Am I an entrepreneur?

I do not consider myself to be an entrepreneur. However, my wife is a business entrepreneur as she owns and runs her own eyelash extension business. The business is a micro small business with only her as the employ. My responsibility for the business is like an office manager responsible for making sure to order supplies, collecting and maintaining invoice database, making business cards, collecting receipts, and paying state sales tax on a quarterly basis. With this said, I had no experience with running a business; however, because my wife (as clever as she is) has built something that seems stable where we have many returning customers. I think I am more of an innovator as I am better at solving problems for processes and methods of things.

What is success?

Success is objective as it can be measured in a variety of ways such as measuring a business’s quarterly or yearly profit margin, evaluating the outcome of a computer program, etc. Success is usually defined by measuring the system against what is defined as failure. However, to me I think success should be measured by more than a profit margin or weighing just the positives. I think success should be looked at through how a person or business can get through the challenging times as well as the good times. For instance, Apple was doing well in the beginning up until Steve Jobs left the company in 1985. For the next twelve years, the company’s profits plummeted so much that Apple was going to go bankrupt if something did not change. In 1997, Apple rebranded their products and hired Steve Jobs back, which turned the company around to be one of the largest tech companies on the planet. This is a fitting example of how success should be measured. It is about the perseverance of believing in your product and sticking with it through adversity. Of course, this is a Cinderella type of story, and few businesses last with 12 years of lost profits. Sometimes, success can also be defined as knowing when to close a business down. You could take what you learned from a failed business model and apply solutions to your next business model so that you do not continually repeat the mistakes.

Am I a self-starter? How well do I follow through on my ideas?

I am a self-starter and I do follow through with my ideas. If it’s one thing that life has taught me through the years, it is that nothing is free. What I mean by this is that if you want to get ahead you must go and get it. Of course, not everyone is a self-starter as you need to be organized, can plan, research, and have discipline to keep with it no matter how difficult the journey might be. There is always the unexpected. Personally, I enjoy the challenge of figuring stuff out without a blueprint.

How does ODU view entrepreneurship?

ODU views entrepreneurship as an important educational experience that is for everyone. Anyone can participate in this industry by bringing about new innovative ideas or updating outdated processes. ODU believes that entrepreneurship can help teach students how to think about solutions to problems through collaborating with other students and professionals which will provide experience in getting their concepts into the industry. ODU also looks at entrepreneurship as an interdisciplinary and diverse team endeavor. Which is true because you cannot get your idea out to the world without help from others. As an example, my wife advertises her business through a webpage; because she does not know how to produce or maintain a webpage, she must hire a webpage expert for help. Furthermore, ODU believes that interdisciplinary entrepreneurship brings better ideas and strategy to proposed concepts through the various background’s individuals bring to the table. You cannot, in life, be able to see every angle or solve every problem looking through the lens one way. You must listen and rely on others, your team, to learn from and to provide different perspectives.

What is my role in this ecosystem?

My role in this ecosystem is two parts, as a student and as a peer collaborator. As a student this role is to discover the meaning of entrepreneurship, its applicability to my field of study, and how to take this knowledge to better assist in growing our family business. As a fellow collaborator and to assist other students or peers in my group project whether it be providing feedback on a project, assignment, or question. This is so that I can learn from others as well as provide valuable points of view to my peers so that they also can grow from these group efforts.