From There to Here

I don’t believe entrepreneurship is a switch that can be flipped on or off.  It’s something that is built and refined over a significant period of time.  Many of the great ones started early, often with a neighborhood paper route or selling stuff door to door.  Modern day technology giants rebuilt computers on their parent’s kitchen table or posted photos of co-eds on the internet for dorm mates to review and analyze.

I, on the other hand, created the Gum Chum.  The Gum Chum was a small capsule-like device for storing your bubble gum while you enjoyed your dinner.  It came with a clip and could be attached to your plate or glass and kept your gum fresh until you were ready to pop it back in.  While I never got the gum chum into mass production, it was a fun exercise learning about the process and it gave me something to do while working on my college degree.  It was the first of my many “great” ideas and really my introduction into entrepreneurism.

I am sharing this information with you because I think it’s relative to the journey we are about to begin.  I’ve had an interest in entrepeneurism since I was very young and now that I have children I’d like to introduce it to them at an early age.  There are so many valuable lessons that can be learned from trying to get a product or business up and running – hard work, having a vision, overcoming adversity and perseverance – just to name a few.  I’d be interested to hear about your experiences and what you have learned along the way.

What have you learned along the way?

Next: Becoming a Sponge