What it Means to Be an Entrepreneur

Melodie Morgan

Jan 23, 2016

President Hinckley told students at BYU – Idaho to do their best. We are a blessed people and we need to do our best.

What it Means to Be an Entrepreneur

In the Special Report Global Heroes we learn what it means to be an Entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial ideas are mainstream. Being an entrepreneur means being able to offer an innovative solution to a problem. There are several myths about entrepreneurs. Some include: being an outcast – Entrepreneurs actually need to network socially to succeed. Another is being young. Many entrepreneurs started when they were older. One is that you need venture capital funding, but many can start off with angel investors. One is that you need a new product, but in fact old ideas can be great businesses too. Both managers and entrepreneurs can make rational decisions, but entrepreneurs are much more capable of making risky decisions. Some believe an entrepreneur cannot flourish in a big company, but owner entrepreneurs are the ones that break into the big markets. Today opportunities are more numerous for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can be successful in good and bad markets especially now with the computer, phone, and internet. It is easier to be an entrepreneur in America because it is deeply rooted in our history. Some threats to entrepreneurism include legal systems, patent trolls, tax laws. India and China have become the second and third most entrepreneurial countries in the world following the US which is in the lead.

Build the Kingdom of God

Tom Monaghan was the founder of Domino’s Pizza. Originally the pizza shop was named Dominicks but it changed to Domino’s and became very successful owning a large percent of the pizza market. At one Domino’s Pizza had 54% of all the pizza sales in the US. Tom grew up in an orphanage and as he became successful he became obsessed with owning many things. He wanted more than the next guy. Then he remembered what it was like in the orphanage. He was happy without anything. After reading “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis, he felt guilt in having too much pride. He felt as though he was too obsessed with impressing people. He decided to change. Tom started Generous Giving, Inc. Tom decided to focus on giving to Catholic higher education and founded Ava Maria University. Now Tom focuses on the eternal picture and uses money to build the kingdom of God. Making money can be a blessing or a curse. It is important to use money to further the work of God.  

Business Advice

Scott Kriens teaches that we cannot make an assumption that we will always be smarter than the next guy. We can start working on problems first by recognizing the opportunities when they come.

Marissa Mayer says that ideas come from everywhere. She works for Google. She says that everyone who works there are expected to come up with ideas. It can come from wanting to solve a problem, idea acquisition, or from employees. Set up a system where people can contribute ideas and the best ideas will rise to the top.

Guy Kawasaki says that business models should be specific (a specific customer), simple (a simple model – unique model is a bad idea), make it, sell it, collect the money is a business model, ASK WOMEN, men want to create a company to kill another company.

Alexander Osterwalder says a business model is different for everyone.

Startup Nation says to 1) Use a descriptive name based on core strengths, a clear, compelling, creative name. 2) Do NOT base the company name on a product or service like CompUSA or RadioShack (products can change over time). 3) Don’t base your name on where you live. 4) Don’t use acronyms for the name. 5) Don’t use your last name.

In business we need to look have diverse groups that can brainstorm innovative ideas. From these ideas pool together solutions.

$100 Challenge Project

$100 Challenge Project. I have decided on making and selling the 11 inch cookies for $12 each. The next step will be to order some boxes for delivery and make a sample one that I can take a photo of and create a flyer sign-up sheet. I will give the flyer to my husband to bring to work and to my son to bring to school. They money will have to be paid before I buy ingredients.