3A – Your Entrepreneurship Story
My parents started their first companies in their early twenties and their second in their late thirties. I grew up as the only son on a family farm and therefore have been working most of my life (since age seven). I have seen the ugly side of entrepreneurship and the illusion of freedom it flaunts. My parents often work over 80 hours a week. Sometimes that is 80 hours of extremely stressful situation management coupled with intense physical labor. Others it is the overwhelming amount of legwork to keep a company going. The planning, accounting, PR, employee relations, marketing, root-hog-or-die, put everyone about you and your family and the company above it all side of entrepreneurship that most individuals never get to see. It's an absolutely incredible thing for an individual or group to risk it all, put in every drop of effort they possess, risk their reputation and future on a dream. That dream is often of freedom, yet the devil only delivers a mangled resemblance of that idea. Do you get to call the shots? Sure! But at what costs? Does anyone realize every shot isn't a viable option? Or that business owners often don't know what the perfect call is because it doesn't exist. I believe entrepreneurs are some of the most resilient, incredible people on earth. They pay costs no one can see and make decisions most people misinterpret. Yet, many survive and some even make a living.
I'm taking this class because I may take over the family farm after college. I look forward to gaining additional information on how to work smarter and think more quickly. I have already picked up many of the responsibilities, which can be overwhelming at times since I am also a research assistant and a full-time graduate student. Entrepreneurship still seems romantic to me after living with it my entire life. My Dad missed almost every birthday party of mine until I was probably 15. He wanted to be there but he had to provide. It's a tough yet rewarding life and I do not believe it is for everyone. I have met very few employees who even have a base-understanding of what it takes to run a business. Many people only see income and seem to be blind to expenses and interest. Most people never see how many jobs get done for no pay in service-oriented firms. But entrepreneurs do; they get it. I hope that the students in this class at least come out with a greater understanding of business and a newfound respect for their future employers. I am looking forward to this class and its application. I think Dr. Pryor is doing a great job so far and I look forward to getting to know all of you better over this semester even if it is through Blogger.
Hey Jarrett! This is such a great entrepreneurship story. It's awesome to see that you have grown up around entrepreneurs and have seen the experience of starting and operating a business and all the important aspects of it. Hopefully this class lives up to your expectation and will give you insight on how to run the business yourself one day! I totally agree with you about the fact that entrepreneurship can be a lot and that it is not for everyone. It will be interesting to see how learning the basics of entrepreneurship will help impact all of our future careers. Good luck with the rest of this class and I look forward to reading your future blog posts!
ReplyDeleteHey, Jakie! Thank you for the compliments and I wish you luck as well!
DeleteHi Jerrett!
ReplyDeleteI love the questions you pose in your post! Similar to you, both my parents are entrepreneurs as well. I've also had to work for the family business and experience the hardships that come with it. It's never easy and I agree with you that entrepreneurs are "some of the most resilient, incredible people on earth." Great post on this one!
Hey, Challet! I just finished reading your post and it was so inspiring!
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