Cake Boss

Thinking about the discussion boards has caused me to realize two things.

First, family business may definitely entail drama that wouldn’t arise without the family aspect, but it can also be very rewarding. The first thing that pops in my head when I think of a family business is the show “Cake Boss.” My wife enjoys watching this show for the cakes and I enjoy watching the show to see how the business operates. I have grown very hesitant of the idea of a family business or even working with close friends. I do better and I feel relationships go better if business is not involved. This is my opinion, through the studying this week I learned that there are a lot more family businesses than I realized and it’s not like we constantly hear about family drama due to business activities. I think the key points are 1. Open communication 2. Understanding the difference between business and personal life, and 3. Setting clear expectations from the very beginning.

Second, similar to family businesses, there are many more business opportunities out there than I ever realized. I wish this week and the week on franchising were earlier in the semester because they opened my eyes to the vast world of entrepreneurial opportunities. I still really like the idea of building a business from the ground up, but I think just as neat would be to take a struggling business that already exists and turn it around.

 

Kiva Update

We are starting to wind down on our photography business, we have been going since the very beginning of the semester and have seen some neat opportunities and have learned a lot in the process. As I have mentioned previously my wife just started as an Independent Consultant for LuLaRoe Maxi Skirts. This is something she is passionate about and enjoys doing and I am enjoying the business side of things. We talk about how to best advertise, I have created spreadsheets to track information and inventory, I have spent time reading tax law (boring…) so we can prepare and pay taxes appropriately. We still have the photography going, and it has helped in so many ways that I personally have really appreciated this project.

Owning a Franchise

I remember as a teenager a family in my area talking about possibly owning a McDonald’s in a city close by. At the time I didn’t fully understand the idea of a franchise and up until this past week when I thought of a franchise I mainly thought of fast food places. The world of franchises is much more extensive than I ever realized! I found a few neat business opportunities that seemed like they would be fun and great ways to earn a living. One of my main concerns about owning a franchise was the fact that most every fast food location is open on Sundays, this is something that I do not want and would be a deal breaker. For that reason Chick-fil-a seemed like the only option I was aware of. However there is a whole world of opportunities! Another thing I would want to be able to stick to is not having to go into debt, for me personally this just isn’t an option, so that would mean a lot of saving up before I ever really started looking into a franchise opportunity.

Something else I thought about this week based off insight given by Nicole Donnelly, who is a successful business owner, is the importance of not being afraid. We limit ourselves when we fear and we cannot reach our full potential if we are limited. When it comes down to it what do you really have to lose compared to what you can gain? At the end of the day does it really matter if I may have goofed up in a presentation? I’ll learn and do better next time. Would I rather have not even taken the opportunity to present in the first place?

Business Update

Nice weather is a wonderful thing! We are continuing to get ourselves out there and with the nicer weather more people are open to have photo sessions. In addition to this photography my wife has just started as an independent consultant for LuLaRoe Maxi Skirts. She is incredibly excited and I think the effort we have put into the photography has helped her learn some good lessons as she starts this adventure. We have had to go through the process of getting a business license, which will also help if she decides to continue on with her photography!

You’re Hired!

One main theme this week has been the importance of getting the right people in an organization and getting the wrong people out. It has been neat getting this insight to add to what I have learned previously about the management process. One of the big takeaways for me is the importance is putting more into hiring than just having an interview with the potential candidate. A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to go over an Excel test that a former co-worker has created to help him when he hires financial interns. The main purpose of the test is not to see if the potential intern knows how to do very detailed things within Excel but more so to see if they are able to navigate their way through Excel and troubleshoot. While I enjoyed the Hire Slow Fire Fast article one thing I struggled with is that to me giving up too fast may be even more damaging. There definitely are times when you just need to make the decision, but I was once told that when someone is fired they should know full well that it was coming. The example given in the article almost makes it appear that no real communication or feedback was given in an effort to get Jerry working more effectively. Then again, I can definitely vouch for the fact that in the corporate world it is sometimes much too difficult to get somebody fired when they are wasting company time and money.

Kiva Update

Not much to update this week. I have been sick most all week and my wife is just now getting over being sick so we have tried to relax as much as possible. We will have to double our efforts this upcoming week!