?!

Who are you, French public?
Identify yourself, if you will.

My bits of Advice

And here I am, at the very last entry of the course. It went by in a fast and smooth way. I learned very much and could already apply some of the B183's teachings to my own entrepreneurial life. 
I got into this course in what I believe to be a privileged position, as an entrepreneur. I have run by small business from home for the past 5 years, starting with only a computer and a printer. My only investment was a desk and some stationary. I have made my revenue grow as if I had a good employment and have built an office in my house. Still, my business is too small and I want to make it grow.
B183 got to my life in a difficult entrepreneurial moment. I am almost not able to handle all of my demand by myself but am still scared of incurring into the cost of an employee. This is a risk taking moment for me. A very busy one as well.
During the semester I was required to read many articles, books and watch many videos of other people that have walked this path and that shared with me their successful tips. I was able to conclude that this is the right path for me and that, even when I have a long way to go, I can make my tiny company grow and bless the lives of many.
If you want to begin the entrepreneur journey I have something to tell you: You can do it! But you have to be willing to pay the price this path requires. It will give you freedom and a sense of accomplishment as you see your ideas to become a reality. At the same time, it will require that you take RISK! and it is scary! My advice for you is to only incur in risk after you analyse every possible outcome and when you are sure you can live with the worst possible scenario of starting your company. If you can take it (leaving an employment and not finding other for some time, loosing some money, sacrificing your time) then go for it! and work hard with the help of the Holy Ghost
Oh, yes! Remember, "through the power of the Holy Ghost (you) may know the truth of all things", even business truths!

The most important think I learned in B183 and that I wish I will never forget was elder Robert Gay's talk, on an entrepreneurship symposium. 
He told us very boldly and full of truth (because we can recognize it as we hear his words) what the real objective of business is: It is not to make a lot of money. It is not to become rich. It is to provide for many families and mainly to bring people unto the Gospel. Unto Christ.
It is my hope that all of us, you and me, that we will grow together as entrepreneurs and run extraordinary companies that will provide for many, provide opportunities of service (by giving people the necessary resources to serve full time at some point of their lives), that will add good things into the world and, above all, that will guide God's children back into his heard.
Remember, you are not alone.

Insights from the Week!

This week was, as usually, pretty full. I have been more stressed than usually because of the amount of classes I have been teaching. I am grateful to see my business growing and I know it is time to hire someone, or else I won't have a personal life. In the other hand, this week the institute classes were canceled due to the general conference and I did not have to prepare my class, which usually takes me much time. Teaching institute has been my one of my  favorite callings so far, and one of the most time demanding, as well.
I loved reading "Recognizing and Shaping Opportunities" and learning from the experience from those entrepreneurs. (I even learned a little more about the history of this very platform, Blogger, from which I have been a user for about 12 years). It is very interesting to see how other entrepreneurs have suceded.
I also liked Lary North's video, and how much he learned from mentors. His positive attitude has had a great impact in his career, I hope to get such an attitude.
This is also one of my last journal assignments. I look forward to keep my journal to myself and to be able to write more personal insights. I don't really feel confortable sharing it with others I don't know on-line, and I am happy to know (according to the page's statistics) that only you (my instructor) and I have accessed it.
I have learned very much this semester and I can't wait to put everything into practice, and to take more risk making my business grow. I think it is time, and I am very excited!
I am also excited for the 2 weeks we will have before next semester, so I can take some time to apply what I have been learning to my company and actually make the changes.
I have just finished watching the second section from conference and I am very happy I can learn from apostles of the Lord. What a blessing!

A talk I never want to forget. Here so I can remember it as an entrepreneur later in life.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/are-we-not-all-beggars?lang=eng

2 paths!

This week's has, as usually, very busy. I had to work long hours. I am happy I can see my business growing and I am happy I can apply all the knowledge I am receiving as a BYUI student in my own business. 

I am at a point were I need to hire people. I see 2 paths in front of me:

1) I don't hire anyone, take all of the teaching hours and fit it into my agenda, making my profits go up, but the opportunity cost would be that I wouldn't have planning time or just regular  "office hour" time. I also woudn't have as much time to study and to spend with my family. 

2)I hire someone to take some of my classes and I see my accounting profit to go down in the short term, as my ATV increase considerably and the amount of hours sold not so much. Still, I would increase my capacity and be able to sell more tutoring hours than what I am able to sell now. I see this as an investment: Hard at first as I incur in a profit loss, but with a good future as my capacity will be increased, my office time, personal time and study time would also increase. In the long run, it would generate an economic profit. 

I really want to take the second path, and I am trying to stop and ponder about all of this.

*I also enjoyed your business 12 rules. I share many of them and I am interested in reading the book mentioned about money. By the way, when I read the Ministry of Business, the idea of organizing our finances having the gold account stuck to my mind and I researched some more about it. It wasn't until last week's Entrepreneur's hero video that I finally was able to understand HOW to put it into practice with the different accounts. I am happy to report that I made my first (and modest) financial investment this last week at the bank. I feel very happy I was able to apply this into my life. I look forward to apply that system with the different accounts into my life. It was the best idea I have seen so far... but now I am intrigued by this other book ;)

About the article, What's a business for:

As I read the material of the week, I enjoyed the HBR article.

• Based on what you read in the first two pages (pages 3 and 4), why are virtue and integrity so vital to an economy?
  
  With so many companies lying about their statements, it is hard to see the real position of economy. Int he article, we read that "John May, a stock analyst for a U.S. investor service, pointed out that the pro forma earnings announcements by the top 100 NASDAQ companies in the first nine months of 2001 overstated actual audited profits by $100 billion. Even the audited accounts, it now seems, often made things appear better than they really were." (emphases added)

• According to Charles Handy, what is the “real justification” for the existence of businesses?
  
  "The purpose of a business, in other words, is not to make a profit, full stop. It is to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. That “something”becomes the real justification for the business.
  
  
• What are two solutions proposed by Handy that you agree with? Why?
  
   I agree with many of the suggestions, but I also disagree with some others. I see hiring someone as a business deal: I am buying that person's talents used in that set and agreed amount of time. I think the entrepreneur has to be in control of the company he loves, and created. but I am in complete agreement with the fact that we need to help employees grow, be able to express their opinions and be partakers of the company's growth (maybe with bonuses, not necessarily dividends) because they would be able to feel the result of their job, be happier and more productive. I also agree that the power of shareholders should be limited since they are focusing on earning money and not in the beliefs of the company.

My thoughts on $!

This week has been very full of work. I worked very hard and I notices everything was smother after I took the time to clean my office.
This week was the first institute class of the semester. Preparing institute classes (as a teacher) takes a lot of time and it was very nice to meet my new students and see how well prepared they are.
Institute teaching is an important part of my schedule as it takes up time I would otherwise be using to study or work.
I could see the tender mercies of the Lord as some of my students canceled classes and I could finish preparing my institute class.
I was also humbled: I am an on-line tutor, and this was my first on-line institute teaching experience... It is very different to teach to a whole group instead of just to a single student, as I do on a daily basis.
I also believe that learning how to manage my agenda as I have many activities to accomplish will help me to be a better entrepreneur.
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About the article:

• What is your attitude toward money?
  I never spend more than what I have. This was a decision my husband and I took before we got married and we have happily lived by this rule. If we want something we save the money first and purchase it later.
  I have savings. I am starting to make my money work for me as I start doing little investments with the bank. 
• How can your view of money affect the way you live?
  It can bring me peace of mind for the present and for the future! I know I can leave a few months without an income. As an entrepreneur I am have plans, but a change in the economy might change my income drastically, having savings -and a good food storage- helps me to have peace.
• What rules are recommended for prospering?
  According to the article "Attitude on Money", the recommendations are:
  Rule 1. Seek the Lord and have hope in him 
• Rule 2. Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings. 
• Rule 3. Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant. 
• Rule 4. Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters. Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity. 
• Rule 5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated. 
• Rule 6. Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive

One Step at the Time

This is my entrepreneur journal and here I have set the goal to record items I don't want to forget, that will be of help in the future to me in my entrepreneur journey.
This week I would like to register about studying. Many may say it is not related to entrepreneurship but I highly disagree: an entrepreneur is someone who is constantly learning and progressing personally.
I have found out that dedicating several hours to studying is not a lost time that is taking me away from my business and my family, but rather it is making me to become someone better, someone who can make better choices.
In this journey at BYUI I have used audiobooks, mp3s and Text To Speech apps as much as I can, but this week I couldn't really understand the math of my economy class until I sat down and read the book. So, to be effective and to really learn I have to combine my audio techniques with time reading, mainly when it involves math. I know I will do better this way.
I am happy and eternally grateful for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I believe in the enabling power of the atonement and I know I can become whomever I wish to become because of it. What a great blessing it is to know that through repentance and through Christ we can be the kind of person we want to be.

Crazy week

This week has been different. It was the biggest holiday of the year and the city was empty.
My husband had to work on the holiday so I also scheduled some classes. It was a good time to update some tasks that were being left behind at the office.
It made me realize how much more time I actually have to spend doing office work.
My favorite thing about the readings was to study about "Good to Great". It is actually one of my very favorite business books. One of the ones I gained more insights from.
My favorite part is when the author talks about having the right people on the bus. I have had business partners in 3 different occasions in my life and I know how hard it can be to make a project grow without having the right people to work with.
Another point of the book I have been trying to ncorporate in my life is the hedgehog principle.
This week I have also learned very much from my econ class. We had a test and I scored 96%. I know I did so well in such a difficult test because I worked hard and prayed hard.
I want to remember these formulas so I can understand how to better set prices and better understand the demand (and the elasticity) from different products.
I hope I can make my company to become great. I have often pondered about the book's teachings, now is time to start applying those teachings to my life! I love being an entrepreneur!

We can do amazing things when we are in His side!

I enjoyed very much this week's readings and videos. Here are the point I want to remember, extracted from the week's material:
-People might laugh at you, but with the Lord you can do amazing things.
-Take inputs and come up with solutions
-We have to run our businesses. They can't run our lives.
-Stop back and think: "why am I doing it?"
-Some blessings come soon, some come later, some come only in Heaven, but they come!
-When facing a problem and when we don't have time to solve it completely, try the 5W's and
tackle at least one thing / one improvement in each area.
I had a very nice week and I just came back home from a date with my husband. We went to the movies and watched a new arrival directed by Mel Gibson called "Hacksaw Ridge". It tells about the life of a righteous man who wanted to serve his country in the war, but had promised the Lord that he would never touch in weapons (just like the anti-nephi-lehies did). He then went into war and faced opposition, but stayed true to his faith and became a hero saving many wounded soldiers.
The movie portraits how he saved all those man with the help of the Lord and got to be respected by his opponents, later. He believed in Revelation and received it to save the lives of many.
(The movie also had the most realistic battle scenes I have ever seen. I felt I could have a glimpse of what it really was to be there, and to bound with ones mat-soldiers in the field (like mission companions). The film is strong and made me ponder about how stupid wars actually are...)
This is a real story, and it made me ponder a lot about how we are made strong when we have the Lord in our side.
I am taking time recording this because I want to remember how I felt, and how grateful I feel for all the opportunities I receive from the Lord: living in a peaceful country, having the chance to run my own business and for knowing I can be made super strong -the strongest!- when I am in His side.

Setting Priorities.

This week I really enjoyed the readings and videos. When watching the video about Stephen R. covey “The 7 habits of highly effective people”, I specially pondered about the third one, “Put First Things First”.

Setting priorities is a hard task for me. In my days I have many things to do and I struggle to find out what are the priorities. Moreover, I have been feeling that I haven’t put the Lord first in my life the way I should, so I took action upon it.

I took some time to go to the temple, to read more the scriptures and to look for revelation in a more specific way.  I feel that these decisions lead me to be a more productive person this week. I could identify some tender mercies from the Lord this week and I feel grateful for those moments.

I also enjoyed learning about the keys to Mastery, in George Leonard’s book. As a teacher, the process of learning and of overcoming plateaus  are very interesting topics that have direct influence in my job.

I have also enjoyed the book because I love learning. I think I fall into the “hacker” category of learners, those who start and plateau after some time, and are ok with it. I have had several hobbies in my life and have been interested in many different things. I know I have plateau in many, many areas and because of this I can do one thousand different things but I don’t excel in many. I want to excel in many areas, and I hope I can apply the principles from the book in my own life.

Being a Natural...

This week I really enjoyed the videos we had to watch. I could relate to Wences Casares and how he feels he is a natural entrepreneur. 
Casares states that he hasn't chosen to be an entrepreneur, but that rather it is something he has a tendency of doing. He illustrated his feeling by telling us of a time he was traveling with his wife in India, and while she was learning Buddhism, he was interested in how much money the fisherman could make, and about the costs of their boats.
As Casares do, I also often analise different business in my mind and thing of their possibilities of growth and how is the return different entrepreneurs have.
I also liked very much Steve Blank's ideas on family and on having a company. I fell I already need to set some boundaries for how I spend my time. Blanks tells us about some of his family's rules and about how he would always have dinner with his kids at 7, put them to bed and continue to work from home for  5 more hours!
I don't have kids yet, but I always try to stop my work or studies to have dinner as a family with my husband. I hope I can learn to balance my time even better, and to set my priorities straight. 

Letter to my future self

Last week we finished reading "The Ministry of Business", by Steve Hitz. I really enjoyed the book and its teachings, and I hope I can apply all of the steps of the formula into my life.
Now, we have started reading the second book of the semester, "Mastery". I am looking forward to learn very much with this book.
I like to read and I feel I don't have enough time (or don't MAKE enough time) to read as much as I would like to, so I really enjoy when reading books become part of the courses curriculum.
This week, among the many interesting material we read and watched, we have the "Hero's Journey" -Which by the way, I wasn't very clear on the speaker's name... the link doesn't describe it, and his introduction was cut out of the clip.
The Speaker shares with us his opinions about entrepreneurs and about humility. I loved his teachings about not feeling the smartest person in the room (being constantly humble) and about the letters for our future selves, for when hard times may arrive.
I will definitely apply those teachings into my life, and take some time tomorrow to prayerfully ponder about my hardships and trials, and write letter for myself! I want to write letter for myself even for other areas now, for example, for when I achieve a goal, or feel sad about something. I loved the idea!

This week's thoughts

This week I have been pondering deeply on the course of actions I will take on my business, and how I will make my processes smoother and easier.
As I have mentioned here before, I run a very small language school from home and I use Microsoft Excel to organize every thing here! It would be great to have a software tailor made for my company, but I am still too small to afford that.
Meanwhile, I became a little tired of wrestling with the macros in excel, and thought it would be a nice option to hire an specialist to input all the macros I need for my formulas to work perfectly. I suppose there are people who could do it easily and who would not charge me much for this solution. I will start looking for options!
*Reminder - ask the members of my mastermind group for suggestion of people who could do it for me.
This week I've really enjoyed James W. Ritchie's video. I was kindly reminded of the formula for success and I wrote it in a big and bright post-it and stuck it to the wall right in front of me, so I can see it always!
I have been struggling with waking up early ever since.... ever since I was born I think! It has always been a challenge I really hope I can overcome soon! It is so difficult! Mainly because going to bed early is a hard task to me...
I will definitely work on that this week! 

BE BLUE, THROUGH and THROUGH

This week I really loved the readings!
I specially liked the devotionals from BYU-I. I enjoyed them so much I thought I should never miss another one on Tuesdays.
Sister Dew taught me that we need to be 100% integrous in our actions, and that even a small deviation from the right choice will lead us to sin. If we are not completely righteous and chose to do just a little thing in a wrong way, we will grow  to be more and more tolerant to sin.
Integrity is a virtue I hope to always have!
Elder Robbins talk was already familiar to me, since many courses ask students to read it. Still, this time it seemed I was able to learn a lot more. I used my listening technique, and I had a long drive that day, so I could ponder about how I treat my clients, and the kind of service I offer.
I know my students like my classes, but I definitely can do better on planning them and preparing more. I know I am able to do much better.
I want to be an A kind of entrepreneur, a leader Level 5, and a disciple of Christ!
Goal: Spend more time preparing classes, it will for sure improve my product and my business.

Thoughts on my Journal System

I love the idea of having an entrepreneur's journal. It is a practice that I have been developing for a while now and that I find is pretty helpful to me. With my journal I organize my thoughts and goals, analyse my income and financial matters and draw and outline ideas that will make my business grow. 
I have found that the best way of maintaining this journal (or at least the best approach so far) has been to keep it in the same book with my private journal. It is a large paper notebook that stays on top of my desk and just I have access to it. 
I cherish this assignment since it will give me more insights on how to improve my recordings, and -who knows- I might end up having a virtual version of my own journal here, but I feel its entries are too personal and contain private information.
With this said, I will continue to use this blog for the sake of the course and see how I feel with the online version of it. I do know that if I ever change to an on-line version, it would not be public. 
According to my opinion, in this secret little black book of mine I have my ideas of how to become better, be more competitive and organize my financial life... I've pondered and I can't find a reason as why to share my notes.

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First, I must say that I loved this lecture. I watched the whole version of it and I think I learned very much with Randy.

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?

I think he followed the opportunities Heavenly Father put in front of him, and I also think he never forgot what his dreams were. He kept them in mind throughout his life and worked for them.

• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?

I think it is more than important, it is vital. If we don't dream we will never enjoy the journey to get to places in life. We won't have goals.... It would be very sad.

• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

I have many childhood dreams, one of them is to be a plastic artist. I believe I cana chieve this by continuing to express myself through art, in many forms. Art is not the path I chose to make money in life (tough I do think it is a possibility), but I want to continue to improve my skills and be able to look back on line and know I have developed artwork that have embellished the world around me.

Double Tasking n an Effective Way!

I've been an entrepreneur for a few years now, and I run a tini tiny company -an on-line Language Teaching service- from home. During these years of learning and preparation I have been very busy!

My product offers an unique flexibility for my students, and for that I am available from 7 am to 10 pm to teach them, upon set appointments.  Because of that flexibility and the peak hours of teaching that are early in the morning, lunch time and evening, my spare time reserved to do everything else is spread ins short blocks during the day. On those free-of-teaching moments I have to do office work, study for my new major, run my errands, everything!

As a business major I have to read a lot! Many books each semester and a handful of long articles every week. We also have to watch many videos weekly. I have the goal to have strait As in this career and to do that I have to read it all with attention, which takes me a lot of time and has diminished my sleep hours. Going to bed at 3 am had become a routine that I desperately wanted to change.

During summer break I took only 1 class and added another time-consuming activity to my agenda: exercising at a nearby gym. I have been consistently working out for over a month now and I already feel the benefits of it in my health, stress management and overall well being. I can't stop it now that I know "I can do it", I don't want to!

Now, as the new semester starts at the university, I was feeling scared about time management and my ability to maintain the quality of my services, my A's, my personal life put together and exercising. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? I asked myself. Is it EVEN possible?

I felt uncertain and concerned. But, I might have found the solution for my problems!

Not long ago I've learned to love audio books and the benefits of listening and pondering while driving or cooking, but not all books we need to read are available on that format.
A friend who spends a long time commuting to work daily, recently shared with me about TTS (text to speech) engines that can read your texts to you. I was doubting of the efficiency of such apps thinking the voice would sound like a robot, and that it would be an unpleasant experience, but I WAS WRONG!

This week I downloaded @Voice and Ivona, and I listened to all my pdf files instead of reading, and I loved it! I chose Ivona's "Amy" voice, which is in British accent but sounds great and natural (they haven't released an american accent voice for android platforms yet, but it is available on their website, if they had done so, I would have chosen "Joey"'s). The best part is that I could use the app as I did with audio-books and double task all day long. 

I drive about 5 hours every week and the car is a great place to listen to important files, because I can ponder about what I am learning without interruptions (traffic here is bad, so it gives me time to finish big sections).

Sometimes  I take my learning activities to the gym. I watch all the videos I was supposed to while doing cardio on a stationary bike and I fell it is very productive. Then I listen through the files I have to read while I lift some weight. I feel it is a relaxing and quite moment, when I can ponder on what I am listening to, and listen to it again if I so desired.

Now I use the time to drive to the gym, work-out and come back in a way that saves me time to study. Now I feel "I can do it" all, and I know I can do it productively. I look forward to learning very much this semester and to be enlightened by the knowledge I will face. It is my desire that I can apply all of that into my life and make the most of it. It will be hard, and I think this tip I've shared today will help me very much!

All of us are given the same 24hs and to be an entrepreneur we can't give up and we have to always invest in ourselves, even when it will make us busy as we can't picture. Double and even multitasking will be required at times and if we do it smartly we will be able to enjoy much more of our lives and achieve much more.

I hope you like the tip and I invite you to try it, and see if it works for you, too!
I would love to hear if you have other TTS engines suggestions or other tips on how to save time.