My Story

My experience as an entrepreneur started when I was 12-13 years old. We had a large blended family of eight kids. Funds were kind of tight and I needed money to buy clothes for school. I asked my mom if I could use the lawnmower to cut yards in the neighbor. When she said yes, I had to borrow money to buy some gas, and a tank of gas was about a quarter. I walked around the neighborhood doing lawns front and back for $7 a pop. For a 13-year-old, I made a little bit of change. Ever since then, I have bought every pair of pants and shoes and shirts I have owned. I continued cutting yards up until I when to community college. What I learned from doing yards was that If you wanted something, you could to go to work to get it. I think that having a reason for what you do is a vital part of being an entrepreneur. 

When I finished my A.A. degree, my next business was office cleaning. I had a friend who used to clean the offices for Channel 2 and another friend who owned his own cleaning service. I shadowed both and learned what I needed to do to start my business. I borrowed $500 from the credit union and purchased equipment and supplies. My first job was to clean a showroom after construction. I made a few hundred dollars and then went looking for more accounts. In about a year and a half I was making about $25-$35/hr. working part-time. I loved the office cleaning business. Eventually, I lost my business due to circumstances beyond my control, but I was hooked on being my own boss.  

 

I’ve had a lot of jobs since then and I’ve done a lot contract work between jobs, I am an entrepreneur at heart. I believe that’s why I enrolled in this class, along with the fact that it is required. I wanted to learn more about how entrepreneurship works and what makes a person successful. What are the components of a business? How do you overcome adversity? How do you prepare for the future? I have read quite a bit about business (Rich Dad, Poor Dad series and the like), and have met successful people, including someone who is probably a billionaire (I didn't ask directly, but it was implied). I believe that I know the answers to these questions sufficiently to run my own business, but there is so much more to learn. In fact, I am starting a business while in this class. I think what I learn will help tremendously. One thing that a successful entrepreneur must do is keep learning. If you are not learning, you’re dying. And, I want to pass on my experience and knowledge to others, especially in under-privileged communities.