1) This course has required me to develop/hone a few behaviors in order to meet the requirements for this class. One of the behaviors I have had to improve are my people skills. I have always considered myself to be a people person, but this course has required me to do something that I have never had to do: interview business owners. I don't know why, but I found it hard to go into a random business and interview a business owner about improving their online presence. I was able to overcome the anxiety associated with this, and I have improved my people skills because of it. Another behavior I have honed by taking this course is my ability to identify opportunities. This class has required me to pay attention to what is going on in the world and identify trends. By identifying trends, I can figure out things that are going to become important to people and identify future opportunities. In all, I think the best skills to have to become an entrepreneur are people skills, and the ability to be hard workers. These are some of the most important skills because they will help you find a need and then help you make the necessary relationships to take advantage of it.
2) One moment during the class when I felt like giving up was when I was having to interview business owners, especially the "Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.1" assignment. The assignment required me to find business owners that had a need for an online presence. I had to interview eight or nine businesses in order to find three that had a need for an online presence. I was very discouraged by this because it showed me that there might not be an actual need for a service that creates/manages online presences for small businesses. The thing that actually pulled me through was finding that first business that had a need. It showed me that even though every small business might not have the need, there are some that would benefit from having someone help them create/manage their online presence. I think that I have definitely developed a tenacious attitude by taking this class. Like the moment I described earlier, there have been many times that this class has been hard and I have had to work hard to make it through. Like I said earlier, the times when I have had to interview people have been the hardest for me because I have to find people who own small businesses and don't have an online presence(I don't know many) and then I have to interview them. Some of these assignments have been hard, but having a tenacious attitude helps get you through them.
3) Three tips about skills that support tenacity and developing a tenacious mindset:
1a) You have to be willing to work hard.
2a) You have to be willing to adapt.
3a) You have to be willing to ask for help.
1b) You have to know that you will get through the adverse situation
2b) You have to be fine with misidentifying an opportunity because there are plenty more of them.
3b) You have to be fine with taking criticism/advice.
Note: This is Tenacious D, Jack Black's band. This picture just exemplifies tenacity.
Hi Will,
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you have been forced to step out of your comfort zone and interview random people in order to complete the assignments in this course. As an aspiring entrepreneur. it will be important that you are able to communicate effectively with people whom you may not necessarily have a relationship to. You are correct when you say this course requires a tenacious attitude- there is a lot of work and it can be quite challenging to complete everything (in addition to the demands of other classes or obligations). We are halfway through- so it's all downhill from here (in a good , positive way!)