Entrepreneur Journal

My $100 business challenge is wrapping up now.  Juliet’s dad is doing better and is out of the hospital, but he is withdrawing from school for the semester and will be taking care of her while his wife is at work.  It’s been so much fun taking care of Juliet and watching her grow!  And the experience I gained in caring for two kids is invaluable and will undoubtedly help me for when I have another baby.

This week I was able to learn about franchising and learn about some of the benefits as well as disadvantages of opening one.  I studied a case study about some friends who wanted to start a business and their business deal with an ice cream franchise.  It helped me to see the potential problems as well as strengths that come with working with franchises. 

I also learned about an entrepreneur named Nicole Donnelly who sells baby leg warmers.  I love how Nicole Donnelly relates her snowboarding experience to her business.  She was able to make a great transition from being a snowboarding bum to a successful business leader.  I love her sense of giving back in a bigger way and her willingness to donate and help as many as she can through her business and products.  Her giving attitude is an inspiration to me and helps me to want to give back as much as possible.  I know from person experience that there is a great sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that comes from giving and serving others.  Sometimes I get tired of doing everyone’s dishes every day for them, but if I maintain the right perspective and see my contribution as a way to give back to the world, I can be happier to do them all the time.  While a lot of my giving and service is done just at home, I also want to look for ways to give back to the community and the world.  I’ve had a recent experience of donating services and items for a charity auction for my friend’s mom in the hospital.  Doing so made me feel noble and that I was contributing to a good cause.