and it is organized and ready to go and easy to handle.
This next week is going to be my push week.
Things to do - repost on craigslist
repost on some other sites I have
keep it at top on face book
call a couple of my friends who say they have stuff and get it over here and on line so I can get it sold
What I learned this week
Pretty interesting week. The leadership style survey says I am participative style - thank goodness because I thought my personality would be authoritarian. I already know I don't delegate real well.
I loved the article by Pres Kimbal and Jesus: The perfect leader. I have never read that before.
His attritbutes Fixed principles, understanding others, selfless leadership, responsibility, accountability, wise use of time, secular leadership.
I have read before the DPC article by Bednar.
Factor #1 BYUI is a temple of learning
Factor #2 BYUI will be located next to a House of the Lord
Factor #3 BYUI is surrounded by strong stakes of Zion
Kim B Clark's "Leadership with a small "L" is the best.
Principle #1 Lead by example
#2 Lead with Vision
#3 Lead with Love
Lots of learning. So I think if you lead in a business like you would lead at church then you just can't go wrong.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
12/18/2014
What an incredible journey. That is my most favorite class. It is a class that all human beings should have to take. It is a class that will help motivate you to be the best you can be. All the books were excellent except Dip. Did not like that book. I especially loved all the readings from the General Authorities. I really helps you per everything in perspective and that life, church, the gospel, work, and family are all mixed in together.
Here is a story of my new HERO - he is my top ten now, Excellent story that I can use in talks etc.
Tom Monaghan a devote Roman Catholic, founded Domino’s Pizza in 1960 and after selling the company in 1998, dedicated his time, talent and several hundreds of millions of dollars to Catholic causes, including the pro-life movement and the founding of Ave Maria University. His active opposition to abortion first made headlines in 1989 when the National Organization for Women called for a boycott of Domino’s, and more recently, in 2013, Monaghan won a court battle to stop the federal government from requiring him to provide mandatory contraception coverage to the employees of his Domino’s Farms management company. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, their your heart will be also.” For the past 3 decades, Tom’s aversion to living lavishly, despite having the financial wherewithal to have or buy whatever he wants, and instead to use his fortune to save souls, reveals where his heart is. Tom Monaghan has been extremely successful in business while sticking to his Biblical values and using his influence to further the Gospel. A wonderful example of a Giant for God.
Tom Monaghan was born in 1937, but lost his father at the age of 4 to
illness. His mother struggled to manage a mischievous young Tom and so
she sent him to live first with his aunt and uncle and then to the
orphanage St Joseph Home for Children, where Tom spent most of his
formative years. The influence of the nuns and head priest there had a
lasting effect on his life, including his devotion to Catholicism,
Christ and being a good person. In later years, Tom credited Sister
Berarda as becoming a surrogate mother to him. Throughout his early
years, Tom was a dreamer, picturing a better life for himself on his
walks to and from school.
After high school, he bounced around to various jobs to raise money for college, eventually joining the military to fund his plan for a college degree. While stationed in Okinawa, Japan, he put himself on an intensive self improvement program and would build empires in his mind of his future as a wealthy and successful person. After saving up enough for college, on his release from the military, before he could enroll for the next semester, he got swindled out of all his money by an oil well investment deal gone bad. Undeterred, he, along with his brother Jim, borrowed $500 in 1960 to purchase DomiNick’s pizza so that Tom could pay his way through school. But after 8 months of long hours and very little pay, his brother wanted out. Although Jim didn’t want anything for his half, Tom paid him in the form of Volkswagen Beetle that they had used as a pizza delivery vehicle. After Jim left, Tom’s plans of getting an architectural degree from the University of Michigan fell by the wayside and Tom made the decision to commit himself heart and soul to being a pizza man.
The first thing Tom did was simplify his menu to focus on delivering pizzas to college students. It worked and he was making $400 per week after expenses. Tom saw the opportunity in expanding to other college towns in Michigan with his pizza shop concept. Tom was young, naïve and ambitious. This led him into many bad business decisions, including partnerships with people who didn’t share his vision, passion or work ethic. Over the next several years, Tom learned many hard lessons on what not to do in business. During these tumultuous times, bankruptcy loomed, the IRS threatened to lock his doors, gigantic class action lawsuits were filed by franchisees and at one point, a creditor held him a gun point to collect payment from Tom. But incredibly, despite having all the odds against him, Monaghan didn’t give up. And despite his early naïve business decisions, his core business of delivering pizzas within 30 minutes to college students was remarkably successful.
Once he was out from underneath more than 14 years of rookie business mistakes, he began to really hit his stride. He invented an insulated pizza box so that he could stack several on top of each other and the pizza would remain hot. “We were the first pizza shop to take delivery of pizza seriously,” remarked Tom. By the mid 1970s, Domino’s Pizza had over 100 different franchise locations across the United States and the future couldn’t have been brighter for Tom and Domino’s Pizza. But all that visibility generated a new problem for Tom, a trademark infringement lawsuit from Domino’s Sugar. They argued that his business was confusing grocery shoppers who thought the pizza restaurant was part of the Domino’s Sugar brand. After a long legal battle, Tom lost in court. It would have flattened almost anyone else, but not Tom Monaghan. He had been through so many years of obstacles that had tempered and hardened Tom into a resilient business person, that rather than throw in the towel and give up, Tom appealed the court’s decision. And remarkably, in April 1980, after a total of 5 grueling years of uncertainty with this intellectual property lawsuit hanging over his head, the appeals court ruled in favor of Tom.
The 1980s ushered in an unprecedented time for Domino’s Pizza. His mantra to his employees was 50% growth and however outlandish they felt it was, he pulled it off. The local press began to take notice of this rags to riches business tycoon and by 1982, it was estimated his net worth was $7 Million. When asked his thoughts on money, his response was, “Money is not evil, as so many people think. It pays for Bible and churches and hospitals.” In 1983, he purchased the Detroit Tigers, for $53 Million, the largest amount anyone had ever spent on a professional baseball team. Fortunately, in his first year as the owner, the Tigers won the world series and the “free” publicity created by the team’s success paid for itself many times over for Tom. By the late 1980’s, 54% of all the pizzas delivered in the United States came from Domino’s. Domino’s Pizza had become the dominant force in the pizza business.
Tom’s wealth exploded. He began to spend his money on cars, helicopters, boats, an island and the construction of a lavish corporate headquarters and personal mansion. He put together an autobiography, Pizza Tiger, with the help of Ray Kroc’s autobiographical collaborator Robert Anderson. He had become a symbol of all things great about America. The quintessential rags to riches entrepreneur who defied the odds to become incredibly rich. But meanwhile, deep down, there was something missing.
After reading the book Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, his behavior began to change. In reading the chapter on pride, Tom associated his ostentatious lifestyle as prideful and perhaps the real reason for buying all those toys was an inner desire to impress other people. This epiphany moved Monaghan to take, what he called, “the millionaire’s vow of poverty”, and decided to “give up the toys”. Immediately, he sold the Detroit Tigers, stopped further construction on the mansion he was building and turned his palatial office into a conference room. And this wasn’t just a short term commitment to self improvement, it became a life altering experience. For example, he hasn’t read his book Pizza Tiger since it first came out, noting that the facts in the book are exactly accurate but the tone and substance is far removed from the person he is today.
Competition began to creep up on Domino’s, especially from a PepsiCo funded company called Pizza Hut. They hired many of the talented people away from Domino’s to compete against them. In 1998, Tom sold his stake in Domino’s Pizza to the private equity firm Bain Capital for an estimated $1 Billion. He then devoted the rest of his life to blessing others. “I wanted to put my money where it did the most good and saved the most souls,” recalled Tom. So he began to think about where to deploy his vast fortune. He narrowed down his focus to higher education and since very few people had the economic wherewithal to start a university, he felt it was an obligation and a calling that he had to do. In 2003, he established the private Catholic university in southwest Florida, Ave Maria University, as well as developing a new town, Ave Maria, around the school. He made headlines, when in a May 2004 speech, Monaghan expressed his wish to have the new town and university campus be free from pre-marital sex, contraceptives, abortion and pornography, which created criticism from the international press who saw such proposed restrictions as violations of civil liberties. Although Tom wasn’t able to mandate the town completely of this vision, he was able to keep sex shops and strip clubs from operating in Ave Maria and he was able to keep his ban on contraception and porn in the university.
Many people say that they want to die broke but few take the necessary steps to do that. Tom Monaghan is doing just that. Tom is proving that his goal is to bring as many people to heaven as he can with the resources he has available to him. From his humble upbringings, to becoming one of the wealthiest people in the world, to taking a Millionaire’s vow of poverty, to creating an extraordinary institution of higher education, Tom Monaghan has lived the life of a Giant for God. To learn more about his life, read Living the Faith: A Life of Tom Monaghan by James Leonard
One of my most favorite talks from Monson
Here is a story of my new HERO - he is my top ten now, Excellent story that I can use in talks etc.
Tom Monaghan a devote Roman Catholic, founded Domino’s Pizza in 1960 and after selling the company in 1998, dedicated his time, talent and several hundreds of millions of dollars to Catholic causes, including the pro-life movement and the founding of Ave Maria University. His active opposition to abortion first made headlines in 1989 when the National Organization for Women called for a boycott of Domino’s, and more recently, in 2013, Monaghan won a court battle to stop the federal government from requiring him to provide mandatory contraception coverage to the employees of his Domino’s Farms management company. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, their your heart will be also.” For the past 3 decades, Tom’s aversion to living lavishly, despite having the financial wherewithal to have or buy whatever he wants, and instead to use his fortune to save souls, reveals where his heart is. Tom Monaghan has been extremely successful in business while sticking to his Biblical values and using his influence to further the Gospel. A wonderful example of a Giant for God.
After high school, he bounced around to various jobs to raise money for college, eventually joining the military to fund his plan for a college degree. While stationed in Okinawa, Japan, he put himself on an intensive self improvement program and would build empires in his mind of his future as a wealthy and successful person. After saving up enough for college, on his release from the military, before he could enroll for the next semester, he got swindled out of all his money by an oil well investment deal gone bad. Undeterred, he, along with his brother Jim, borrowed $500 in 1960 to purchase DomiNick’s pizza so that Tom could pay his way through school. But after 8 months of long hours and very little pay, his brother wanted out. Although Jim didn’t want anything for his half, Tom paid him in the form of Volkswagen Beetle that they had used as a pizza delivery vehicle. After Jim left, Tom’s plans of getting an architectural degree from the University of Michigan fell by the wayside and Tom made the decision to commit himself heart and soul to being a pizza man.
The first thing Tom did was simplify his menu to focus on delivering pizzas to college students. It worked and he was making $400 per week after expenses. Tom saw the opportunity in expanding to other college towns in Michigan with his pizza shop concept. Tom was young, naïve and ambitious. This led him into many bad business decisions, including partnerships with people who didn’t share his vision, passion or work ethic. Over the next several years, Tom learned many hard lessons on what not to do in business. During these tumultuous times, bankruptcy loomed, the IRS threatened to lock his doors, gigantic class action lawsuits were filed by franchisees and at one point, a creditor held him a gun point to collect payment from Tom. But incredibly, despite having all the odds against him, Monaghan didn’t give up. And despite his early naïve business decisions, his core business of delivering pizzas within 30 minutes to college students was remarkably successful.
Once he was out from underneath more than 14 years of rookie business mistakes, he began to really hit his stride. He invented an insulated pizza box so that he could stack several on top of each other and the pizza would remain hot. “We were the first pizza shop to take delivery of pizza seriously,” remarked Tom. By the mid 1970s, Domino’s Pizza had over 100 different franchise locations across the United States and the future couldn’t have been brighter for Tom and Domino’s Pizza. But all that visibility generated a new problem for Tom, a trademark infringement lawsuit from Domino’s Sugar. They argued that his business was confusing grocery shoppers who thought the pizza restaurant was part of the Domino’s Sugar brand. After a long legal battle, Tom lost in court. It would have flattened almost anyone else, but not Tom Monaghan. He had been through so many years of obstacles that had tempered and hardened Tom into a resilient business person, that rather than throw in the towel and give up, Tom appealed the court’s decision. And remarkably, in April 1980, after a total of 5 grueling years of uncertainty with this intellectual property lawsuit hanging over his head, the appeals court ruled in favor of Tom.
The 1980s ushered in an unprecedented time for Domino’s Pizza. His mantra to his employees was 50% growth and however outlandish they felt it was, he pulled it off. The local press began to take notice of this rags to riches business tycoon and by 1982, it was estimated his net worth was $7 Million. When asked his thoughts on money, his response was, “Money is not evil, as so many people think. It pays for Bible and churches and hospitals.” In 1983, he purchased the Detroit Tigers, for $53 Million, the largest amount anyone had ever spent on a professional baseball team. Fortunately, in his first year as the owner, the Tigers won the world series and the “free” publicity created by the team’s success paid for itself many times over for Tom. By the late 1980’s, 54% of all the pizzas delivered in the United States came from Domino’s. Domino’s Pizza had become the dominant force in the pizza business.
Tom’s wealth exploded. He began to spend his money on cars, helicopters, boats, an island and the construction of a lavish corporate headquarters and personal mansion. He put together an autobiography, Pizza Tiger, with the help of Ray Kroc’s autobiographical collaborator Robert Anderson. He had become a symbol of all things great about America. The quintessential rags to riches entrepreneur who defied the odds to become incredibly rich. But meanwhile, deep down, there was something missing.
After reading the book Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, his behavior began to change. In reading the chapter on pride, Tom associated his ostentatious lifestyle as prideful and perhaps the real reason for buying all those toys was an inner desire to impress other people. This epiphany moved Monaghan to take, what he called, “the millionaire’s vow of poverty”, and decided to “give up the toys”. Immediately, he sold the Detroit Tigers, stopped further construction on the mansion he was building and turned his palatial office into a conference room. And this wasn’t just a short term commitment to self improvement, it became a life altering experience. For example, he hasn’t read his book Pizza Tiger since it first came out, noting that the facts in the book are exactly accurate but the tone and substance is far removed from the person he is today.
Competition began to creep up on Domino’s, especially from a PepsiCo funded company called Pizza Hut. They hired many of the talented people away from Domino’s to compete against them. In 1998, Tom sold his stake in Domino’s Pizza to the private equity firm Bain Capital for an estimated $1 Billion. He then devoted the rest of his life to blessing others. “I wanted to put my money where it did the most good and saved the most souls,” recalled Tom. So he began to think about where to deploy his vast fortune. He narrowed down his focus to higher education and since very few people had the economic wherewithal to start a university, he felt it was an obligation and a calling that he had to do. In 2003, he established the private Catholic university in southwest Florida, Ave Maria University, as well as developing a new town, Ave Maria, around the school. He made headlines, when in a May 2004 speech, Monaghan expressed his wish to have the new town and university campus be free from pre-marital sex, contraceptives, abortion and pornography, which created criticism from the international press who saw such proposed restrictions as violations of civil liberties. Although Tom wasn’t able to mandate the town completely of this vision, he was able to keep sex shops and strip clubs from operating in Ave Maria and he was able to keep his ban on contraception and porn in the university.
Many people say that they want to die broke but few take the necessary steps to do that. Tom Monaghan is doing just that. Tom is proving that his goal is to bring as many people to heaven as he can with the resources he has available to him. From his humble upbringings, to becoming one of the wealthiest people in the world, to taking a Millionaire’s vow of poverty, to creating an extraordinary institution of higher education, Tom Monaghan has lived the life of a Giant for God. To learn more about his life, read Living the Faith: A Life of Tom Monaghan by James Leonard
One of my most favorite talks from Monson
“Finishers Wanted”
“Finishers
Wanted”
On sunlit days during the noon hour,
the streets of Salt Lake City abound with men and women who for a moment leave
the confines of the tall office buildings and engage in that universal delight
called window shopping. On occasion I, too, am a participant.
One Wednesday I paused before the
elegant show window of a prestigious furniture store. That which caught and
held my attention was not the beautifully designed sofa nor the comfortable appearing
chair that stood at its side. Neither was it the beautiful chandelier
positioned overhead. Rather, my eyes rested on a small sign that had been
placed at the bottom right-hand corner of the window. Its message was brief:
“FINISHERS WANTED.”
The store had need of those persons
who possessed the talent and the skill to make ready for final sale the
expensive furniture the firm manufactured and sold. “Finishers Wanted.” The
words remained with me as I returned to the pressing activities of the day.
In life, as in business, there has
always been a need for those persons who could be called finishers. Their ranks
are few, their opportunities many, their contributions great.
From the very beginning to the
present time, a fundamental question remains to be answered by each who runs
the race of life. Shall I falter, or shall I finish? On the answer await the
blessings of joy and happiness here in mortality and eternal life in the world
to come.
We are not left without guidance to
make this momentous decision. The Holy Bible
contains those accounts, even those lessons that, if carefully learned, will
serve us well and be as a beacon light to guide our thoughts and influence our
actions. As we read, we sympathize with those who falter. We honor those who
finish.
The Apostle Paul likened life to a
great race when he declared, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” (1 Cor. 9:24.) And before the words of Paul fell
upon the ears of his listeners, the counsel of the son of David, king in
Jerusalem, cautioned, “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong.” (Eccl. 9:11.)
Could the son of David have been
referring to his own father? Judged by any standards, the greatest king Israel
ever had was David. Anointed by Samuel, he was honored by the Lord.
In the first flush of his incredible
triumphs, David rode the crest of popularity. As he achieved fresh victories,
in adoration the people exclaimed: “Behold, we are thy bone and flesh.” (2 Sam. 5:1.) Power he won, but peace he lost.
It happened late one afternoon when
David was walking on the rooftop patio of the king’s house that he saw a woman
bathing. “And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not
this Bathsheba, … the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So “David sent messengers,
and took her.” (2 Sam. 11:3–4.)
The gross sin of adultery was
followed by yet another. Commanded David: “Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the
hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.” (2 Sam. 11:15.) Lust and power had triumphed.
David’s rebuke came from the Lord
God of Israel: “Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast
taken his wife to be thy wife. …
“Now therefore the sword shall never
depart from thine house.” (2 Sam. 12:9–10.)
David commenced well the race, then
faltered and failed to finish his course.
Lest we lull ourselves into thinking
that only the gross sins of life cause us to falter, consider the experience of
the rich young man who came running to the Savior and asked the question: “Good
Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”
Jesus answered him: “If thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments.
“He saith unto him, Which?”
To Jesus’ enumeration of the
commandments, the young man replied, “All these things have I kept from my
youth up: what lack I yet?
“Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt
be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, … and come and
follow me.
“But when the young man heard that
saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” (Matt. 19:16–18, 20–22.)
He preferred the comforts of earth
to the treasures of heaven. He would not purchase the things of eternity by
abandoning those of time.
So it was with Judas Iscariot. He
commenced his ministry as an Apostle of the Lord. He ended it a traitor. For
thirty paltry pieces of silver, he sold his soul. At last, realizing the
enormity of his sin, Judas, to his patrons and temptors, cried out: “I have
sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” (Matt. 27:4.) Remorse led to despair, despair to
madness, and madness to suicide. He had succeeded in betraying the Christ. He
had failed to finish the apostolic ministry to which he had been divinely
called.
Lust for power, greed of gold, and
disdain of one’s honor have ever appeared as faces of failure in the panorama
of life. Captivated by their artificial attraction, many noble souls have
stumbled and fallen, thus losing the crown of victory reserved for the finisher
of life’s great race.
Let us turn from the lives of those
who faltered and consider some who finished and won the prize.
There was a man in the land of Uz
whose name was Job. That man was perfect and upright and one who feared God and
eschewed evil. Pious in his conduct, prosperous in his fortune, Job was to face
a test that would tempt any man. Shorn of his possessions, scorned by his
friends, afflicted by his suffering, even tempted by his wife to blame God, Job
was to declare from the depths of his noble soul: “Behold, my witness is in
heaven, and my record is on high.” (Job 16:19.) “I know that my redeemer liveth.” (Job 19:25.) Job did not falter. Job became a
finisher.
Following the earthly ministry of
the Lord, there were many who, rather than deny their testimony of him, would
forfeit their lives. Such was Paul the Apostle. The decision of his father to
send him to Jerusalem opened the door to Paul’s destiny. He would pass through
it and help shape a new world.
Gifted in his capacity to stir,
move, and manage groups of men, Paul was a peerless example of one who nobly
made the transition from sinner to saint. Though disappointment, heartache, and
trial were to beset him, yet Paul, at the conclusion of his ministry, could
say: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7.) Like Job, Paul was a finisher.
He admonished us to “lay aside …
sin” and to “run with patience the race … , looking [for an example] unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith.” (Heb. 12:1–2.)
Though Jesus was tempted by the evil
one, he resisted. Though he was hated, he loved. Though he was betrayed, he
triumphed. Not in a cloud of glory or chariot of fire was Jesus to depart
mortality, but with arms outstretched in agony upon the cruel cross. The
magnitude of his mission is depicted in the simplicity of his words. To his
Father he prayed, “The hour is come. … I have glorified thee on the earth: I
have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (John 17:1, 4.) “Into thy hands I commend my
spirit.” (Luke 23:46.) Mortality ended. Eternity began.
Times change and circumstances vary,
but the true marks of a finisher remain. Note them well, for they are vital to
our success.
- 1.
The Mark
of Vision. It has been said that the door of history turns on small hinges, and
so do people’s lives. We are constantly making small decisions. The outcome
determines the success or failure of our lives. That is why it is worthwhile to
look ahead, to set a course, and at least be partly ready when the moment of
decision comes. True finishers have the capacity to visualize their objective.
- 2.
The Mark
of Effort. Vision without effort is daydreaming; effort without vision is
drudgery; but vision, coupled with effort, will obtain the prize.
Needed is the capacity to make that
second effort when life’s challenges lay us low.
Stick to your task ’til it sticks to
you;
Beginners are many, but enders are
few.
Honor, power, place and praise
Will always come to the one who
stays. Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;
Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at
it, too;
For out of the bend and the sweat
and the smile
Will come life’s victories after a
while.
—Author Unknown
3. The Mark of Faith. Many years ago
the psalmist wrote: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence
in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” (Ps. 118:8–9.) Recognize that faith and doubt
cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other.
4. The Mark of Virtue. “Let virtue
garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.” (D&C 121:45.) This counsel from the Lord will
provide staying power in the race we run.
5. The Mark of Courage. Have the
courage—
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.
To right the unrightable wrong,
To love, pure and chaste from afar,
To try, when your arms are too
weary,
To reach the unreachable star! *
And you will thus become a finisher.
6. The Mark of Prayer. When the
burdens of life become heavy, when trials test one’s faith, when pain, sorrow,
and despair cause the light of hope to flicker and burn low, communication with
our Heavenly Father provides peace.
These, the marks of a true finisher,
will be as a lamp to our feet in the journey through life. Ever beckoning us onward
and lifting us upward is he who pleaded, “Come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22.)
Frequently God’s help comes
silently—and though silently, occasionally with dramatic impact. Such was my
experience some years ago when, as a mission president, I was afforded the
privilege to guide the activities of precious missionaries whom He had called.
Some had problems, others required motivation; but one came to me in utter
despair. He had made the decision to leave the mission field when but at the
halfway mark. His bags were packed, his return ticket purchased. He came to bid
me farewell.
We talked; we listened; we prayed.
There remained hidden the actual reason for his decision to quit. As we arose
from our knees in the quiet of my office, the missionary began to weep almost
uncontrollably. Flexing the muscle in his strong right arm, he blurted out,
“This is my problem. All through school my muscle power qualified me for honors
in football and track, but my mental power was neglected. President Monson, I’m
ashamed of my school record. It reveals that ‘with effort’ I have the capacity
to read at but the level of the fourth grade. I can’t even read the Book
of Mormon. How then can I understand its contents and teach others
its truths?”
The silence of the room was broken
by my young nine-year-old son who, without knocking, opened the door and, with
surprise, apologetically said, “Excuse me. I just wanted to put this book back
on the shelf.” He handed me the book. Its title: A Child’s Story of the Book of
Mormon, by Dr. Deta Petersen Neeley. I turned to the author’s preface and read
that this book was written with a scientifically controlled vocabulary to the
level of the fourth grade. A sincere prayer from an honest heart had been
dramatically answered.
My missionary accepted the challenge
to read the book. Half laughing, half crying, he declared: “It will be good to
read something I can understand.” Clouds of despair were dispelled by the
sunshine of hope. He completed an honorable mission. He became a finisher.
I am happy I walked by that
furniture store and gazed at the small sign in the large shop window. Everyone
can benefit from the true meaning of its words: “FINISHERS WANTED.”
2/19/2015
$100 Challenge
I need to make some changes in my business. Selling is too slow and I am too swayed by the clients to put on whatever the price they want instead of giving advice. A pair of kids baseball cleats are not going to sell for $30. Even in excellent condition.
I need to find more ways to advertise what I have. I need to retake some of the pictures I have taken because I did them too fast and they do not show off the product well. Sloppy work costs you in the long run.
I need to make some hard decisions to lower the prices on items that have not sold yet and those that have been around for awhile. I also need to make more room in my living room to organize and set up the items to look appealing.
Though I have sold some and it is all profit because I did not have any set up fees, it still is not very much. The business is far more labor intensive than I thought it would be and it is hard to balance the business with full time school. Also, I assumed I would get more help from my husband then I have. But I guess it shows that when it is your dream or vision and not theirs what do you expect.
So lots of new goals for the next few days. I am going to make sure, when I repost items, they are done just before the weekend so they are at the top of the list.
One good thing, the selling is slow therefor my accounting is easy to keep track of. :)
What I learned this week
Very enjoyable week. Learned some really interesting stuff about customer service. Had a discussion already with the entrepreneur I am going to interview and we talked about a particular business in town that is not doing well and why they are not doing well. Then this lesson came in perfectly after that discussion.
So their problems. They are spending way too much time and energy trying to gain new customers. They spend $5000 a month on advertising for a carpet cleaning business. If it is not working right then they need to rethink out what they are doing.
I think they would be better off to offer a plan for their 'already' customers. Some sort of an incentive to get their carpets cleaned on a regular business. Something like - If you have us come in and clean them before the six months mark we give % off.
Also, hand the customer 6 cards with their names on it. Tell them that for every card that comes back they get a certain % off of their next cleaning and if they refer 6 customers and all 6 clean their carpets then they get a free carpet cleaning.
The carpet cleaning is $130 for 3 rooms. I think $130 is cheap advertising to get six new customers. If they are spending $5000 a month and they kept their prices per customer at $130 then they would need 30 customers. Wait I figured that wrong. $130 is for 6 customers. That is $21 for each new customer. $21 into $5000 would mean more like 238 customers. I don't think they are getting 238 new customers a month. They need to take this class.
The biggest thing I have learned this week is it is cheaper to keep loyal customers loyal then to gain new customers.
So if I want a company to have good success I need to
hire right - right attitude then more trainable
train properly
give support
allow latitude
Reward for results
get to know the customer
deliver value
be trustworthy
My favorite video - Jet Blue --- I don't fly, too pansy. But I have 2 brothers and a sister who are career flight attendants. We call them fancy waitresses. WEll, I agree with jet blue, get rid of the food. Give all the snacks you want. I much prefer cheese and crackers and juice then the nasty airline food. (did fly to Germany and back, took two blessing to get me on the plane and never got on one again). So my family would probably disagree with me - but I totally agree. Put your money into those little TV's. That way I can watch what I want. And I am short, put my bags up for me. oh yea. And the day I see him cleaning the plane is the day I will fly. hmmmmmm maybe the first year he was getting it off of the ground but not now.
I need to make some changes in my business. Selling is too slow and I am too swayed by the clients to put on whatever the price they want instead of giving advice. A pair of kids baseball cleats are not going to sell for $30. Even in excellent condition.
I need to find more ways to advertise what I have. I need to retake some of the pictures I have taken because I did them too fast and they do not show off the product well. Sloppy work costs you in the long run.
I need to make some hard decisions to lower the prices on items that have not sold yet and those that have been around for awhile. I also need to make more room in my living room to organize and set up the items to look appealing.
Though I have sold some and it is all profit because I did not have any set up fees, it still is not very much. The business is far more labor intensive than I thought it would be and it is hard to balance the business with full time school. Also, I assumed I would get more help from my husband then I have. But I guess it shows that when it is your dream or vision and not theirs what do you expect.
So lots of new goals for the next few days. I am going to make sure, when I repost items, they are done just before the weekend so they are at the top of the list.
One good thing, the selling is slow therefor my accounting is easy to keep track of. :)
What I learned this week
Very enjoyable week. Learned some really interesting stuff about customer service. Had a discussion already with the entrepreneur I am going to interview and we talked about a particular business in town that is not doing well and why they are not doing well. Then this lesson came in perfectly after that discussion.
So their problems. They are spending way too much time and energy trying to gain new customers. They spend $5000 a month on advertising for a carpet cleaning business. If it is not working right then they need to rethink out what they are doing.
I think they would be better off to offer a plan for their 'already' customers. Some sort of an incentive to get their carpets cleaned on a regular business. Something like - If you have us come in and clean them before the six months mark we give % off.
Also, hand the customer 6 cards with their names on it. Tell them that for every card that comes back they get a certain % off of their next cleaning and if they refer 6 customers and all 6 clean their carpets then they get a free carpet cleaning.
The carpet cleaning is $130 for 3 rooms. I think $130 is cheap advertising to get six new customers. If they are spending $5000 a month and they kept their prices per customer at $130 then they would need 30 customers. Wait I figured that wrong. $130 is for 6 customers. That is $21 for each new customer. $21 into $5000 would mean more like 238 customers. I don't think they are getting 238 new customers a month. They need to take this class.
The biggest thing I have learned this week is it is cheaper to keep loyal customers loyal then to gain new customers.
So if I want a company to have good success I need to
hire right - right attitude then more trainable
train properly
give support
allow latitude
Reward for results
get to know the customer
deliver value
be trustworthy
My favorite video - Jet Blue --- I don't fly, too pansy. But I have 2 brothers and a sister who are career flight attendants. We call them fancy waitresses. WEll, I agree with jet blue, get rid of the food. Give all the snacks you want. I much prefer cheese and crackers and juice then the nasty airline food. (did fly to Germany and back, took two blessing to get me on the plane and never got on one again). So my family would probably disagree with me - but I totally agree. Put your money into those little TV's. That way I can watch what I want. And I am short, put my bags up for me. oh yea. And the day I see him cleaning the plane is the day I will fly. hmmmmmm maybe the first year he was getting it off of the ground but not now.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
2/13/2015
$100 Challenge
I have been slow this week keeping up with my end of the bargain. I promised once items were dropped off that I would get them online within 24 hours, well, broke my end of the deal. But today I spent 3 1/2 hours getting everything updated, pictures taken, and online. I have over 10 items and two of them are antique sewing machines. This is exciting. I hope the selling goes fast.
*********
Yahoo - today I sold my first item. $40 but with the sale price I get only $8. So that sent me to my next project that I should have had more established - accounting. All transactions are done in cash so I decided to get a letter size file box with envelopes in it. In that envelope will go the cash and the receipt with the amount sold and what is owed the client and what is owed Kiva. I will also need an envelope with change in it since most people pay in 20s.
*******
another Yahoo - I sold another great item. Well money is not in hand yet but she is mailing it to me and will pick the item up when she comes to Oregon next month. We will see if I get stung.
Another thought of the business. How do I keep these items at the top of the lst without recreating whole new listings. Craigslist has made it very difficult to easily keep it at the top of the list.
The weekend is coming up so I need to do something to get it out in the public more easily.
**************
Researched today other avenues to post the ads. Came up with a whole list. About 7 so I will be exploring those ideas.
********************
Found some new avenues to sell the goods. Unfortunately it takes a long time to get them on. Is my time really worth it? One of my favorite pourtlandfreeclassifieds. As I search out these other web pages I realize these are entrepreneurs who think they can do better or fill in some sort of a gap for selling items online.
What I have learned this week:
I loved the story of Phil Romano but one thing has really stuck out in my mind in all of the entrepreneurs we have learned about, at least the ones that have done massive good with their money in the end. They seem to have some sort of an awakening where they get sick and then realize money is not everything and now they go out and try to do good with their money.
Basically Phil has started a lot of restaurants including the one I love Fuddruckers. H says to be different and have a point different and that is what he did with Fuddruckers. He has the butcher right on sight and makes homemade buns. No wonder they are so good. I also like his advice on service and customers. Service and a need prompts good business. Don't think about making profit but pleasing the customer. Fear is a great motivator. If it does not feel good to him then it won't feel good to the customer.
Marketing Overview
I learned a lot about marketing and research and development. I had no idea there was so much to it.
Some key things to remember
Keep up with the market, always be developing something new then test it out
Give what the consumer needs or wants
Define your target market and their buying habits
My very first sewing machine was a Singer. My mother talked me into buying it and it was a piece of crap. Years later I bought a different brand and loved it, then it eventually wore out. When I went and bought a new one a couple of years ago the salesman talked me into a Singer saying they were new and improved and some new CEO was bringing it back to life. His mother had one many years before and he grew up with a love for the name. blah blah blah. Guess what. A piece of crap. So they did not learn from their mistakes.
This weeks lesson has made me hungry for hamburgers and makes me want to sew. haha
I have been slow this week keeping up with my end of the bargain. I promised once items were dropped off that I would get them online within 24 hours, well, broke my end of the deal. But today I spent 3 1/2 hours getting everything updated, pictures taken, and online. I have over 10 items and two of them are antique sewing machines. This is exciting. I hope the selling goes fast.
*********
Yahoo - today I sold my first item. $40 but with the sale price I get only $8. So that sent me to my next project that I should have had more established - accounting. All transactions are done in cash so I decided to get a letter size file box with envelopes in it. In that envelope will go the cash and the receipt with the amount sold and what is owed the client and what is owed Kiva. I will also need an envelope with change in it since most people pay in 20s.
*******
another Yahoo - I sold another great item. Well money is not in hand yet but she is mailing it to me and will pick the item up when she comes to Oregon next month. We will see if I get stung.
Another thought of the business. How do I keep these items at the top of the lst without recreating whole new listings. Craigslist has made it very difficult to easily keep it at the top of the list.
The weekend is coming up so I need to do something to get it out in the public more easily.
**************
Researched today other avenues to post the ads. Came up with a whole list. About 7 so I will be exploring those ideas.
********************
Found some new avenues to sell the goods. Unfortunately it takes a long time to get them on. Is my time really worth it? One of my favorite pourtlandfreeclassifieds. As I search out these other web pages I realize these are entrepreneurs who think they can do better or fill in some sort of a gap for selling items online.
What I have learned this week:
I loved the story of Phil Romano but one thing has really stuck out in my mind in all of the entrepreneurs we have learned about, at least the ones that have done massive good with their money in the end. They seem to have some sort of an awakening where they get sick and then realize money is not everything and now they go out and try to do good with their money.
Basically Phil has started a lot of restaurants including the one I love Fuddruckers. H says to be different and have a point different and that is what he did with Fuddruckers. He has the butcher right on sight and makes homemade buns. No wonder they are so good. I also like his advice on service and customers. Service and a need prompts good business. Don't think about making profit but pleasing the customer. Fear is a great motivator. If it does not feel good to him then it won't feel good to the customer.
Marketing Overview
I learned a lot about marketing and research and development. I had no idea there was so much to it.
Some key things to remember
Keep up with the market, always be developing something new then test it out
Give what the consumer needs or wants
Define your target market and their buying habits
My very first sewing machine was a Singer. My mother talked me into buying it and it was a piece of crap. Years later I bought a different brand and loved it, then it eventually wore out. When I went and bought a new one a couple of years ago the salesman talked me into a Singer saying they were new and improved and some new CEO was bringing it back to life. His mother had one many years before and he grew up with a love for the name. blah blah blah. Guess what. A piece of crap. So they did not learn from their mistakes.
This weeks lesson has made me hungry for hamburgers and makes me want to sew. haha
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
2/4/2015
De Klutter De House - is my $100 challenge business. So far so good. I have written a business plan which is included in my last post. The great thing, no start up costs. Nothing to lose, except maybe the extra points in class if I don't sell the most.
I have two items sitting in my house already. Two antique sewing machines. I will be getting them online tomorrow. A brother approached me at church and wants me to sell his metal detector but he only wants me to take 10%. I told him I have a special of 20% for the first item. We will see what happens. My daughter has a piano and a dirt bike to be sold. That one will be a little tricky because I will have to stop my homework and meet people at her house. Only for her will I allow the item to be at another home. For everyone else it has to be in my home. I cannot be running all over town showing goods to people.
Some of my early goals is to have may camera ready - done ---- and a permanent area where I can set up the items and not have to move them. Well, was done, but don't like where I put the table at so I will be moving it again.
I am excited to make my first sell. I just wish I was not so busy at school this term. I would like to have more time to develop the idea and sell as many items as I can get my hands on.
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK
This week has been on budgeting and money. I have a husband who is a CPA and understands all this stuff BUT who does the books at home. ME - Oh he took them over a few times and got us all screwed up and in dept. BUT he does have me on a spreadsheet system rather than a checkbook register. I have been on that system for so long I don't know what it would be like to have a check book register. So all this learning of how to budget does not really come home. haha
In the budget process you need to set goals, evaluate and choose options, identify budget impacts, and coordinate departmental budgets.
Words of advice: Interpret numbers with care
Types of Budgets are Operating budgets (day to day), Capital budgets (long term investments), Cash budgets (cash balance of an organization)
Traditional budget ---- a budget that covers a one year period and presents forecasts that do not change during the life of the budget cycle.
Kaizen Budget ---- (I should have understood this 150 words better before taking the test dang I understood it about 50 words) When you need to reduce costs, it is built into the budget in incremental basis.
I like to do basic budgeting like I do for the Meadows HOA swim pool and swim team but this stuff is over my head and boring so if I open up a business I'm enlisting my husband to do the work!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Elder Hales story about buying his wife a dress then a coat. Well, the lack of buying it. I think her and I would be best friends. My husband thinks I should get a new computer screen because it is small, but why, it works perfectly well. When it breaks then I will buy a new screen. I do have to say that I am so tired of cords so I did splurge this week and bought a wireless mouse and keyboard. It was really tough for me because the old board mostly worked. It only had two sticky keys. BUT I had dumped my papers on the floor one last time because I decided to move the keyboard and the cord knocked stuff off of the desk. So this week, I broke my rule and replaced something before it was totally broken. Of course I did have a $10 off coupon.
I have two items sitting in my house already. Two antique sewing machines. I will be getting them online tomorrow. A brother approached me at church and wants me to sell his metal detector but he only wants me to take 10%. I told him I have a special of 20% for the first item. We will see what happens. My daughter has a piano and a dirt bike to be sold. That one will be a little tricky because I will have to stop my homework and meet people at her house. Only for her will I allow the item to be at another home. For everyone else it has to be in my home. I cannot be running all over town showing goods to people.
Some of my early goals is to have may camera ready - done ---- and a permanent area where I can set up the items and not have to move them. Well, was done, but don't like where I put the table at so I will be moving it again.
I am excited to make my first sell. I just wish I was not so busy at school this term. I would like to have more time to develop the idea and sell as many items as I can get my hands on.
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK
This week has been on budgeting and money. I have a husband who is a CPA and understands all this stuff BUT who does the books at home. ME - Oh he took them over a few times and got us all screwed up and in dept. BUT he does have me on a spreadsheet system rather than a checkbook register. I have been on that system for so long I don't know what it would be like to have a check book register. So all this learning of how to budget does not really come home. haha
In the budget process you need to set goals, evaluate and choose options, identify budget impacts, and coordinate departmental budgets.
Words of advice: Interpret numbers with care
Types of Budgets are Operating budgets (day to day), Capital budgets (long term investments), Cash budgets (cash balance of an organization)
Traditional budget ---- a budget that covers a one year period and presents forecasts that do not change during the life of the budget cycle.
Kaizen Budget ---- (I should have understood this 150 words better before taking the test dang I understood it about 50 words) When you need to reduce costs, it is built into the budget in incremental basis.
I like to do basic budgeting like I do for the Meadows HOA swim pool and swim team but this stuff is over my head and boring so if I open up a business I'm enlisting my husband to do the work!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Elder Hales story about buying his wife a dress then a coat. Well, the lack of buying it. I think her and I would be best friends. My husband thinks I should get a new computer screen because it is small, but why, it works perfectly well. When it breaks then I will buy a new screen. I do have to say that I am so tired of cords so I did splurge this week and bought a wireless mouse and keyboard. It was really tough for me because the old board mostly worked. It only had two sticky keys. BUT I had dumped my papers on the floor one last time because I decided to move the keyboard and the cord knocked stuff off of the desk. So this week, I broke my rule and replaced something before it was totally broken. Of course I did have a $10 off coupon.
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