Lesson 11

This week was another great week as the semester is beginning to wind down. We talked about family businesses which is something that is has been a big part of my life. My dad started our family company when I was young, so I have grown up being part of the company. The thing I found most interesting was dealing with family business issues such as succession and who will take the reins as head of the family company when the parent running it steps down, what is expected of each family member in the business, and setting boundaries for when business is discussed and when it is not.  I feel like communication is the key. In dealing with succession, a plan needs to set in place. The long term vision of the company needs to be created stating who will handle which positions and what their responsibilities will be. That way everyone understands what their role will be and you have something that can be referred to and enforced.  Another big problem with a family business is not allowing the business to take over family time and family life. Business boundaries need to be set so everyone knows when it is time to talk business and when it is time to relax and enjoy time with family.  This is something we never did growing up, it was business, business, business all the time and I feel like some of the family connections were lost amongst the midst of focusing on the business. Family businesses are great but some extra precautions need to be taken to avoid tearing the family apart.  

The other thing we focused on this week was purchasing an existing business, which is a very viable option. We read a case study that showed the importance of research and understanding what you want and expect when buying and existing business. It is very important that you have this understanding because if you don’t you risk purchasing a company that is not where you need it to be. We had the opportunity to look at businesses for sale and determine which business we would purchase and I really enjoyed this activity. It allowed me the opportunity to really think about what I want to do in the future and then look at viable options of making that happen.

This week was really great and I learned a lot. As far as the $100 project goes I am just working on my final presentation. I did not make as much money as I would have liked but I was able to meet the goal and I am very grateful for the opportunity. 

Lesson 10

The focus of this week’s material was franchising. Franchising is big business in the United States and across the world. I have visited many franchises but I did not know how much goes into getting a franchise set up. I thought franchising was like a product store for businesses. You choose which one you want, you buy it and you are all set. That is not even close to the way it works. The biggest positive of purchasing a franchise is that you are purchasing a tried and true business most of the time with brand recognition and a solid following. With Franchises the Franchiser has gone through and perfected all of the processes and you do not have to go through the trial and error yourself. Along with the positive comes the negative. There are so many restrictions that come along with owning a franchise. You are limited on the decisions you can make, you are geographically bound unless you purchase more regions, and there are large costs associated. You typically have to pay the franchise fee which is just the rights to use the brand, then you have to purchase all of the fixtures and equipment and on top of that you have to pay yearly fees (typically a percentage of your annual revenue).  I learned that franchises can be a good choice for starting a business but there is a lot involved in getting them going. The biggest is research. You need to understand the market and geographic demand for the franchise you are looking to purchase. You want to make sure that the franchise is a good one and will do what they say they are going to do and are willing to give you the support you need. Just like any other business there is a lot of ground work involved. It is not just an off the shelf product like I thought it takes research and a good plan to make it successful.

For my $100 project there hasn’t really been any changes. I did get another sell that put me safely above the $100 needed. While I didn’t make $200-300 like I had hoped it was still a great experience and it taught me a lot.  It also made me realize just how hard and frustrating it is to own a business but it also taught me how exhilarating it can be. I have caught the bug for sure and cannot wait to work on my next business.  

Lesson 9

This week has been a really great week for me and I learned a lot of things. The focus of this week was process improvements. I have never paid that close of attention to process improvements or why they are important but as we began learning about it this week I realized I have been a part of many informal process improvements where I work and even a couple of very big ones that were not talked about as process improvements but that is what they are. As we learned about process improvements we looked at the story of Burt’s Bees and how it began. Several years into the business Roxanne who started Burt’s Bees realized that for her company to grow things were going to have to change. They moved to North Carolina where Roxanne realized that to be successful and grow the current processes weren’t going to work. At the time everything was made by hand and required a lot of labor which was expensive. That is when she began automating the processes of her company so that her products could be mass produced quickly, efficiently and as cost effectively as possible. This story and the other information we studied this week made me realize just how important processes are for a company.

For my $100 project business, this week was great. I went from very little in the way of sales to over $100 in profit this week. I realized this week that patience and persistence are key to meeting goals and making your company successful. I really started talking my business up and spreading my business cards around and that made a huge difference. People from work began talking about my products and I began getting more sales. One of my products completely sold out this week and I am beginning to real feel the excitement growing in my company. I am not ready to give it up, I have so many more ideas of products I could add and ways to make my company better. This has been one of my favorite classes I have taken so far and I really enjoy everything I learned while doing this project this semester.     

Lesson 8

This week we learned about hiring and firing. We learned more about the much known business quote “hire slowly, fire quickly”. Hiring should be done very carefully and methodically. The person you are hiring is a representative of your company. I really like the approach that Jet Blue took to finding high quality employees and making sure they stuck around. The first step was defining the values that guide the company. By defining the companies values you are able to hire people whose values align with those of the company. The second thing I thought was really interesting was that they customized benefit packages for each different position category. They knew that flight attendants tend to be at a more transitional point in their lives and are not long term employees because of this they offered them other benefits rather than retirement because that is something that would be less beneficial to them. This is a really interesting approach because it allows them the flexibility to give their employees what they really want. Jet Blue understands that by putting employee happiness first they will deliver better service to the customers. The flip side to hiring is firing. If someone is not working out and you have done all you can to help them, you need to let them go. This is something that can be very difficult but it is something that is very necessary. Overall I found this week very interesting and very informative.

As far as my hundred-dollar project goes, everything is going pretty well. I had a few more sales this week and I am getting closer to my goal. I talked with a family member who does website optimization and she gave me so great insight on my website and how to improve it. This project has been much harder than I expected it to be. I have done a lot more networking and marketing this week by handing out business cards and talking to people about my business and this really seems to be helping. It is forcing me to step outside of my comfort zone but it has been a great experience for me. I am just plugging away and trying to drum up more sales. I am starting to get nervous that I want reach the $100 profit but I am still hopeful that it will happen