My Entrepreneurship Story

            My experience meeting and interacting with an entrepreneur was a pretty neat one as I was able to see firsthand the ins and outs of what they went through to see their dreams and aspirations become a reality.  I was able to be a part of that since I worked for this small business owner in a consultative capacity. I was tasked with setting up their phone systems along with their network components, printers and computer equipment.  This was an extremely important aspect of their business as they required this to be accomplished correctly and for the least amount of cost without sacrificing reliability.  I stayed on with them and offered periodic technical assistance with any and all issues as they arose.  It was a very edifying and pleasant experience as they are a great group of people with a very diverse skillset.  Being small business owners/entrepreneurs they were conscious of the costs of operating their business.   When the downturn of the economy hit their industry, their reliance on offering title and real estate transaction closing services was a hindrance as they would need to expand their business model to maintain their fledgling title company afloat.  They were able to move and expand their business into offering short sale and REO services to real estate agents who were overwhelmed with properties that they were not able to manage on their own.  With this new found revenue stream, they were able to not only remain in business, they were also able to establish solid industry leads with other realtors, brokers, and portfolio managers who worked for banks all over the country.  This allowed them to open a second office and secure their financial position and to this day, offer great services and a positive experience which is a testament to their tenacity and ability to adapt in the face of change.  They knew they were not going to be able to change the game, so they simply changed their outlook and adopted the necessary attributes to be able to succeed.  That is the most important lesson I learned from this group of individuals.  That and that you have to believe in yourself and in the project even if no one else will. 

The reason I enrolled in ENT3003 was because I wanted to learn the mindset and the mentality of an entrepreneur.  My entire life I can say I have behaved in a fairly measured way and always employed a safe outlook as a constant.  By this I mean that I haven’t really taken a lot of risks, at least not ones that I feel could have yielded me great returns, whether it be in life, school, or career.  I sometimes reflect and think about the different paths I could have taken and if I indeed played it safe because I was a tad bit scared to try something different or get a little or a lot outside of my comfort zone.  One thing about entrepreneurs that I find fascinating is that they are not afraid to lose.  Some lose little, and some lose big.  But even that is not enough to detract them from picking right up and trying again and again.  It’s not unlike gambling in the sense that they are all in when it comes to attempting and trying their darndest to make their dreams become reality.  I would like to incorporate some of that verve, some of that daring to my life and see what occurs.  That is what I hope to get out of this class.