The entrepreneur that I interviewed was Frank Howell. I have known Frank for a while now and he has been running his own fencing business for 13 years now. he started off working for another landscaping and fencing company, then decided he could run and his own business and left to start his own. Here are some questions I asked him about being an entrepreneur.
Me: If there was one piece of advice you could give a young entrepreneur what would it be?
Frank (paraphrased): Take risks. When I was working for the landscaping and fencing company I was comfortable and making enough money for me at that time. I realized that even though I was comfortable then, I might want more in the future so I took a big risk and left my only job. I didn't have paychecks for a while but the fear of being broke made me get my business up and running as quickly as possible. It took being very uncomfortable to be where I am now. So take risks and you will be rewarded.
Me: What should I expect to learn in an entrepreneurship course?
Frank: You should be learning that everything you do is a learning experience. At first my business was slow and customer were not always exceptionally pleased at our work but we learned what customers needed ands wanted and progressed. You should also be learning how to reach out customers. Reaching new customers is a lot harder than you may think. It takes a lot of marketing and networking within the field. It took us a long time to reach a high number of customers. One last thing that I think would be important for you to learn is management. Once my business was off the ground I had to trust my employees and train them to keep the companies goal in mind.
Me: What do you wish you had learned in school before starting your career?
Frank: I wish I had learned how to deal with other business people. In school we learned a lot from text books but when it came to actually doing business with other people, it took a lot more than knowledge. I think it is very hard to teach people how to in conduct business matters in person and it can only really be learned by experience. When I started my business I always seemed advice from others and it wasn't until many years in that I truly became comfortable working with customers and my employees on an everyday basis. Working with others and speaking with customers is now my favorite part of this business.
During this interview, I learned that it is okay to be scared at the beginning of your career. Frank made it clear to me that it was not only his willingness to succeed but fear that pushed him to keep going. I also realized that there is no rush in starting your own company. If you just take your time and do things right and learn along the way it will most likely work out.
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