My Last Lecture

I wrote this as if I am at my journey's end and I am giving advice to new entrepreneurs.

As I conclude my journey as an entrepreneur I have to say I am grateful for the journey.  It has been a journey but when I began I thought it was really a destination.  When I began years ago I wanted something easy.  I wanted to create a business in which I could make money without touching anything.  I could go on vacation and have money coming in.  That was why I wanted to become an entrepreneur.  The reality is it takes a lot of work and if you don’t know why you want to be an entrepreneur then stop now!  You need to have a purpose you need to have a vision.  That vision can’t be a selfish reason.  It has to be a vision about others and how to help others, first!  Then you can dream about your life.

The key to having a successful journey is service.  I have found that the vision of going to the beach and having income rolling in doesn’t motivate me.  What does motivate me is to serve the Lord.  In order to serve the Lord I must serve others.

The next key I would give is to find a need that others have.  Find the gift to give to others.  When you have settled on a target market and found a need to fill, be generous.  Over deliver every time!!  When you over deliver you customers will feel the love you have for them, the concern and the genuine desire you have to serve them. In turn your customers will become loyal to you. 

The next bit of advice is to serve your family.  Don’t forget about them in all of this.  They will stand by you and you need to stand by them.  Serve them.  Find ways to serve them.  Come home early one night.  Make dinner.  Take your kids to have ice cream cones at the park.  This will show them how much you love them.

The most important bit of advice I can give to you is to have your heart set on the Lord.  Do not be overcome by your own pride.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, that you achieve or receive is because of you it is ONLY a gift from your Heavenly Father.  The greatest way you can remain humble is to give and have gratitude.  When you recognize the needs of those around you in this world you will recognize the gifts and blessing our Father in Heaven has given you.  Just today on Facebook I saw a story of a young couple.  He had open heart surgery and they discovered a blood clot that went to his brain.  He was without oxygen for 2-3 minutes.  They don’t know if he will survive. The story doesn’t end there.  His wife gave birth to their first child this morning!  What can we do to help?  How can we rescue them?  Does this make you grateful for your spouse or your children? How about your health? 

The Lord gives us gifts whether it be talents, family members or income to use it for good!  In the book of Matthew, chapter twenty-five verse twenty-one it says “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”  Use your gifts wisely, whether they be few or many and the Lord will bless you!

Thanksgiving is Over, Can you Still be Thankful

At this time of year people show more gratitude.  They give more freely and they enjoy the blessings that come from doing so.  After the season is over can you still be thankful?  Can you continue to count your blessings?

Gratitude is something I have thought a lot about in the last six-eight months.  My life has not been the easiest to live in that time.  I had a baby, moved to a new house, four weeks later.  We then discovered that our income didn't cover our expenses.  This was discovered after very careful planning on my part.  Their were many tears and stress.  We prayed and fasted as a family.  I decided to start a new business but I knew I couldn't bring in that much money that month! 

During that time I thanked Heavenly Father a lot.  I thanked him that my father-in-law could buy a house for us and lower our house payment by $150 a month.  I thanked him for the six months prior when I couponed very heavily and created a large stock pile of food and other necessities!  I thanked him that I had a brand new healthy baby!  I thanked him that my husband had a good job and we have good kids that are healthy.  I was constantly counting my blessings! 

The answer to our prayers came one day in August when a sister in our new ward called and asked me to watch her little boy during the school year. She told me of how she had been praying to know who she could ask. I kept coming to her mind, even though she didn't know me.  I knew immediately this was our answer.  The next time she spoke she told me how much they could pay.  It is not much but it was the exact amount we needed for our budget.  In our family prayer and my personal prayers I thank Heavenly Father for giving me this experience.

I have "failed" several times in business.  I am grateful for those so called failures because I have learned from each one and it has brought me to the business I am in now. I am further ahead because of the experiences I gained! 

Each and everyday I thank my Heavenly Father for my blessings.  I believe in so doing I am happier!  I am excited to accomplish my tasks each day.  I am grateful to be alive!  That is what gratitude does for you.

Even though Thanksgiving is over I still can be grateful each moment I have on this earth!

Making a Difference

Since I started a new business this summer I have had an intention very different then when I started businesses in the past.  I want to make a difference.  I know everyone says that but in my core that is what is motivating me more than anything else.

This weeks material in class has moved me and brought me greater motivation.  I want to have a business that helps others but I also want a business that provides for others.  I have the desire to make a difference in the lives of children and people who feel there is little hope or love left in the world.

I believe with all my heart that if I have the desire to serve others that are in need the Lord will bless me with success!  This morning I read in the Book of Mormon in the book of Alma, chapter five.  In this chapter Alma talks of the mighty change in heart.  I believe that when you have this change in heart you do all things based on the will of our Heavenly Father.  In doing so we can serve others.  He will bless us.

The stories in particular about the girl and Darfur and those that die of smallpox.  These are things I want to change.  I want to make a difference.  In my mind I can't do it alone.  I have no way of understanding what I can do to change it but the Lord does.  Just as Elder Gay shared about the man in Guana, who twenty years before had had a vision of his brother.  He saw Elder Gay.  I want to be that instrument in the Lords hands to make a difference!

I know that if I am humble and faithful the Lord will bless me to accomplish what he wants done with his children!