Investment in People

As I go through school, I have been giving many opinions- directly and indirectly- on what is the most valuable asset in your company. As an economics minor, I am told about the importance of money and property, in management classes I am lectured about structure and policies, finance speaks of investment strategies, and in accounting speaks of liquidity and sort term assets.

However, I believe that I chose the Entrepreneurial path mostly because I believe that it is the people who you work with, put your trust in, and mostly yourself that are truly the most powerful assets.

In a Question & Answer session, Scott Berkun talks about his ideas behind his book, The Myths of Innovation. It can be found at blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/06/ten-questions-w.html.

In a question about what his investment thesis would be, he responds, "I’d invest in people more than ideas or business plans—though those are important of course. A great entrepreneur who won’t give up and will keep growing and learning is gold." I think that there is a lot of power in that answer.

If you think about the reasons many of the other concentrations focus on, it is really the people backing the asset that makes the other factors of the business meaningful. A company only looks as good as the accountant makes them look. A company could have tons of money and investments, however they need someone spectacular to use it correctly. A company could have the best business plan in the world, however if it is not managed right and tweaked effectively, the company will lose the competitive advantage. Even at the ordinary level, if the workers are not responsive, new, more efficient methods of business would not be found. Efficiency in general would be down. If you do not have the correct people at the front desk, no one will want to visit you.

It is in the people of your company that give it worth.

My Ideal Day

I wake up at 9:30 am, completely refreshed with a full night's sleep. I wash up and head into kitchen of my apartment, where I live alone but have friends close by. I pet my comfort retriever (small part golden retriever dog), feed him breakfast, and then myself. I choose scrambled eggs and toast with butter, and make myself a bit of a sandwich with it. I bring my food out to my backyard, where the sun of the warm summer's day hits my face. I watch my pup chase squirrels around the backyard as I eat, and I play fetch with him for a few minutes until we both go inside and I take a hot shower.

I next call my friend Kendra in order to go into town. We mostly window shop, talking the whole time, and find our way to the beach. Here I find a bunch of other friends, and we spend the afternoon joking around, playing in the waves and sand. At around 4, we all split up, and a smaller few of us grab a late lunch/ early dinner. We sit and talk for hours about everything and nothing at all.

I head home to catch another shower and to get ready for the night. I have extra time between my shower and when I have to get dressed so I snuggle up on my couch, a soft blanket on my lap, reading my latest book. Today, it is Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger. I then put on a bright, colorful top and my favorite jeans just as my friend Jess calls me to tell me that they are leaving. I have no idea what the plan is, but then again, I don't mind. She picks me up, music blasting, and I hop in. We sing all our favorite songs on the drive there, and any time I ask our location, she just smiles. After about ten minutes she tells me to close my eyes. I oblige, being a good sport, but it was unnecessary because the smell of the ocean gives me a big clue where we were going.

I'm back at the beach again for an impromptu bonfire. I grab a drink and socialize a bit. I stay late, but head home alone. I'm in bed by 4 am... but that's ok; tomorrow's Sunday, I can sleep in.

My Goals for the Semester

"Three things that I would like to get out of this class are..."

To be honest, there are not three specific things that I would like to get out of the class. I am confident that I will learn a million little things that no one has ever thought to share with me. But in order to conform with this assignment, I will try my best to outline my three most important goals.

First of all, I would like to find out what the first step would be in starting my own business. I don't believe that I will step out of college and jump into running a business all of my own, but I would like to know how to get there. I have expressed a interest in hospitality, particularly in opening my own hotel, but I have no idea what I would have to do in order to establish one, nor do I have any contacts or experience in the industry.

So, I suppose that would be my second goal. I would like to know how to approach people in the hospitality industry. I know as a student it is acceptable and encouraged for me to talk with professionals in order to learn something from their experience, whether it is their successes or mistakes, but how do I even meet them in the first place? Should I ask them for help? When is it appropriate to ask for a job? I would like experience, and I don't mind working for it, but I know that information could be just as valuable. There seems to be a line between what is acceptable and unacceptable with these types of interactions, and I am not afraid to admit that I don't know where that line is.

Finally, I would like to know what kind of thought processes and other things that will set me apart when I am working for someone else. I only know how I think, so I don't know how the "normal" employee thinks. This is one of the topics that I anticipated covering when I first signed up for the class. I don't intend on starting my own business right away, so it would be beneficial for me and the other students in the class who are not necessarily interested in starting their own company to learn. What allows us to thrive and move up in the company that we find ourselves in? If I am going to be a part of another company, I want to be a vital part, and not just another worker bee.

I hope this gives you a bit of my goals, but as I expressed, I hope and expect to learn so much more from this class. With this class and the other classes in the concentration, I am looking to establish the foundation in order to learn and succeed in whatever venture I find myself in down the road.


Dawn