Final post

 I learned a great deal during the whole ordeal. I learned mostly that one must know the market he is entering almost to the specific type of person. The pricing of an individual item opens and closes specific markets of people. The windows of opportunity are always opening and closing. We need to make sure that we are going into open windows rather than beating our heads against a closed window. I learned that I can do hard things even though it seems like there is not any more time to spare. Taking 13 credits, working full time, and having a family is not easy but there is time in there if we just take the time to find it. If there was any piece of advice that I would give the next entrepreneur It would be to keep looking forward and don’t stop. When something doesn't go just right take a different approach and look at it from a different perspective. I think that individuals who just do this assignment just to do it will not gain the needed experience that is intended. Those with a passion for what they are doing will reap the rewards. Be passionate about what you are doing. Often times our ideas are not bad. They are often just knocking on closed windows. All we need to do is move a little to the side to the next open window. I am grateful for  this opportunity and look forward to the continue of my refinishing business. Although it may be time for a new dresser for me. 

Final Week

I have completed my $100 challenge and have totaled $146 in profit. I think overall it was a good experience. With my full time job and my current situation with church callings and school it really was something that I thought would be an incredible challenge. It definitely was hard but I was able to pull though and complete my goal of the $100 as well as have a good time while doing it. As I put together my power point this week regarding the challenge I really was able to see my project from start to finish before my eyes. It was fun to see the beginnings of an Idea that actually turned into cash just from a little elbow grease and determination. It just shows that you can make money if you are smart enough and willing to make the sacrifices to make it happen. The next part of the process is what I think is the most fun. Trying to make money grow bigger by creating systems and processes that allow you to create significant cashflow and increase profit margins. I look forward to possibly continuing my little furniture business again someday.

Thanksgiving Week

This week happened to be the week of Thanksgiving. I thought about what I could do to promote the business more this week and I came to the conclusion that I would not be able to commit the time to promotion. This week was really a week to reflect on what has been done and what else could be done to maintain and keep revenue coming in. I have really enjoyed this project but I keep thinking about how I personally can begin to make money on this after the semester is over. It seems like everyday that I focus on making things better I begin to think of more and more ideas. It seems like the best ideas come from the time when I am comfortable and alone in thought and meditation. I often think about potential and other avenues and I constantly have.  New ideas and plans are made when I take about 30min-1 hour every day to meditate. Creating a business in my eyes is not always boots on the ground. Some of it is when you are lying on the couch almost asleep when somehting ground breaking hits and you run with it.

This week was great. I hit the $100 goal! Now on to bigger things. I am going to keep going because I like the things that I am learning and I feel that this is something that I can keep doing to probably generate and supplement a some income with. I think that I can probably find a few more things in the next few weeks before the semester is over. This week I learned an amazing thing from my Interview with Steve Neeleman that I can apply into my business now and future businesses to come. Steve told me to never sell a product that I wouldn't want myself. I thought about that all week in trying to find new furniture to refinish. If I don't like the product what will be my passion to sell it. I think about this all the time when purchasing things from people. When people say "I really hate to see this go" it really makes me feel like they cared about the product that they are selling as if it meant something to them at one point. It builds value in the product. I have felt passionate about all of the pieces that I have refinished because of the time that I have put into each one. Sometimes it makes me not want to sell them because of the time that it takes to finish each one.

Better Week

This week we painted two of our nightstand that we had previously and they look really nice. Its nice to see things that look older and out of style refinished to look new and fun. I think that is the most gratifying thing about owning a business. Its interesting to think that this is how all small businesses start. I was in Arizona a few weeks ago and stopped to find a piece of furniture at this what looked like run down place. As I walked in I found really nice furniture that had been at Marriot resorts. They buy the furniture when it is going to be replaced and then sell it to make a profit. They had a warehouse full of nice looking furniture. I asked how long the owner had been in business and he said about 22 years. It started by just buying old furniture from garage sales.  As I think about my small business periodically I think about how interesting it is that something this small can turn into something big if I wanted it to. This week has been fun to find some nice furniture again. All I have been able to think about this week is how this small business that I have could turn into something much bigger if I had the desire. 

Rough Week

This week did not go so well. I had hoped that I would sell a couple more pieces of furniture but I did not. I kept having to lower the price of the furniture. I know that the pieces of furniture are good. They are quality pieces and I know that they can sell. I am wondering if i redo their description and take better pictures than they might sell better. I might also put them in my room and post a picture so it looks like it is in its natural setting so that the person who is potentially purchasing the piece can see how it is placed in a room setting and then hopefully place it in their home in a similar way. I think that people need to see the furniture fit in their homes. currently all of the photos of my furniture are just pictures of them in the garage. Ill try that this week and hopefully get something to sell. I felt a little discouraged this week. I have put hard work into the refinishing of these pieces and I really want to see these pieces of furniture being used and in other homes so that people can enjoy them. 

My first Sale

This week I purchased refinished and sold my first piece of furniture. It was a small dresser but I made $30 in profit. Its fun to see the fruits of our labors. Its fun to see the opportunities that we create turn into cashflow.  Its fun to get the money in your hands and begin to think "ok, what else can I do to make more" I have thought about the HMM this week about customer experience and have come to the conclusion that yes people are looking for a good product and a good deal but they are also looking for a good experience as well. I liked what it says about making sure that our customers come back. Our own customers are the most lucrative source of growth. The experience that they have before, during, and after the purchase are what is going to make or break our success. I went to Six Flags a couple of weeks ago and then went to Disneyland a couple of days later and it was interesting how I based my level of fun. If I want to feel a feeling of thrills then ill go to Six Flags but if I want to feel inspired, hopeful, magical, excited, like a kid again, or contempt then ill make sure to go to Disneyland again. Its interesting how a place and people can make us feel when we think about what brands we want to make a part of our culture.

Finding Furniture

This week has been dedicated to finding some nice furniture to refinish. I am looking to find the best furniture possible at the best price possible. I found two night stands and a dresser for fairly cheap that I am positive that I can make a profit on. I am finding out that it may be harder than I think to find the right piece of furniture for the right prices. I think that I will be able to hit my goal with just 4 or 5 pieces of furniture. Its very interesting to see what people value their things for. I went into a furniture store that bought used furniture from resorts that go out of business or are looking to upgrade the things that they had and i was surprised to find that these people were charging so much money for their used furniture that needed work refinishing. I am going to start refinishing these peices of furniture this week and see if i can finish them by next week and get them on the market.

Update

                 This week I have started to look for furniture and come up with the costs of refinishing. I have nailed down the specific types of furniture that I think that I will try to refinish. I will obtain only dressers, nightstands and coffee tables. These items are usually fairly easy to find and usually just have 4 sides to paint and refinish. I am thinking I will try to find furniture that is dated at least 20 years. Throughout the entire process of this business I have come up with a goal to profit and donate at least $250 to the cause. I have spent some time this week searching out possible marketing opportunities. I honestly think that craigslist will be my main source of business. I think the key will be making sure that they know that there are more than just one item for sale. I might set up a blog with pictures of product that they can click on from the craigslist ad so they can see the other items for sale.

Week 3

This week was fun. Writing the business plan has been really a lot of work. I have been thinking about what would be the best possible solution for what I have time for and I think that I have what I am going to do. My big business plan has really been fun to write down. It really has always been a dream to own my own business one day. Though as I keep writing down more and more things that I think we should do I am reminded of how hard it is to keep a small business like this running. It is all fun and games until you dont have any clients and you cannot make payroll and you are digging into your own pocket just to find enough money to buy the supplies you need at work. I often think though that I have never met a CEO who didnt have to go through that at one point or another. Its interesting to think that someday I could really start a business and actually have all of the decisions to make at my fingertips. For some reason my heart feel at home running something like this but the risk makes me not want to go home. I dont know if Ill ever be able to take the risk of opening my own firm. I dont always want to work for corporate America. I would like to make money work for me. I think the only way to do that is to get involved in my own business at some point. 

Ideas

This week has been spent trying to rack my brains of ideas that would be viable to start a business with. I was inspired by the Duck tours case study. I really did love studying what he did and how he did it. I loved that he went on a trek across the country just to find a new business idea. Ive thought to myself if that would be something that I would do. I have mostly been thinking about business ideas. I work full time at a new job as a Director of Marketing and have 2 kids. I was just called into the Young mens organization and I am really trying to think of something that I can do with the time that I can allocate. I do pretty well at fixing old furniture for my wife. I am thinking of making some kind of furniture business out of my current dated furniture and others that I can refurbish on craigslist. I think I am going to need more than $20 in capital. I feel like I might need about $100 to start the business. I think I will create a blog and post specific pieces of furniture on the blog that people can look at.

First Post

I am trying to think about what business will work. I am really searching my brain of all the ideas i have had over my lifetime and what would fit for this project. I feel like I want to do something and keep doing it but I dont feel like I have the time to dedicate. I have thought about possibly starting a marketing firm that helps small businesses get started. We could put marketing packages together for small businesses to choose from. Many small businesses begin but need something to get them to the next level to look really professional. With social media accounts email marketing campaigns and a high class video to get them started would be something that I think they would be interested in. I talked to Mike about it and he said that he thought it was a good idea. I am trying to think of other things but with my time the way it is right now it is going to be hard to do much of anything else. I have been thinking of different ways to market it to businesses. I thought about calling small businesses in the area or creating flyers and dropping them off. I get excited when I think about it but I also get a little scared because of the time I know that It will take to get going. At some point I think that I want to start my own business doing something similar. I love taking small ideas and making big things happen.