Week 11: Family Business

Week 11 Journal Update

Running a family business comes with it's own challenges that must be dealt with appropriately.  After work is done for the day you may have to see those with whom you work.  To make a family business run effectively you must create an equitable business plan.  All parties involved in the business need to contribute to the plan and the plan should outline at a minimum the roles of each family member, decision processes, and pay.  

One thing I learned from this week's lessons was that a family's relationship structure should not always extend to the business structure.  Many families will go into business together and the father automatically assumes the role of CEO because he is the "CEO" of the family.  If the father is in fact the CEO he should be so by coincidence, not because he is the father of the family.

There may come a time when a family member must be terminated from the business.  How will your thanksgiving dinners be after that member of the family is fired by you?  If you use your values as a guide this can be done effectively and can be rewarding as well.  

$100 Challenge Update

Well I have finished my final project and it is up and running.  We should start seeing some results in a few days, but I expect I will meet my goal with only $30 left to obtain.  I have enjoyed the project immensely and have learned a great deal.  Going into the project I had higher hopes, but I have gained some great experience.  A lot of time and effort went into the projects including the actual build and documentation of each one.  I was expecting more sustained results; however revenue from marketing appears to flatline after a week of posting each project.

Week 10 Entrepreneur Journal Update

Week 10: Fanchising

This week was all about franchises.  I have looked at it mostly from the perspective of a franchisee and not the franchiser; however I have learned a great deal about both.  When a business becomes successful enough to branch out and sell that model to others they franchise.  To get to this point a company will create systems and procedures that are run so well that it can nearly run itself (hypothetically speaking).  At this point a company will consider selling it's model/system to franchisees.  The benefits of owning a franchise include lower risk, much quicker returns on your investment, lower costs associated with product supplies, marketing is taken care of, and having a well known company.  Of course there is a list of cons including not being able to create something new, following an established system, fees associated with owning the franchise, and loads of legal paperwork.

In my own opinion the pros far outweigh the cons.  Find something you are passionate about, and research what might work in your area.  There are loads of franchises to choose from.  Check out franchise.com, and entrepreneur.com/franchises/ for a list of potential franchises to buy.

$100 Challenge Update

This week I made great progress on finishing my last project for the assignment.  I don't see any problems with having it finished next week which will give me a week to pick up some advertising fees for my marketing.  I'm confident I will produce enough with this final project to make at least $100 for my Kiva recipient.  Amazon paid me $70 this week for the sales generated from my affiliate links over the last month so I will only need to bring in $30 more.

Week 9 Update

This week my biggest takeaway was from my "interview with an entrepreneur" project.  I learned a great deal from my interviewee that would have taken me months to find out on my own.  Some of my key take-aways was the importance of knowing your customer.  When you know your customer you can cater your business to meet their needs and hit that target every time.  Guess work is ineffective and costly.

This weeks lesson topic was production, operation, and location.  I took more from production and operations than I did from location so I will share what I have gained from those.  In your own company it's important to have some formal processes to streamline your business.  This is the whole idea of franchises (which we will get into next week, I know I'm excited too).  Without order to how the business is run it can be chaotic, confusing, slow, and costly.  This will require some time upfront to formally create those processes, but the work will pay back big time!  This is especially true when you have employees who will then have some way of learning how to do a particular task step by step, and then be able to do that every time.

$100 Challenge Update

It seems my last project "the solar cell phone charger" has already flatlined.  I haven't seen much activity in a few days, and this week in total I've earned only a few dollars.  I've felt a greater sense of urgency to finish the "survival crossbow" as I feel this will bring in more traffic at the onset, and throughout it's lifetime.  I've been working hard to get it done, and expect to have it finished next week.  This has to be a good one as the semester is coming to a close within a few weeks.  I hope to hit my target of $100, but if not I have learned a lot during this project, and had great fun as well.  I will make sure to take extra steps to ensure the success of this final project including marketing through social media like pinterest, facebook, and Youtube.  Doing this just might be the push I need before the semester ends.

Week 8 Journal Update

Who do you hire for your company and what do you look for?  Most people will tell you to look for proven teams, with proven technology, and traction.  That is the most experience, and education you can find.  I don't think this is true.  I think the best people you can find for your business are those people who have a passion for the business.  If you're in the surfing business, hire surfers.  Do you own a Subaru dealership?  Hire salesman who eat, drink, and breathe Subaru!  These are the kinds of people who have passion, are self driven, and will treat your business like a way of life, not a job.  These are the kinds of people you want to find for your company.  After you've found people like this, hold on to them, and take care of them.  They will be your company's greatest asset.

I don't think I can stress this enough.  You need to surround yourself with great people who are infected with this kind of passion.  This needs to be the first step in moving forward with your company.  If you don't have the right people on the bus (the company), and in the right seats (positions) you will always struggle to drive the bus in the right direction.  Many leaders begin their journey with great vision first, and seek the right help second.  This is backwards and will lead to struggle.  First who, then what.

$100 Challenge Update

It's been a week since releasing the "Solar Panel Phone Charger" diy.  Since then I've had 507 clicks, and 41 ordered items.  In total I've made about $20.  Not too bad I'd say.  I've started my next big project this week as well, the homemade crossbow.  I expect this will bring in a great deal more because not many have done this.  I need to focus on great content that sets me apart.  I'm going to do this by building a powerful bow (100 lbs. or more) with an exceptional trigger and safety system.  I'm also going to focus on appearance as this will likely be a big driver for traffic.

Week 7 Entrepreneur Journal Update

Management and Leaderships

This week I learned a great deal about the difference between managers and Leaders.  But, they are the same thing you say.  Not so.  If you have heard the story of the shepherd and the sheep herder you may know where I'm going with this.  You may know plenty of managers, they may even be great at their jobs, but they will only ever be just a manager.  A leader inspires and is loved by their subordinates.  Just like the sheepherder who knows his flock, a leader takes time to understand his subordinates.  A managers objectives are centered on themselves and the company, a leader is focused on the company as well but meets that end by focusing on the people.

$100 Challenge Update

This week I was able to finish one of my projects I had set out to do.  I made the solar cell phone charger and wrote up a how-to article on it last night.  It's been up for 24 hours and it has seen 1,664 (scratch that, make it 1,674 now) visitors, and has received 87 favorites by it's viewers.  It has 24 affiliate links incorporated into the instructions so I'm hoping it performs well.  The link stats won't show up for another day or two so we shall soon see how it is performing.  I posted it to four groups on facebook, and pinned it to pinterest.  I could take it a step further by making a youtube video for further marketing efforts.  Time will tell if this will prove to be a great performer.  I expect it will earn a little at first, but will eventually flat line after the hype dies down.

Week 6 Entrepreneur Journal Update

Customer Focus

This week was all about customer focus.  Smart business is good business.  Smart business means doing less for more.  Keeping customers is far easier than finding new ones, and the financial rewards are up to five times greater.  To do this you must know who your customers are and target those customers according to what they want.  As you hit this target consistently you will retain more and more of your customers and profits will continue to rise.  Finding out your customers wants can be as simple as asking them.  "What is it we can do better?"  "How much would you pay for this product or this service?"  "Why did we lose your business?"  Find out what it is your customers want, and hit that target.

$100 Challenge

This week I purchased materials for the portable cell phone charger which I hope to be getting next week.  I have written up instructions and just need to get the materials to build it.  I am nearly finished with another project that has taken some time, "Self Watering Bottle Planter."  The instructions are written, it has been built, and nearly all the pictures are up.  I started this one three weeks ago, and just need to wait for the plant to grow.  It sprouted a couple of days ago so I will give it another couple of weeks to finish up.  Next week I also plan on starting "How to Build a Survival Crossbow."  I'm expecting this will be a big one and am excited to get started on it.

Week 5 update

It's week 5, and it was a rough one for me.  I'm being faced with the possibility of losing my job, and we are in the process of closing on a home.  I know, great combination right!  This might just be the catalyst I need to launch my own startup; who knows, this could be a good thing!  Ok, enough about me.  This week I learned a ton about marketing.

One of the most important things we can do in marketing is first obtain the customer, but then hold on to them.  It's said that it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep one.  Having a loyal customer base will be one of the most important things in business because it is more of a reliable source of sales/income.

Building a loyal customer base requires relationship marketing.  It is similar to building a long term relationship.  First you get them interested.  You do this by branding towards your target market and standing out from the competition.  Once you acquire a customer you can build on the relationship by getting to know them better and by building a relationship of trust.  You can get to know them by finding more about what they are looking for, and what is important to them.  This could be as simple as friendly service, or something unique like knowing specifically what they want how they want it and by whom.  It all depends on the customer.  You build a relationship of trust by consistently meeting their needs.  As you do this they will feel more comfortable with your business, and will be loyal to the customer business relationship.  They will be more willing to spend more simply because they trust and enjoy your business.

$100 Challenge Update

This week I made $42 in advertising fees after releasing "Light Box Photo Studio."  It's a how-to instructable showing you how to make a small photo studio for less then $20.  It contains only three affiliate links, but seems to be doing alright.  It has already earned more than 200% the cost of the project.  I'm sure it will flatline, but it will continue to produce results even if it is small.  That's the joy of affiliate marketing.  If you can create rich content, it will work for you 24/7 with only a small amount of effort.  So far I'm really enjoying it.

With the money I'm going to use some of that to fund other projects.  March will be a big month for production and milking the cow as everything I bring in after a certain point will go towards my KIVA recipient.