283 Week 13

$100 Entrepreneurial Challenge Update:

This week we are reporting our final projects to our peers and preparing to write a paper about the things we have learned. This paper will be turned in next week.   I have enjoyed this assignment and especially find it fun to put the presentation together and look forward to seeing what my peers have done. 

Acton Hero Summary: Tom Nall

“We can’t be afraid to fail.”  These are the opening words of Tom Nall’s biography. Tom Nall is the co-founder of organic tequila, Republic Tequila.  

Tom’s jobs growing up were what prepared him for his work as an adult.  He held a paper route, and eventually began selling insurance, which he credits with developing his selling skills.  Because he was competing with bigger companies, the job required him to really push himself creatively. 

Speaking of his own nature, he says, “I am optimistically scared to death.”  He says he has to be a risk taker, and believe in himself.  Those risks need to be calculated, and then the optimism needs to be profound, “almost to a fault”. 

Nall jokes that he retired…for a weekend.  He then started the tequila business and learned a lot from the young people he was able to employ.  In regard to his employees, he looks for those with some experience but prefers those who will look outside the box and who are not afraid to work hard and to do somethings a little different.

Nall wanted to build a company with core values; honesty, integrity, and he wants his people to treat others according to the golden rule. Most important, is that he wants people to want to do better, not just in the workplace, but in their own lives. He expects his employees to buy into this vision and culture.

283 Week 12

$100 Entrepreneurial Challenge Update:
 

This week we made the burritos, collected orders and delivered them.  I am now preparing my final financials as well as the presentation and paper that are due in the coming weeks. 

Acton Hero Summary: Erick Slabaugh

After joining his father’s company, Mr. Slabaugh worked his way up in the company and eventually became the CEO.  He sees himself as a second-generation entrepreneur. The ownership of that company came when he bought out one of the initial investors, and then bought more equity as time went on.

Though he acknowledges his years of many hours of hard work, he does feel luck has played a role in his success. 

Mr. Slabaugh was afraid to ask a lot of questions when he was younger.  But he admits that the older he has gotten, the more mentors he has.  He is not afraid to ask the questions anymore and has learned that this is just smart business practice. 

After investing in another business, Mr. Slabaugh learned some pretty valuable lessons, like that his own business would have been well blessed had he invested in his own work. Instead, he just took a great blow as the other investment failed. Other painful experiences and lessons came when he had to downsize his company.

Mr. Slabaugh says that having and maintaining values through difficult times is what helps those experiences eventually become rewarding.

283 Week 11

$100 Entrepreneurial Challenge Update:

Late this week, we purchased all the supplies for my burritos and started collecting orders.  Next we will be making the burritos and freezing them in preparation for delivery next week. 

Acton Hero Summary: Nicole Donnelly

Nicole Donnelly was a “snowboard bum” for seven years, and lived out of her car, then graduated to living out of a trailer.  When her baby girl was getting diaper rashes, she invented baby leg warmers to protect her baby’s legs.  They were fashionable and fun, and began selling like hotcakes.  They sell now, all over the world, and Ms. Donnelly has found huge success.

Ms. Donnelly compared snowboarding to her entrepreneurial experiences.  She says in snowboarding you “commit to the trick” because half way through, you can’t just stop, you have to commit and stick with it till you land.  There are no other real choices.  Stopping half way in the air is dangerous and can cause a lot of harm. You have to commit. 

She learned a lot about team work and leadership by watching and observing how a friend in a very successful company was doing it. 

She also struggled with the books and learned that even if you hire someone to take care of the books for you, you are going to have a hard time if you do not understand what the numbers mean. She recommends that you invest the time and energy to understand your finances or else it will bite you in the backside. 

Being able to use her profits to benefit organizations throughout the world has given her work meaning, and has become the passion and drive behind what she does.