ConsultaPedia Logo

Student Insights for Entrepreneur Interviews

Entrepreneur insights and perceptions related to their businesses were obtained through interviews conducted by students. Student insights and reflections regarding the interview process are shown on this page.

Simply scroll down the page to view. They are shown with the most recent reflections appearing first.


First Previous Next Last
Records 581 to 590 of 1253
I learned alot about this project interview of an entrepreneur. The person I interviewed lived in a buidling and grew it. She made a coffee shop where she likes to talk to her customers. She likes to be social and now has competition with other shops trying to replicate her. She has two employees who are good and she wants to grow. What I learned is that she is a single person who made it with all the odds against her.

She grew up in a family where they own businesses. She was influenced and made it on her own. She has competition but she embraces it. She works in an area where women that have a voice is frown upon. I learned that you need to treat your customers with the respect as if they were family. She had customers referred to her by word of mouth and by the way she treats her customers. The things that I picked up the most was that she used the experience growing up and applied it. She also started with an 8 year old laptop. She has nothing to lose but she beat the odds. She also was the first person to set up a coffee shop in her area. Even though she wanted to only have vegan foods, she realized the potential of having more items would bring for her and her business.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-04 15:56:24
This is a great project for me definitely. The reason why I came back college and select this class is I am willing to establish my own business. This project is a very value tool for me to review my working experience in past and look forward how to prepare my business plan from different viewpoint. During this project, I have to re-read my book time and time. There are a lot of ideas coming to my mind which I never thought before.
I visit not only one owner actually because I really want to learn more. I learned a lot about the difference between a owner and a manager. I understood more about the pressure and challenges to a business owner. I know how important to pay attention on details now and I get some key points and process of business management. I also got a mentor during this project. That is the best value for me actually. He told me to keep thinking every day: what and where your product benefits are for your customers! I am very great to attend this project.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-10 13:09:47
The most meaningful part about doing this project was getting to know an entrepreneur that started a business from scratch and became successful. Every business that you start from scratch has a high risk of not being successful. I got to hear some of the problems that the business had to go through because they were not properly informed or educated. I also got to hear some of the ideas that helped the business become successful. Now, I am more aware of how difficult starting a business can be but I also learned how rewarding it can be after the business becomes successful and profitable. Andrea mentions “I would have gotten more information on business loans rather than just growing the business on the capital and revenue that came in.” Andrea also mentions that she would have preferred to be more educated about the rules and regulations related to her type of business. Now, I know that I should do some research about business loans and which one would be the best for me. I am now aware to learn about the rules and regulations that pertain to the business that I would start.
Andrea stated how many problems she had with advertising and how she wished she had done her advertising differently if she could go back. She spent a lot of money in the wrong form of advertising. If she had done more research and has been more knowledgeable about which type of advertising was more rewarding, she would have saved a lot more money and not have just spent all that money and not have profited from it. Basically, she did not profit from her advertising strategy and lost money. I have to be aware of which type of advertising would bring more money to my business and not just pay for any advertising. I am really glad I had the opportunity to interview Andrea and learn about her business. I learned about what type of problems I can expect and maybe even avoid if I make sure I am more educated and knowledgeable when I start a business.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-12 15:15:40
This is a great exercise to get comfortable with asking questions of people who are successful, finding mentors to be able to bounce questions off of. Or to make suggestions to you that you may never have thought of, or to get answers from when you come to a dead end.
There is so much to starting a business that has tax implications, you need to sit with legal counsel to get advice. Deciding on a location or branding yourself or just to be able to set yourself apart from others in your same field by educating yourself and continuing to educate yourself in your field, or having the tools and technology you need to survive in your business.
There is the administrative side like human resources, office management, payroll, hiring the right people, knowing the laws that you need to know as well. You need to understand finances, and cash flow to survive in your business. You need enough capital to survive during the lean times of beginning your business. Finding more than one source of revenue and constantly reinventing yourself. Learning about marketing and where the best place to invest your money in yourself is key. Starting a business is both exciting and extremely challenging in our economic times, so you need to come with a complete arsenal of everything you may need or know how to get it in order to survive and thrive.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-12 17:18:03
[Name removed] entire attitude towards business is that of a rainmaker – not that of an operations person. Always looking for new avenues and having so many ideas does make an entrepreneur. It’s interesting how he adds staff to the company…he say’s “If you are looking to have a company within my company then I’d like to talk to you.” So he really only targets motivated entrepreneurs to come on board too. Speaking with him gets him so fired up he comes out of chair and it’s easy to see why he closes so much business. I don’t know that other people have that much drive and energy. He never stops and he never takes no for an answer. Realizing that I come from an operations point of view I wonder why he’s not happy with having three financially successful small companies – why do you have to go for a fourth and a fifth. Why not keep the three and have no risk. He says he would die of boredom and that there aren’t enough golf courses to keep him busy. I guess you can’t fake being an entrepreneur.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-14 13:04:16

The most meaningful part of doing this project was that I was able to do it with my dad and really get some insight on the business. I didn't realize it could be this hard and could involve so much work. It really makes me appreciate all that he does and all of his knowledge. I am always asking him questions about the company but never this in depth, and it is nice to get such detailed answers. Without this project I probably would have never asked these types of questions. To be honest, I thought running a business would be kind of easy but when I see how much work it is, like financing, loans, etc. I really am starting to appreciate all business owners whether they are successful or not, at least they tried. Knowing that I have a dad who understands business and has good ethics and morals when running his company, it encourages me more to follow my dream of opening up my own veterinary hospital because I know I can always go to him with questions.
I think this project was great, and it was actually a project that I looked forward to doing, not dreading it like most. I liked how we were able to interview family members because why go to a stranger when you have someone right in front of you willing to teach you everything they know. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and I believe it has taught me a lot, especially since I connected a lot of the things my dad told me with what we have learned in class. He was shocked at how much I know and how I understood what he was talking about. I kept finishing his sentences.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-15 19:15:31
“Winners never quit and quitters never win”, Vince Lombardi. The most important thing I’ve noticed from analyzing entrepreneurs is that they all have the same mentality, ”never give up”. Working on this project was a great experience for me because it really helped me illustrate exactly what an entrepreneur is. From far away, we see these business owners and feel very discouraged but once you sit down with one, you realize that they are just everyday people. The only thing that separates entrepreneurs from everyone else is that they are willing to take risk.

Talking with Brian and learning that he started his company by selling products out of the back of his van was very inspiring. It showed me that with a little hard work and some determination, you could take your business from the bottom to the top. After my interview, I strongly believe that the most important characteristic of an entrepreneur would be their ambition to succeed and their love for their business.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-15 22:56:05
One of the most meaningful things of this project was the answer to number three. It’s meaningful to me because it where the passion really showed through the person I was interviewing when I ask him that. To me his passion shows me that he did the right thing in opening the business. I think that passion he shows is important is why he has been open for around 12 years. I hope I have that passion he has when if I have a business open for years. I think the question is also meaningful because it show me a way someone thinks of the idea to open a business. This is meaningful to me because gives me an idea how I can start a business if I ever get a idea to start one. One of the most meaningful things about this project is the how he got in to this business and the passion he show through answering question three.

The other most meaningful things of this project is the advice he gave me for question eight. This is meaningful to me because if I ever open up my own business he gave me a lot of advice on how I should tackle it. It was important because he didn’t sugarcoat the hardship of owning a business. If I ever open a business I knew that it was not going to be easy. The most meaningful thing in the answer was that an owner should never stop improving. It’s meaningful to me because it was the only thing he told me how to succeed not to just to keep the doors open. The most meaningful of the answer to question eight is the fact that he didn’t sugarcoat anything and gave me the idea how to succeed in a business no matter what I’m doing. The most meaningful things of this project was the answer to question three and question eight.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-16 17:23:22
The most meaningful thing about this project is actually being able to talk to someone that owns a business in a one on one setting. The person I interviewed was in the same position I am at, at some point in their life. This really gives me inspiration that I can succeed with my goals and accomplish what I set out to do. It’s was a great experience to talk to someone on how they developed their business and what obstacles they had to get around. The advice I received on my future plans was well noted and having someone to talk to about about them and have someone to bounce ideas off is a valuable resource.
Advice that I got out of my interview won’t be forgotten. Things like success isn’t guaranteed on your first try and plan/ research before you next step are just a few things I will always keep in mind. The best thing about the project is knowing that someone can start with nothing and slowly work their way up and obtain what they wanted through hard work, planning and strategizing.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-16 19:21:55
One of the things I found to be most meaningful about this project is the fact that, I have always thought about and wanted to open a restaurant of my own. I find that the first-hand account from a person who has had the experience of owning a restaurant and their day-to-day activities and what they go through, to be very helpful. Also the information on the challenges such as, economical issues relating to the poverty of potential customers and their ability to buy I found to be very informative. Information about obtaining hands-on experience prior to going into business for yourself and having a passion for what you like to do I’ve also found to be very helpful. Delegating and allowing people to do what they do well seems to be a must in a successful business.

Other information that I found to be helpful, such as having a year’s worth of money saved up so that if trouble should comes along, you won’t be stressed out. You should be prepared for unforeseen problems. I particularly like the information on hiring and trusting the right people. It is very important that you can trust the people that work for you. Also having the right relationship with your vendors is a relationship that can make or break your business. Starting with the plan, having a goal in mind, initial preparation and solid credit our cornerstones to success. Identifying sources of business information and regularly using those sources are also key factors to smooth performance. Also a person should not overlook new Tech technologies that can help your business to be more competitive and you should use those technologies often.
Date Submitted: 2013-10-16 20:13:54
First Previous Next Last
Records 581 to 590 of 1253