MY EXPERIENCE WITH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The greatest experience I have
had with entrepreneurship was during High School. I was a member of the National
FFA Organization and every year I showed a steer in the county fair. This was a
school project that required me to
purchase an animal, raise it, maintain it and sell it for a profit at the end
of the county fair.
I had to purchase the animal with
my own money (startup costs) and I had to pay for feed, grooming, vaccines, etc.
(operational expenses). I had to report to “work” everyday as the animal needed
to be fed, watered, walked and have his stall cleaned. Prior to the start of fair,
I had to send letters to potential buyers (the customer/consumer) in hopes that
they would come to the fair and bid on my steer. I had to provide the potential
buyer with information about me (the company) and my animal (the product). After
the fair was over and my steer sold, I had to prepare a record book that
tracked my expenditures for the period of the project (6-8 months). I would
then have to save my earnings to do the project again the following school
year.
I enrolled in Principles of
Entrepreneurship because I needed an elective for graduation. When I enrolled,
I was at the point where I was tired of taking electives that were going to be
of no real use to me later on down the road and essentially waste my money on
tuition. I ended up with ENT 3003 because I thought it would be beneficial to
me in the upcoming years. I have many entrepreneurs in my family, some have
been successful, and some have not. My dad, an electrical contractor, has owned
and operated his electrical business for the past 25 years and before that it
was ran by my grandfather. Because of my dad, I always wanted to have my own business
and be my own boss. I have always dreamed of opening a daycare for dogs (this
is very popular in my area fortunately) and my husband would like to start up
his own mobile marine business (his is more realistic at this point).
By the end of the semester I hope
to have learned the overall principles of entrepreneurship and the best way to
start up and maintain a successful business – what to do and what not to do. I would
also like to be able to prepare a professional and attainable business plan for
my husband’s company, as we have already taken steps to start up the company.
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading through your entrepreneurship adventures in high-school. I am pretty sure that having to endure so many responsibilities as a teenager has left a positive mark in your abilities to run your own business. Besides the discipline and work ethic, entrepreneurship is mostly about passion and problem-solving. If you have a dream big enough, consider if it is worth taking a (calculated) risk and giving it a shot. I am sure you will learn very useful concepts in this class, but in the end the most important part of being an entrepreneur is inside you and, in my opinion, you will not learn that in class.