Invest in time...

I found a lot of useful insights in this week’s readings and videos!  I learned about GEMs that will help my business to grow.  It stands for:

G:ather – get the raw materials, resources, equipment, and personnel together

E:nhance – add value to the resources

M:arket – market what we have gathered and enhanced

In the video The Lean Start Up, I found these two thoughts that really stuck with me.

“Startups are human institutions designed to create something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”

“Within every bad idea, there is a kernel of a good idea.  Success is that pivot point when you can keep one foot in the old and pivot the other in a new direction.”

We don’t need to be discouraged by failure, because it is only a springboard to future success.

I spent some time on the blog “Both Sides of the Table”, and they had just recently launched an app called MyTime.  It sounds like an interesting concept.  It allows the app user to schedule appointments with local businesses.  This is great because a potential customer does not have to for the businesses formal hours to call in and try to set up an appointment.  Rather, they can set it up right when they are thinking about it, even if it is after typical business hours.

On Seth Godin’s Blog, his post “Show me the State (of the Art)” was my favorite Entrepreneur blog post that I have read yet.  It posed the following question: why are we in such a hurry to gather all of the information and move on?  We live in a society that is so rushed that we basically just want the quick summary.  But once we have gathered the information, what exactly are we moving on to?  We really should savor each of our experiences.  We each have a fixed amount of time, and it should be wisely invested!  He suggests that we should invest in knowing the summary of what 23 people have said, and that we should commit to living, breathing and learning from one of these people.  I completely agree, and this is what I would consider a mentor.  Just like in the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad that I read earlier this semester.  His friend’s father became his “father” by mentoring him.  He completely lived what he learned from this man!

For the $100 challenge this week, I have to admit that preparing a business plan has been VERY overwhelming to me!  While I felt that the material was very helpful in giving me an outline to follow, and the HMM that detailed each of the key areas, I still felt like this was too big of an assignment.  Especially since it was expected for two business plans.  The businesses that I am creating for both my $100 challenge and my big idea are both driven by convenience and assignment rather than passion, and that makes it much more difficult for me to get into the details – I think!  Am I overcomplicating it?  Probably!