Business Plans!

This week I learned about creating a business plan and made one for my daycare business idea as well as for my yoga studio idea.  Putting things down on paper in a concise way helped me to gain a better vision of how I want my business to operate and what it could become.  It helped me to think of potential obstacles and challenges and what I could do to address them effectively.

I also was able to learn about the importance of taking things slowly, focusing on one thing at a time, and not trying to do too much all at once.  We had a case study this week about Heather Evans, an MBA student who was launching a clothing business while finishing her education.  It was insightful to see what the other class members thought of the case, but overall, I think we decided she was trying to grow her business too fast and she was doing too much at once and wasn’t able to dedicate her focus to one thing at a time.

Lastly, I learned about a businessman named Paul Robshaw.  I had never heard of Paul Robshaw before, but learning a little about him and his life helped me to see that character, values, and faith are things that can never be taken away from us.  Some consider Robshaw as having lost everything, but he maintained that he still had his core values, his faith in God, his honesty, and integrity.  This reminded me of Job of the Old Testament – despite trials and difficulties, he remained strong and hopeful.  Robshaw is a great, modern example of that principle.  He also learned the importance of hard work at a young age.  It sounds like he had to work for everything he had most of his life.  He also displayed a positive attitude about the fact that his dad didn’t leave him anything in his will other than “the will to work.”  I think there is a great sense of satisfaction that comes with working for everything you have rather than relying other others for help and support.  I know I feel great when I am self-sustaining and can care for myself and not rely on others.