The $100 Challenge! What Next???

I am excited but nervous to start tackling my $100 challenge. I look forward to going through the process and learn things I didn't know before about how to start and run a successful business. With this experience, I will learn how to close down the business, as well.



I think my success will depend on a simple, actionable idea. I like the idea of being able to "Pivot" if something isn't going towards success. I was happy to learn that a lot of this is about being willing to go on a journey that is not completely foreseeable. Some challenges may come up unexpectedly  and I will need to figure out what to do next. I thought that you figured out the plan ahead of time and followed it, I didn't realize there is so much elasticity in responding to challenges.

This flies in the face of what I guess was an assumption about building a business. In one of the readings, it talked about overdeveloping the business before you need to. I have been guilty of doing that. When I started my first Interior Design business, I went to Legalzoom.com and spent $300 to form an LLC. My husband was very upset because he thought I was getting ahead of myself. Now, in looking back, it was really unnecessary for me to form the LLC. 

I really like Entrepreneur magazine, and I have subscribed to it for several years. I think this class is helping me take the knowledge from it and other sources and distilling it down in a way that will be more actionable for me. Anyhow, when I was reading through articles I came across  a speech by Barbara Corcoran. I have long been a fan of Shark Tank, so I was interested in what she had to say.

The video stream got hung up after a few minutes, but I did get to hear a few points that were interesting. She said our background affects our future-- our life experiences show up in different ways that either help us or not. She talked about her father and the wacky funny things he did with the kids in the family when they were growing up. Even though her mother was organized and had a positive attitude, it is her father's influence that sticks with her in what she does. I think his wacky attitude has helped her be resilient in her challenges.

My father is very good in business. However he was preoccupied with it, and had little time for family. I remember sometimes asking him questions when he would start talking about his business experiences. For some reason he didn't want to talk about it.  I resented his work because it took him almost completely away from the family. He spent his weekdays working out of town, and was usually stressed out, and/or still working on the weekends. I had a hard time expressing what was going on for a long time because it was so ingrained into our family culture. But I knew I didn't like the lack of positive attention from him most of the time.

 I have always been interested in business but didn't focus on it when I was raising my family.  I would hear church leaders talk about being a stay at home mom and I guess I got tunnel vision as well, thinking I shouldn't "Work outside the home." Now I don't think it would have been a bad thing to do, but then I didn't see how to raise my family and run a business.

 My father was so focused on his business at the expense of family time and I think maybe I was afraid because of it. I was sometimes bored as a stay at home mom and looking back I wish I had a better understanding of how to balance everything. Plus my kids are smart and it would have been good to get them involved in a small business of some type.

Anyhow, now I am a business woman selling my Interior Design Services. It is darn hard to get the clientele rolling. My colleague and I -- we work together as a team-- have been trying out a lot of different marketing ideas, but so far we are still struggling to bring in clientele. We seem like we go two steps forward and one step back and sometimes it gets very discouraging. But I have this determination in me that I want to keep trying.

The point is I want to provide my children with an example of a parent who works hard and becomes successful. I also want them to understand the importance of a work life balance. Much of what I read points out that most of the really successful people prioritize relationships and other things that bring balance to their lives. I want my children to see achievement that is happy and fulfilling and I want them to realize that they don't have to be a workaholic like my dad, and that they don't have to crap out like their dad did and trade in everything valuable for whatever it is he spends his time doing.