Post vacation considerations

After such a long vacation break, one can only imagine the amount of reflection actually done by each team member, and I thus would like to share my experiences and resolutions that I have come to. However I would like to look at three aspects of learning, namely individual, group and business leaning.

Individual Learning

 

During the vacation, one had much time to think and reflect on their progress during the year. It is hard to put into writing all I have gained at this moment; however there are many things that I have learnt about myself. The rest of the lessons will only be unveiled to me during the course of my entrepreneurial career. This would prove to be the benefits that are gained from learning by doing, or action based learning as it is famously referred to in one of our courses. By the time you realize that you have learnt something, you find that you already doing it. As odd as that might sound, it has been something I have come to appreciate.

To be a successful entrepreneur is no easy task, and requires an intense conviction in order to be truly successful. The only way one can be truly certain of the road they intend to travel, is if they follow their heart. Thus the saying entrepreneurship needs to come from the heart. The pursuit of riches should never be the reason of becoming an entrepreneur, as when times are tough and the money is dry, the fire and aspiration to continue can will dwindle. However going through various courses and lessons learnt throughout the year I have realized that this is something I am passionate about. Having always had the entrepreneurial spirit, I was always put off by the fears of not having the safety of a guaranteed paycheck and not being certain of where the next source of income will come from. But something struck within me in this year that has made me realize that with the right discipline and mental attitude, one need not be scared of the challenges that lie ahead but rather meet every challenge with eagerness to achieve something that would leave a lasting impression in those who it affects. This has made me confident in my abilities and potential to make a change in our country.

This does not go to say that I have not realized any weakness within me as every human is flawed. However what has really struck me the most has been my incapability to let people into my world. This is a major weakness within me which can be attributed to my lack of communication. As this is something I have seen within myself, I owe it to myself to try over come this short coming.  A team is only as strong as its weakest link. Having dropped the ball, and seeing the effect it has had one my fellow team mates. I realized that even the greatest intentions can cause the greatest harm.  Going forward into the year I would like to dedicate myself to communicating with other people.

Group Learning

I would like to see my group learning as two fold. Firstly what I learnt from my group, and secondly what my group learnt from each other. The greatest lesson from this is that in the current environment we live, one has to always expect “black swan” events. From all the downs we experienced from each other, suppliers, sponsors. The group has matured in the way we started responding to situations, and this could have only been gained by being put through such situations and the experienced gained from each situation.

What I learnt about working in a group is that, group members don’t bite.

Business Learning

As an entrepreneur, you are your business.

Even in its simplicity this sentence has come to mean a great deal in my business learning process, and I have come to understand it in many ways. I recall from the experience that we as a business experienced upon completion of exams. The individuals in the business went their separate ways due to various reasons, whether be to deal with private issues, complete vacation employment programs or plain simply on holiday. This can be expected from anyone from time to time. However when looking at the ramifications of such actions, it is plain to see that the business, either went on holiday, or the business went to deal with private issues. Every moment we spent away from the business, valuable time was lost, and as the saying going time is money, the opportunity cost of time taken off your business, can be the difference between turning a profit and running a loss.

As an Entrepreneur your life is your business and needs to be managed accordingly. Following Steve Coveys - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is good start in following a path to principle centered leadership. This is the corner stone of any sustainable company.

Another way to look at this is that any successful company has been built on the back of hard work and creative innovation. Thus the amount of hard work you as the business owner are willing to put in, the more successful you business will be. This reinforces the notion that, you are your business. The greatest example I can think of in this would be Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. These two individuals stand by their businesses and would do all in their power to make any venture they take part in a success. Countless number of examples can be thought of when looking at these two individuals.