My eyes were opened to the real world of entrepreneurship when I took a job at 16 working at an indoor bounce house playground. It was a new company that I had never heard of, but thought it would be a fun experience for a high school job. While working there, I got to know the owners, Jen and Chris, very well. I came to learn their story of becoming entrepreneurs. It didn't really occur to me that to open a business, even a small business like this one, you must be an entrepreneur with plans and goals.
The owners of this establishment were a middle aged married couple, Jen and Chris, with two children still in elementary school. Their story of becoming entrepreneurs really stood out to me because it made me realize that ordinary people have the capabilities of creating a business and doing what they truly love. I was told stories of their youth and how they would travel around Europe, picking up serving jobs just to get by. Then when they came to the United States, they both worked hourly office jobs. They weren't happy with that and took a risk by opening up Bounce Down Under. It takes a lot to start a business, and they took their chances. They both quit their jobs and went for it full force. They chose to open a business that would benefit their family. It was a place where their children could come play and hangout while they were working. They didn't have to pay a babysitter and they still got to do their jobs. Owning their own business made it simpler to have a strong family life. They were able to create their own hours, hire people when necessary, and have an open indoor playground for their kids.
Meeting and working with these business owners showed me that any one can open a business and strive to do what they love, it just takes making risks, taking chances, and staying committed. Jen and Chris are very inspiring to me.
I enrolled in ENT 3003 to learn more about entrepreneurship and its importance. I hope to learn the skills it takes to be a great entrepreneur. I hope that with this class, my creative mind will expand and I will be open to taking more risks. So far, it seems to me that even if I don't want to necessarily be an entrepreneur, the skills of an entrepreneur will be extremely useful in any business environment.
An indoor bounce house playground sounds like a really fun environment, and pretty cool job. One of the things I liked about your story was that the owners' made a point to make it a place they could be with their kids. Being able to set the direction of a business like that, to make it more than just a job, is something that really excites me. Having the practical experience with entrepreneurs is something really great to have, and something I currently lack. Though more theoretical, my biggest experience was competing in the Big Idea competition last year. It was a cool experience, and I certainly learned a lot. If you're interested in reading that post I'll link it below. I hope you enjoy the class!
ReplyDeletehttp://ent3003entreprenerdship.blogspot.com/2016/01/my-entrepreneurship-story.html
This is an extremely interesting story! It is great that you were previously exposed to entrepreneurship before this class!! Your insight will be very beneficial on future assignments. It is amazing how the owners took the negatives of not liking their current working situation, and decided to use that as a positive and create their dream job!
ReplyDeleteI have had the luxury of learning from successful entrepreneur's all of my life, and I feel that it has been a great opportunity for me! Due to this opportunity I was able to start investing in restaurants, my beginning steps to being an entrepreneur. We have just a slight step forward in becoming successful entrepreneur's, because we have one been able to learn from already successful entrepreneur's, and two we now have consultants for our future endeavors. So, you have a great story and I truly enjoyed reading it! Good luck in this class!!
Also here is the link to my blog just in case you are interested!
http://poecr.blogspot.com/2016/01/my-entrepreneurship-story.html
Your story was something that I enjoyed reading because it is interesting in many different ways. the fact that you got to be so close with an entrepreneur and get good insight on how to become one. the fact that this couple created this business and also made it where it was still a family environment for them is awesome.
ReplyDeletehere is my link to my story http://zachturner9.blogspot.com/2016/01/my-entrepreneurship-story.html