My parents started an online shopping website for clothes that my aunt would buy from companies' excess product that hadn't sold. This was when I was about six or seven years old. They were able to keep the business running for about a year before eBay and Amazon later became the giants that they are today. While the business wasn't overly successful it was an opportunity for my parents to learn more about finances and marketing strategies. They are currently looking to try their hand at owning another business and are looking for marketing opportunities in Florida as something to do when they retire.
While we lived in Missouri my dad, Grandpa, and I had never missed a weekend of fishing. However, keeping up a fishing boat becomes increasingly difficult as it gets older. So my dad started buying boats right around November and December when we could not use them for the next three or four months for really good bargains, then we would sell them when the next tax return season came by for more than we paid after we had used the boat for an additional year. It wasn't always easy though, now and then we would have to do some serious detail work, and once replace an entire motor, in these boats. To me, this was just part of the fishing experience and was the beginning of my mechanical tutelage.
Entrepreneurship has always been in the background of my upbringing, so I hope that I can learn some unique skills that this field fosters. My life goal is to become an astronaut but to get there I will need skills that set me apart from everyone else with the same goal. I hope that in this course I can learn some interpersonal skills and goal setting and management systems that I can use in my daily life.
[picture of my brother (right) and me (left) 2014]
Hello Ethan,
ReplyDeleteI love your story about your father. My father had a similar path; he moved to the US and worked construction and worked his way up to where he is today. It's inspirational for us kids to hear about our fathers working their way up from the bottom.
Your parents' shopping website sounds like it was a great experience. I'm sure it gave them a lot of knowledge and experience that they would use later on in their lives.
Hi Ethan,
ReplyDeleteYour story is super interesting and I really enjoyed reading about all of the entrepreneurship you have encountered and within your own family. It was certainly surprising to hear that you want to be an astronaut after having read your story, but it is nice that you are learning this material to stand apart. Best of luck to you.