B283 - Week 10

Aside from being grateful this week for being off from work, as well as getting to enjoy my family and Thanksgiving, there are many other things that crossed my mind this week that I am thankful for:

• Upset customers - They remind me how passionate they are about their business and our products and that their expectations are high not only for our brand, but for our people as well. Not everybody gets to work for an iconic company like ours!
• Mistakes - They keep me humble and remind me that I still have plenty to learn!
• Unemployment - I still cringe at the thought of ever losing my job again, but I also remember those faith building times and the many people I got to know.

For the $100 challenge I listed 4 more items this week, but unfortunately the listings have not attracted any buyers yet. It’s getting down to crunch time, so if these last items have not sold in another 10-12 days, I will simply relist them as 99c style auctions with no reserve and sell them for the highest bid!

B283 - Week 9

Here are some lessons I learned this week about business and business operations:

• There is always another day! Yes, sometimes it can be frustrating having to work with a difficult customer or co-worker, but if looked at as an opportunity to hone your skills and improve your technique, it can take on a whole different look!
• Focus on the goal. Sometimes business processes can get so overwhelming that it is hard to remember why one started to begin with! Reminding yourself every day why you started the process and how every little step takes you closer to that goal is always great motivation!
• Celebrate! When you win a victory, no matter how small, make sure to acknowledge your success and thank all parties involved! This week I received a public thank you note through our company system. It reminded me of all the hard work I had done for a coworker of mine and it sure felt good having her express her gratitude.

I sent out my first printer cartridge this week for the $100 business challenge. It couldn;t have gone smoother and I was actually surprised how quick the first sale came and even at full list price! I had had received multiple offers at about 15-20% below my list price, which had me worried about my pricing strategy (about 5-10% below the average previous sales for comparable items), but voila, within a day someone bought it at full price!

B283 - Week 8

Tough week at work. My personal values about how do conduct business came clashing with how my employer seems to want to increase their business. No, nothing dishonest going on, at all. Just unproductive, wasteful efforts to grow volume share in a very competitive space. We are fortunate enough to be the biggest and most well respected brand in our industry and I happen to work in an area where we dominate by a margin of well over 50%. Understandably with that much saturation, it is difficult to find quality new customers. Instead of continuing to focus on continued growth and sustainability, leadership seems to focus only on gaining new accounts. Doesn’t matter if they are going to make us money, say a year or even just a few months from now. Just place our equipment, get an order, and call it a day! That just goes against every fiber of my business mind and is driving me crazy.

The last two days I had to deal with other employees’ misjudgments and became so frustrated, I honestly contemplated leaving. Fortunately I have a former boss whom I can call when I’m in a tough spot. He told me he felt the same way and would hate seeing me get as frustrated as he has been. He challenged me to just focus on doing the best I can do, to stick to my personal values, and to not worry about what other people have left behind for me. Just fix it and move on, he said. Great advice before starting this weekend!

I’ve listed the first two items on eBay and have already gotten one counter-offer. I didn’t accept it, but made a counter-offer myself. I don’t mind giving buyers a good deal, especially since I got the cartridges for free, but I don’t want to lower the price too much either.

B283 - Week 7

The other class I take this semester is ACCTG202. Accounting is a dry and difficult subject to begin with, at least for the majority of students who find joy in the real world, without numbers and T-accounts. The way BYUI is conducting the class, though, takes it to a whole new level. All homework, quizzes, teaching, and exams are conducted through a third party website owned by McGraw Hill. The weekly assignments are not only bone dry, they are dusty and antiquated! You would think that since we are 15 years now into the 21st century tools such as Excel or any other spreadsheet program would be not only allowed, but expected. Nope, not in this course! Instead you get out your rusty calculator and add/deduct everything by hand.
I'm all for understanding and being able to apply the basics of any subject, such as algebra, but when is the last time you've seen a real life accountant use a calculator? For the life of me I do not understand why students in this day and age are not being taught how to use basic accounting forms, use formulas, quickly double check data entry in an accounting spreadsheet and most importantly, be able to find an error in an accounting spreadsheet! Now that would be education worthy of admission.

Alas I only pay $65 per credit hour, I guess I get what I deserve!

I've finished the listings for my eBay auctions and am getting ready to post them this weekend. Hopefully by next week I've completed some of them and have started the shipping process!