Week 13 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
Many things stood out to me from the chapter. I knew very little about valuation before reading this chapter, and now I have a better understanding of evaluating a company to sell it. I learned more about due diligence. I saw the word in Business Law class and learned more about it in the chapter.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
The tables were a little difficult to follow along, but I understood the gist of what the author was trying to say. I think there was too much information in the tables.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
I would ask the author “where is a great place to go over a valuation with a potential buyer?” and “what etiquette should a seller use to improve his/her sale to a buyer?” I would ask these questions because I think the information from these questions can also help with the valuation process.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
No there wasn’t anything that I disagreed with in the text.

Celebrating Failure

I haven’t failed many times this semester, but I did have trouble with the exams in one of my classes. I studied hard for the first exam and didn’t do very well. The second exam I tried a different strategy of studying, and still didn’t achieve the results I wanted. In fact, I did worse than the first time. I learned from doing poorly in my test that sometimes you think you’re prepared for the exam, but you have to study more efficiently or study information that you didn’t think was going to be on the test. 

I usually don’t handle failure very well. I like to win, and I think this comes from playing sports from a young age. When I got the results from my first and second exams, I was very disappointed in myself. I wanted to take the exams over but couldn’t. I’ve been working on handling failure, trying not to stress about the situation, and have been improving my emotional reaction to it.

This class has changed my perspective on failure because it has shown me that failure as an entrepreneur is completely normal. I liked seeing entrepreneurs’ interviews where they admitted that they made mistakes in the past but are succeeding now because of their diligence. Those interviews made me feel better about my failures in life. They taught me that everything does not have to go perfectly in life. I am more likely to take a risk since taking this course because I know if I fail, it is not the end of the world. I can dust the dirt off and move onto the next venture.

My Exit Strategy

My exit strategy will be to develop my business and incorporate my family after my business becomes successful. I will then retire and pass my company to the future generation of my family. I have decided to go with this strategy because I want my business to carry on for a long time and, at the same time, provide my family with an income source. My exit strategy hasn’t influenced my previous business concepts, but I do believe it will influence the way I do business in the future. When I start doing business with my family, I am most likely going to start choosing products based on their preferences and not mine. New services or products added to my company will have their input. The business concepts have to be something they are interested in when I retire.