Week 8 Reading Reflection

The section that was most interesting and surprising to me in the reading was the highlight box about social lending sites on page 212. I had no idea there were such sites out there specifically designed for individuals to lend money to each other for new business ventures. I think this is a wonderful idea. Often, it can be very difficult to get a loan from the bank because it is ver hard to et them to believe in your idea. They may not see things they way you do or see the possible future implications of the project in the future. These social lending sites can get rid of this by providing the entrepreneur with many options around the world to gain finding for their business venture. This kind of reminds me of crowdfunding sites where charities can get donations from ordinary people. Crowdfunding sites have proven to be extremely popular among the public, so I think these social lending sites would do just as well. 

Something that was confusing to me in the reading was the "Trade Credit" term. The way it is explained in the book was pretty confusing to me. I would like to know exactly how the process works to get trade credit and what specifically it does for the entrepreneur. 

If I were to ask the author two questions, they would be 1) What does trade credit do for the entrepreneur specifically, and 2) What are some tips you would give an entrepreneur who is trying to convince the bank that they can safely loan him money for his business venture?

I didn't really disagree with the author on anything in the reading. I am a Journalism major, so these business terms and processes are sometimes a little confusing to me, however. Over all, I think the author did a good job in describing these processes. It seems like everything he is saying is straight facts about how this system works, so I agree with basically everything he said. 

Half-way Reflection

Here is my reflection of the past two months in this course. It hasn't been easy, but I got through it and I learned so much about how to be a successful entrepreneur!

1) Tenaciousness is a skill.

This course does have a lot of assignments, but they are all geared towards helping us in our journey to fine-tune our entrepreneurship skills. Some techniques I have used to keep up with the course's requirements include making a schedule, writing a to-do list every day, and setting aside time during the day to devote to my assignments. I first make a schedule for the week so that I can plan which assignments I'll work on each day. Then, at the beginning of each day I make a to-do list so I can see exactly what I have to accomplish that day. I set aside a set amount of time to work on it, which really helps me pace myself. I find that this process really helps me in organizing my work load as well as balance other things I have to get done.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude

There were a couple of times during this semester when I felt like my work load from all of my classes was really weighing me down, one night especially. I had two assignments due for Entrepreneurship, 2 other exams to study for, work the next morning, and a hurt neck and rib from a car accident I was in recently. I felt like giving up and blowing everything off, but I told myself that if I wanted to fulfill my passion to change the world someday, I would have to start small and get my work done. So I persevered and finished everything I needed to, and still had time to rest and take care of my injuries. I think this was the moment that inspired me to be tenacious throughout the rest of the semester. I realized that every little assignment counts towards my goal, and I would do anything to reach it.

3) Three tips

Three tips I would give about surviving this course and creating a tenacious mentality would be 1) organize your schedule, 2) when you feel like you have too much on your plate, back off for a second and realize your long-term goal, and 3) realize that you are in control of your own work ethic. Organizing a schedule is the first step to becoming tenacious. If you work a little bit every day, you'll eventually reach your goal. The other two tips are a little more difficult to achieve. Realizing that everything you are doing right now contributes to the rest of your life and realizing you are the sole person in control of that can be hard. However, I promise that once you realize this, your tenaciousness and determination will propel you into your bright future.