Week 7

Halfway through the course. It has been a fun journey thus far. I have enjoyed the readings and activities. It is nice to use my brain once in awhile...

This week for my $100 Challenge, I ordered my bottles and more vanilla beans. I will get the labels next week and decide on a design for my name. Since this is a short run batch of vanilla, each bottle will be 2 oz and I will sell a total of 36 bottles. Price is yet to be determined.

This week I watched a few videos. Here are the highlights:

Tony Hsieh - Zappos

• Pays employees to quit in the first five weeks to protect company culture
• Says Culture is Priority number one
• Your brand is what customers say about you
• Your brand is a lagging indicator of the culture

Carly Fiorina - formally of Hewlett Packard

• Ask the question, hear the answer
• Every-time a customer tells us something is wrong, we should view that as an opportunity

Guy Kawasaki

• It's not about being rich, it's about changing the world

We also studied customer service functions.
The 3 R's

• Retention
• Related Sales
• Referrals

The cost to attract new customers is 5 times more than the cost of retaining customers.
Relations with your customers grow more profitable over time with customer loyalty and retention.

5 generic influence of customer satisfaction:

• Dependability - will we do what we say
• Responsiveness - how quickly do we respond to problems
• Authority - can we act to fix a problem or make a change
• Empathy - do we listen to what our customer wants as opposed to giving the customer what we think they need. We need to discard our ego and listen
• Tangible Evidence - is there evidence of a service being complete

Overall, this was a great week. I love customer service. There is nothing more satisfying in a business setting than seeing a happy customer walk out the door and return for more business...

Week 6

Another week down. This week I have been getting increasingly more ill as the week has progressed. I hope my thoughts are at least coherent to some extent...

This week for my $100 Challenge, I did my elevator pitch. I think it turned out well... It was interesting to listen to other classmates elevator pitches. They all have unique ideas, some of which could have viable, long term business application. I look forward to finishing my purchases for my $100 Challenge and selling the product around my town.

This week I finished reading Mastery by George Leonard. It is a great book about (and this is from the back cover) the process of mastery that will enable you to vault over the pitfalls of the quick fix to attain a higher level of excellence and a deeper sense of satisfaction. After reading this book, I found this assertion to be true.

On of my favorite quotes from the book, "Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water.  After enlightenment chop wood, carry water." Even the little things still need to be done once we are a master...

Watched a great video about Phil Ramano, founder of Ramano's Macaroni Grill. He said two things I liked; "Servicing the need is what really prompts a good business, don't think about the profit" and "Don't do it for the money, money is the applause." We can look at both statements and be sarcastic by saying isn't that what a business does is service the need and only rich people say money is the applause but that wouldn't be true. When we work, we really need to be doing it for something other than money or else we run the risk of loosing our drive. No job, which is done purely for the money, will be completed to the best of our abilities. We need to be in the mind set of performing a service to our customers.

Regarding marketing which we touched on this week. There was a great quote by Jack Welch of GE fame. He said, "Marketing isn't someones responsibility, it's everyone's responsibility." So true. We are all marketers of the respective businesses we work in.

Well, off to go rest my sick body. I will be better next week.

Week 5

Yeah! A snow week. We were gifted with snow this week. When snow hits Portland, everything seems to come to a standstill. It takes awhile for everyone to remember how to drive in the snow. I love it.

Here are the highlights form this week in class:

Randy Komisar-
His quote of, "The hardest issue in life is not choosing between right and wrong, but choosing between two right answers." This is so true. Many times in life we have many good choices in front of us. Each of them presents many good aspects. For some, it could be which career to choose, for others which school to choose.
To help in answering these questions, Mr. Komisar asks two questions; first, What is your passion? you can simplify your passion by picking a direction you would like to go and sticking to it. The second question is, What is the ultimate thing you are going to do with your life?

How you makes these decisions occurs by focusing on what is directly in front of you and not necessarily what is in the future and does that decision sync up with your passion??? Seems easy, huh? Well if we could all do it, we would be doing something different...

David Friedberg-
He says, "The reason for having a start-up should not be for the financial rewards, but for the value."

Mr. Friedberg also spoke about misalignment. Misalignment occurs when our personal ambitions are not in line with the company you are working for. A great question to ask yourself when you are looking for new employment or at your current job.

For my $100 Challenge I was tasked with getting funding or an investment in my business. My lovely wife offered to give me the start-up money. I don't know what I will have to repay her with, but I'm sure the tax will be high.

It will be interesting to write out my elevator pitch for next week. How to sell the product in 45 seconds or less...

Something I learned this week that I will do. Jeff Sandefer suggested that we write a letter of gratitude to someone we haven't thanked and then read that letter out loud to them at the next chance.
I hope I will be able to read it without any emotions... Who am I kidding. Tears will come before I ever speak the first words.

Have a great week. Until next time.

Week 4

This week in the life of school wasn't too bad. It still brought about it's fair share of work and new understanding of principles.

Thoughts for the week:

Watched a few videos one about Jeff Hawkins. Jeff Hawkins talked about right choices. He stated that, "Any company in the world could be the largest company in the world, if they made one decision per day better that their competitor. Better decisions."

So in essence, we can make great changes in our own lives if we make just one decision per day better than the day before...

Another video featured Tom Kelley speaking. He quoted Francis Ford Coppola who said, "Do what you love. You'll be better at it." After thinking about this statement, it does make sense, but is not always realistic. What if doing what I love is not something I could be paid for? Will settling make me happy? Just a thought... Do we have to be happy in what we do, or is the work, which falls under service to our family by providing for them, enough to carry you through.

Tom Kelley also posed some questions he viewed at a talk by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. Jim Collins asks, "What are you good at?", What are you born to do? and "What will people pay you to do?"
Another factor is, "Who is on the bus with you?"

The key question here is, "What are you born to do?" Answering this will be the cause of much self searching. Once you can figure this out, a job or industry can be better researched to fill that need...

I worked on my business plan for the $100 Challenge this week. Since the project will only last the semester, the business plan had to be adjusted to fit the parameter. My vanilla is currently in extracting phase, I am starting another batch next week (in case demand is high) I hope to price the 4 oz. bottles at between $10 to $15 or according to demand.

I also wrote a bare bones business plan for my "Big Idea" company. Maybe one day this could be a reality. The plan needs a lot more work, but is doable.

Books I'm reading:
E-Myth
Mastery by George Leonard
Return by Robert D. Hales

Week 3

Another challenging week of managing my ever limited time. I am finding that plowing through all of this home work can be a daunting task. I am happy to say that I couldn't do this without the help of my Heavenly Father.

This week I watched a short video about Thomas Monaghan, the founder of Dominoes Pizza. What an inspirational story. He desire to give back what he has earned, to the point of taking a vow of poverty and living in a dorm room shows his amazing convictions. It seems he has found a way to make his gifts count here on earth.

In my B-283 class, I have been brewing my organic vanilla to sell for my $100 challenge. I have some early  buyers already lined up. I just hope I have enough product to match the demand. If it sells too quickly, I may have to raise the price. I also have almost finalized my "big idea". I need to talk with a few people to research the feasibility of being able to make it a reality.

Magdalena Yesil was very interesting to read about. Her value of learning and being able to adapt to each company she either developed or worked at was amazing. Ms. Yesil seems to embody the spirit of entrepreneurship to a tee. She sounds like an exciting person to be around and to work with.

In B-183 we watched a Stanford video regarding ethics. I posted this, " My fist lesson on business ethics/integrity was as a fourteen year old working for a painter over the summer. I lived in Kansas at the time and summer in Kansas equals hot. The painter asked me to scrape one side of the house while he went and checked on a bid he had placed. He gave me the parameters with which to work and said he would be back in a few hours. Well he left, I scraped paint on the side of the house for awhile (a really fun job if you have done it before)  and then laid down in the shade. I woke up to his car turning into the driveway and hurriedly went back to work. He came and assessed my progress. He asked what if I had been working the whole time, I lied and said yes. He then called my bluff and said that if I ever lied to him again, I would be fired (and rightfully so). In any event, that lesson has been seared into my soul, don't lie, always tell the truth and do your best. I vowed to give my best effort, even for the most menial task. When we are beyond reproach in the way we work for others, or in a business we create, it raises the bar for those around us. As Frank Levinson said, "With good ethics you can attract the best people." <==== I really like that quote...

While we are learning a lot in these classes, I can't help but be a little sad about the pump and dump nature of school. We fly through these weeks so quickly I feel like I barely retain any real valuable knowledge until the next week rolls around. I know that is the nature of school, but it is frustrating non the less.

Week 2

This week was very interesting. My weekend (plus Monday) was filled with travel to my first grandchild's blessing. Portland to Rexburg with 3 kids in the car equals a controlled, chaotic, environment. Around 27 hours of driving and only 2 hours of fighting. I call that a successful car trip. It really cut into my study time, but my spouse (also in school) drove to Rexburg so I could read ahead and get a jump start on planning the next week.

I have not always liked to read blogs because I feel that only scratch the surface of an issue or problem. Rarely, if at all, does a blogger delve deep into solving a problem posed in a blog, they just post and wait. It can be frustrating to read blogs at times because.

For my B-283 class we have been given the assignment called the "$100 Challenge". I think this will be an exciting project. I have my idea already creating and in process. I only hope it will be ready to sell before the end date. My product is making organic vanilla extract. I have been dabbling in making vanilla extract for about 2 years. It requires a little bit of prep time to make the vanilla, but once complete, homemade vanilla extract is so much more flavorful than store bought, bulk manufactured vanilla extract. I purchased a web site when I first got the idea and have been working out price points by researching other sites that make boutique vanilla extract. I have also been researching the rules and regulations regarding the production of vanilla extract and formatting a system with how to comply with these rules.

I am really excited to see this through. I pray that this venture is successful so that I can donate to my Kiva person and help them out as much as possible.

In my B-183 class we had the opportunity to write out our list of 50 things to do before we die or a bucket list. It was great to go over some of the items I have finished on my bucket list and to start a completely new list. Many things have changed since I first wrote my list when I was 20. I look forward to completing this list with my wife.

I really enjoying reading "What Is Your Calling in Life?"  by Jeffery A. Thompson. I found this article compelled me to take an introspective look at my life and discover or rediscover what my calling in life is. I really enjoyed this statement regarding discovering your calling, Thompson states, "Our strongest gifts tend to appear early in life, so it might help if you think back on your childhood and about how and what you played. Were you the kid that always got the neighborhood baseball game going? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for organizing others into collective action. Were you a natural storyteller? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for presenting ideas in a compelling and dramatic way. Were you the person who other kids always sought out for sympathy and acceptance? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for listening and discerning others’ emotions. Other types of gifts that you may notice in yourself include the ability to praise others effectively, to identify and encourage others’ talents, to organize information in a concise manner, and to see a problem from multiple angles.

These sorts of gifts may not suggest a particular career path to you, and that may seem like a disadvantage. I challenge you to try thinking differently. The gifts I have just listed have market value. They are also highly portable. You might express those gifts in many professions or organizations. Consequently, finding your calling in life may not be a matter of finding the one right job. Instead, it may be that your calling is to bring your unique spiritual gifts to whatever position the Lord blesses you with."

What a profound statement. I had never thought about searching my childhood to find out what I might be good at, but as I thought about this statement, I could see many of the things I am good at now visible when I was a child. I have just developed and strengthened those talents. I am thankful to be learning again. Even though these classes will stretch me with everything else going on, I will give it my best.

Week 1

My first post for my b183 class. This should be an interesting journey. I hope that I am able to concentrate and figure out what I will need to do to break away from the world of employee to being an entrepreneur... I do understand the purpose of this type of record keeping. It will help me understand the journey I am on and see the ups and downs i encounter along the way. It's like hiking, which I love so much.

Pres. Hinckley's address was cause to reflect. I really appreciated his statement of, "the work of the world is not done by geniuses, but by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way."

Guy Kawasaki presents a great point. If you do what you love, even if the money doesn't follow, you will be doing what you love so it may not matter... Interesting in that so many of us settle and do a job we hate just to provide when in fact we could have more satisfaction in doing what we love...

This week we are getting introduced to the format of our various classes. What is due when, what the workload will be like, can I endure to the end...